Get post author to display under each post

Take a look at the example that’s in wp-content/themes/default/index.php.

<small><?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?> <!-- by <?php the_author() ?> --></small>

the_author() is commented out so take off the
<!-- and --> so it is “uncommented” (turned on).

Thanks so much. Now is there a way to make the author’s name a link to their email address?

Sure! Take a look to this URL
https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Template_Tags#Author_tags

Thanks so much!