Network Geeks: How They Built the Internet

The impact on modern society made by the Internet is immeasurable. Yet some questioned “why anyone would want such a thing” when the idea was first introduced.

Part history, part memoir and part cultural study, Network Geeks charts the creation of the Internet and the establishment of the Internet Engineering Task Force, from the viewpoint of a self-proclaimed geek who witnessed these developments first-hand. With boundless enthusiasm and abundant humour, Brian Carpenter leads the reader on a journey from post-war Britain to post-millennium New Zealand, describing how the Internet grew into today’s ubiquitous, global network, including the genesis of the World-Wide Web in the hotbeds of a particle collider at CERN. Illuminating the science and technology behind the apparent “magic trick” of the Internet, Network Geeks opens a window into the initially bewildering world of the Internet engineering geek. After reading this book, you may wish to join this world yourself.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Hey Folks!
Chapter 2: Before My Time
Chapter 3: Where Do Geeks Come From?
Chapter 4: Going Up
Chapter 5: In Control
Chapter 6: Two Ivory Towers
Chapter 7: Diversity
Chapter 8: Economy Class
Chapter 9: Parallel Universes
Chapter 10: The Years of Miraculous Growth
Chapter 11: Going Under