Tom Standage (born 1969) is a British journalist, author, and editorial executive currently working as the Deputy Editor of ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' newspaper under editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes. As head of the newspaper's digital strategy, Standage is the editor-in-chief of the website of ''The Economist'', its applications and digital platform. He first joined the paper in 1998 as a science correspondent and was successively appointed technology editor, business editor, and finally, digital editor. Born and raised in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, Standage graduated from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

with a degree in engineering and computing. He began his career in journalism as a science and technology writer for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' and ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' where he was deputy editor of the technology supplement, ''Connected''. Standage is the author of six books including '' The Victorian Internet'' (1998), ''A History of the World in 6 Glasses'' (2005), and ''Writing on the Wall'' (2013).

Early life and career

Standage was born in the Greenwich quarter of South East

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the eldest of his parents' three sons. He attended Oxford University where he studied engineering and computing. He then went on to work as a science and technology writer for ''

'' and ''

.'' Standage often bases his writing on the areas of science, technology and business on historical analogies. He has published a collection of articles and surveys from ''The Economist'' and six books, including '' The Victorian Internet'', a history of the development of the telegraph and the social ramifications associated with it. Standage argues that the development of the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

mirrors that of the telegraph in that both represented dramatic increases in the speed and transmission of information, and because both were controversial in their time for perceived and actual negative consequences. Standage's most recent work includes ''Writing on the Wall'' (2013). Standage is the drummer in the band Sebastopol.

Books

*''The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth-Century Chess-Playing Machine'' *'' The Victorian Internet'' *''The Neptune File'' *''A History of the World in 6 Glasses'' *''The Future of Technology'' *'' An Edible History of Humanity'' *''Writing on the Wall: Social Media—The First 2,000 Years'' *''A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next''

References

External links

The Economist. Media directory. Mr Tom Standage

Official website

Book Review: The History of the World in Six Glasses
{{DEFAULTSORT:Standage, Tom English male journalists 1969 births Living people People educated at Dulwich College Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford