[Home](https://tednelsonfan.com/) / FAQ # Questions people ask about him. Short answers, each traceable to the sources page. **Who is Ted Nelson?** Theodor Holm Nelson (born 17 June 1937) is the American information-technology pioneer, philosopher and sociologist who coined hypertext and hypermedia in 1963 and founded Project Xanadu, the original hypertext project, in 1960. He wrote Computer Lib/Dream Machines (1974) and Literary Machines (1981), and is the son of director Ralph Nelson and actress Celeste Holm. **Did Ted Nelson invent hypertext?** He coined the word in 1963 and published it in 1965, and he started the first hypertext project, Xanadu, in 1960. Vannevar Bush described the memex in 1945, Douglas Engelbart demonstrated a working linked-text system in 1968, and Nelson consulted on Brown University's Hypertext Editing System in 1967. The name and the fully worked-out idea of a worldwide connected literature are his; the Web is Tim Berners-Lee's 1989-91 narrowing of it. **What is Project Xanadu?** A design, begun in 1960, for a worldwide system of electronic documents with visible two-way links, transclusion (content shown by reference and still connected to its origin), version management and micropayment to authors. Autodesk backed it from 1988 to 1992; the source was released as Udanax; XanaduSpace appeared in 2007 and OpenXanadu, a working deliverable, in 2014. It lives at xanadu.com. **What is transclusion?** Nelson's word for the same content knowably in more than one place: a passage included in a document by reference rather than by copying, so it stays connected to its source, updates with it, and can carry payment back to its author. Named in Literary Machines (1981); Nelson says the idea is already in his 1965 paper. **What does intertwingled mean?** From Computer Lib/Dream Machines (1974): everything is deeply intertwingled, there are no subjects at all, only all knowledge, because the cross-connections among topics cannot be divided up neatly. It is his argument against hierarchies, folders and one-way links. **What is Computer Lib/Dream Machines?** His 1974 self-published book with two front covers. Computer Lib, the political half, told readers they could and must understand computers now; Dream Machines, the other half, described hypermedia and Xanadu. Microsoft Press issued a revised edition in 1987, and he sells his own republication at computerlibbook.com. **Where did Ted Nelson study?** B.A. in philosophy, Swarthmore College (1959); a year of graduate sociology at the University of Chicago; M.A. in sociology, Harvard (1963 on his own page, 1962 on Wikipedia); Ph.D. in media and governance, Keio University (2002). **Who are Ted Nelson's parents?** Ralph Nelson (1916-1987), the Emmy-winning director of Requiem for a Heavyweight, Lilies of the Field and Charly, and Celeste Holm (1917-2012), who won an Academy Award for Gentleman's Agreement and was the original Ado Annie in Oklahoma!. They married in 1936 and divorced in 1939. **What awards has Ted Nelson received?** The Yuri Rubinsky Memorial Award (1998); Officier des Arts et Lettres from France (2001); the ACM SIGCHI Special Recognition Award (2014); an honorary Doctor of Science from Chapman University (2014). ACM's Hypertext conference names its newcomer award after him. **What did Wired's The Curse of Xanadu say?** Gary Wolf's June 1995 article called Xanadu the longest-running vaporware story in the history of the computer industry and told the story of the Autodesk years. Nelson disputed it in a written rebuttal and, in 2019, a feature-length video, The Jackal's Curse. **Where can I watch Ted Nelson?** His own channel, youtube.com/thetednelson, holds about eighty videos including the Computers for Cynics series and Xanadu demonstrations. This site's videos page lists nineteen recordings of him that were verified against YouTube's own metadata, plus context videos labeled as not him. **Is this Ted Nelson's official website?** No. This is an independent fan and tribute site. His real sites are xanadu.com (Project Xanadu) and hyperland.com (his home page). Nothing here is endorsed by him. **How can I contact Ted Nelson?** Through his own pages at xanadu.com and hyperland.com. This site does not publish his contact details. --- An independent fan and tribute site celebrating the work of Ted Nelson. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or the official site of Ted Nelson or Project Xanadu. His real sites are xanadu.com and hyperland.com.