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Measuring History: How One Unsung Company Quietly Changed The World by Blake Snow is a nonfiction book about the unheralded but huge impact of a technology company that most people haven’t heard of. It tells the story of National Instruments (NI) — a company founded in 1976 in Austin, Texas by three engineers — and how it quietly shaped modern technology through its innovative measurement tools used in science and engineering. Though NI wasn’t started with the goal of “changing the world,” its products ultimately touched millions of lives through engineering, industrial automation, research, and even space missions. The book covers four areas:

1. Founding and Early Years. Snow traces the company’s humble beginnings in a garage and the challenges the founders faced as they developed tools for test and measurement. NI narrowly avoided disaster early on, including a headquarters fire, but persisted thanks to determination and a bit of luck.
2. Creation of LabVIEW. A central focus of the book is LabVIEW, NI’s graphic programming language. Snow explains how LabVIEW evolved over nearly a decade and $10 million in development before becoming a core product. LabVIEW allowed engineers and scientists to visually program test systems — a major innovation in engineering software.
3. Culture and Innovation. The book highlights NI’s unusual company culture: engineers and executives worked side by side in cubicles, and leadership emphasized treating the company’s resources as if they were your own. The authors and employees often credited “dumb luck” and great timing — including being in the right market just as personal computers became affordable — with NI’s success.
4. Impact and Recognition. NI’s tools are used in everything from electronics testing to research labs and industrial systems around the world. Founders and key innovators like Dr. James Truchard and Jeff Kodosky eventually earned honors such as induction into the Inventors Hall of Fame for their contributions.

Snow emphasizes that NI’s influence wasn’t flashy or consumer-facing like smartphones or social media — instead, it was foundational: enabling engineers and scientists to test, measure, and control complex systems more efficiently. This work underpins countless technologies we rely on today.

Rather than the stereotypical competitive tech culture, NI fostered teamwork and mutual respect between hardware and software engineers — a factor Snow suggests helped the company innovate steadily over decades. While skill and invention were essential, Snow repeatedly highlights how luck — like timing their products with the PC revolution — played a role, showing that major technological impact often depends on broader economic and cultural forces.

Ultimately, Measuring History is part corporate biography, part tech history. It tells how a relatively small company from Texas developed tools that became indispensable to engineers and scientists worldwide — tools that quietly powered innovation in industries from automotive to aerospace. Blake Snow’s narrative brings to life both the product evolution and the personalities behind NI’s success, offering insight into how seemingly obscure engineering tools can have massive real-world impact.