Contents
Follow the links below to see excerpts from this book.Preface
Chapter 1
Prehistory of the Internet: 1843 - 1956
The Internet is the child of several marriages: government and science; telecommunications and computing. World War II accelerates the need for both high-speed computing and improved telecommunications.
Highlights Include . . .
1843 … Sketch of the Analytical Engine Details Fundamentals of Computer Programming
1844 … Samuel Morse Transmits Telegraph Message from Washington to Baltimore
1876 … Alexander Graham Bell Invents the Telephone
1939 … John Atanasoff Completes Prototype of Electronic Binary Computer
1945 … Vannevar Bush Proposes Memex, an Information Machine
Chapter 2
From Sputnik to the ARPAnet: 1957 - 1969
The Cold War initiates a frenzy of government spending on science, which brings us not only Tang™ but also the Net. Many universities and small businesses jump on the bandwagon.
Highlights Include . . .
1958 … Researchers at Bell Telephone Laboratories Develop the Modem
1963 … Joseph C. R. Licklider Pens Visionary Memo to "Members and Affiliates of the Intergalactic Computer Network"
1966 … The Symposium on Operating Principles Features Packet Switching and Design for ARPAnet
1969 … The ARPAnet Is Born
Chapter 3
What Does a Network Do? 1970 - 1978
Once it has been proved that computers can be networked, the quest begins to find out what can be done with the network. Meanwhile, the PC bursts on the scene, changing the computing landscape forever.
Highlights Include . . .
1971 … Ray Tomlinson Writes SNDMSG, CPYNET, and READMAIL, Early E-Mail Programs
1973 … Online Community Evolves on the PLATO Timesharing System
1975 … The MITS Altair 8800, the First Personal Microcomputer, Is Released
1977 … The Internet's Three Distinct Networks Exchange First Message
1978 … The First Computer Bulletin Board System, CBBS, Goes Online … The RSA Encryption System Is Proposed by Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman
Chapter 4
Because It's There: 1979 - 1984
Networking technology moves away from the government and towards the universities, and key advances in both technology and theory establish the structure of the Internet as we now recognize it.
Highlights Include . . .
1979 … USENET Is Established by Graduate Students at Duke University and the University of North Carolina … Design of Ted Nelson's Xanadu, a Centralized Hypertext Database, Is Completed
1983 … Internet Is Defined Officially as Networks Using TCP/IP … FidoNet Goes Online
1984 … William Gibson's Book Neuromancer Introduces the Term "Cyberspace"
Chapter 5
The Wild Frontier: 1985 - 1990
The Net moves permanently from the computer lab to the living room, and from the master's thesis to The New York Times.
Highlights Include . . .
1985 … The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL) Goes Online
1988 … Internet Worm Is Unleashed, Disabling 6,000 Host Computers
1989 … The Cuckoo's Egg, by Clifford Stoll, Tells True Tale of German Hacker Infiltration of U.S. Facilities
1990 … Operation Sun Devil, a Nationwide Crackdown on Computer Hackers, Enters Search-and-Seizure Mode … The Name "World Wide Web" Is Selected for Tim Berners-Lee's Hypertext System at CERN
Chapter 6
World Wide Wonder: 1991 - 1994
The synergy of several revolutionary concepts results in the WWW, which takes the Net, and the world, by storm.
Highlights Include . . .
1991 … Pretty Good Privacy Is Released on the Internet … Linus Torvalds Develops the Linux Operating System … The Stealth Project (Later the Green Project) Is Born, and Java Beans Begin Roasting
1992 … First Audio Multicast on the Internet Gives Rise to the MBONE
1993 … The Escrowed Encryption Initiative (EEI) Introduced by Clinton Administration
1994 … Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark Found Mosaic Communications, Later Renamed Netscape … Laurence Canter and Martha Siegel Launch Spam Attack on Usenet
Chapter 7
Living on Internet Time: 1995 - 1998
The net becomes ubiquitous, with concomitant excitement and panic.
Highlights Include . . .
1995 … Hong Kong Shuts Down Internet Service Providers, Sparking Crisis Over Government Intervention
1996 … Prototype Network Computer Exhibited at Oracle Developer Conference
1997 … U.S. Communications Decency Act Found Unconstitutional … Eugene Kashpureff Diverts Internet Traffic from InterNIC to AlterNIC
1998 … Department of Justice Files Suit Against Microsoft … America Online Announces Deal to Buy Netscape
Chapter 8
Future Trends
Highlights Include . . .
… Bandwidth: Stretching the Digital Pipes
… E-Commerce
… Encryption Debate Continues
… Portals -- Victims of Their Own Evolution?
… Virtual Communities
Acronym List
Glossary
Contributors
Appendix: Internet Statistics
… Worldwide Personal Computer Distribution and Internet Access
… Percent of US Schools With Internet Access
… Computer/ Math Scientists in the Labor Force
… Number of Hosts in the Domain Name System
… Growth of the World Wide Web
… Top-Level Domain Names by Host Count
… Top 100 Second-Level Domain Names by Host Count
Further Reading
Index
Website produced and maintained by tmg-e*media, inc.