INNOVATION IN ISOLATION

"The Story of Ukrainian IT from the 1940's to Present" is a popular science book that tells about the period of development of cybernetics in Soviet Ukraine from the 1940s to 1991, and introduces readers to modern Ukrainian technology companies. Here you will find dozens of archival photos from the early days of computer development, as well as exclusive interviews with Ukrainian technology pioneers.

The first part of the book is devoted to the history of cybernetics in Ukraine from the 1940s to 1991 and is illustrated with dozens of rare archival photographs. Readers will learn about the behind-the-scenes of the creation of the first computers in Ukraine, outstanding engineers and scientists who started the computer era behind the "iron curtain", and the conditions in which they had to work. The history of technology reproduced in the book is based on dozens of interviews with those who personally knew the key innovators of the time. Among them are colleagues, relatives and students of cybernetics pioneers Viktor Glushkov and Serhiy Lebedev.

The second part collects stories about eight Ukrainian product companies based on interviews with their leaders: Ajax Systems, MacPaw, Grammarly, Petcube, Readdle, Jooble, Reface and Depositphotos.

The book is written in English to show the international audience the significant contribution of Ukrainian engineers and scientists to the global development of technologies, who were forced to create inside the box of the Soviet system.

The book "Innovation in Isolation" is a social and cultural project of the MacPaw company. All profits from the sale of the book will go to the MacPaw Foundation, a corporate charity that has been helping to save the lives of Ukrainian defenders since the beginning of the full-scale invasion and providing aid to Ukrainians who have suffered the consequences of Russian aggression.