Some of the top brass in the Pentagon were charged with single-handedly picking top talent for ARPA, renamed DARPA in 1972—the “D” for “Defense.” Successful candidates would have to not only be smart and efficient, but they’d also have to be morally strong and confident, able to stand up to generals and admirals that might resent their very presence and consider them outsiders. They were encouraged to push boundaries, and create new, futuristic technologies that aimed at keeping the nation several steps ahead. “In the 1960s you could do really any damn thing you wanted, as long as it wasn’t
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