While spending the summer of 2007 in Aspen, Colo., Walter Isaacson and his wife, Cathy, spent much of their waking moments hounding their daughter to finish — or even start, for all they knew — her compulsory college essay. Finally, after hearing enough from her nagging parents, Betsy Isaacson locked herself in her bedroom until she emerged with a completed two-page essay.
Image: Walter Isaacson, at his home in Washington, has written a book on how collaboration brought about advances in technology. Credit Vanessa Vick for The New York Times
