By 1998, the two mathematicians had taken a complex set of algorithms, patented them, and created Akamai, a company that still today uses its intelligent software to deliver content quickly and efficiently on the Internet. In the mid-'90s, a time when the greatest impediment to the growth of the Internet was congestion, Lewin wrote a set of algorithms he called 'consistent hashing.' The idea that his thesis work could speed up the delivery of content on the massive, tangled channels that formed the Internet was audacious, but with the encouragement of his mentor-MIT professor Tom Leighton-he pursued it. It was at MIT that Lewin came up with an idea for his master's thesis that he believed had the potential to change the way the burgeoning Internet worked. The time of his death was reported to be somewhere between 8:15 and 8:20 a.m. The 9/11 Commission concurred in its final report, issued four years later, offering a more detailed summary: Based on dozens of interviews with those who spoke with two of the plane's flight attendants during the hijacking, the commission determined that al-Suqami most likely killed Lewin by slashing his throat from behind as he attempted, single-handedly, to try to stop the hijacking. But almost as soon as the memo was leaked, FAA officials claimed it was written in error and that Lewin had been stabbed, not shot. (obviously inaccurate, as the plane crashed at 8:46 a.m.).

A memo mistakenly released by the Federal Aviation Administration stated that terrorist Satam al-Suqami shot and killed Lewin with a single bullet around 9:20 a.m. In addition, the official reports of what happened on Flight 11 were, for some time, conflicting and confusing. Until now, Lewin's story has remained untold - mainly out of respect for friends and family who closely guarded their memories of the brilliant commando-turned computer scientist.

No Better Time by Molly Knight Raskin