The author could stand to flip the sentences around a bit, but the introduction is basically trying to say "these three thoughtful guys collectively formulated

The author could stand to flip the sentences around a bit, but the introduction is basically trying to say "these three thoughtful guys collectively formulated some useful ideas about software architecture and in this post I will present those ideas". It is important too attribute ideas to their originators (or at least the source from which one has learned them) and it is good that the OP is doing that. I agree it could have been done a little more gracefully, though, with just a minor tweak to use phrasing that doesn't seem to assume the reader is familiar with those dudes.