A Brief History of the Future: Origins and Destiny of the Internet: Amazon.co.uk: John Naughton: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

Histories of technology usually go one of two ways. Some focus on the science; others emphasise personalities and culture at the expense of technological detail. But engineering professor-cum-Observer columnist John Naughton has written a book that does both. A Brief History of the Future weaves together scientific account and personal anecdote, and the result is a mesmerising account of the origins of the Internet.

The Internet, argues Naughton, is one of the 20th century's greatest inventions ("a force of unimaginable power"), but the individuals who built it have been overlooked. Truly great programmers "are like great poets or great mathematicians" and should be treated accordingly. In a volume sprinkled with literary references, Naughton redresses that oversight, starting at MIT in the 1930s, where the seeds of the Net were planted by three fascinating personalities, Vannavar Bush, Norbert Weiner and J.C.R. Licklider.

Later chapters explore the work-sharing ethos and Open Source movement that grew up among the programmers who worked on the Internet, and the World Wide Web, the system invented by Tim Berners-Lee that has been largely responsible for the popularisation of the Internet. Always the professor, Naughton has included a glossary of terms and an associated Web site with up-to-date reference material. He never shies away from explaining important technical innovations like packet switching and TCP/IP, but does so using metaphors that are accessible to non-scientists.

But the heart of the book is Naughton's account of his own fascination with the Internet. Growing up in remote rural Ireland he loved the radio, which made "links to other places, other cultures, other worlds". The Web allows communication on an even larger scale, and he heralds the democratic promise of this fundamentally open, communal and evolving system. Clearly Naughton is enraptured with the Net, and that passion comes across on every page of this intelligent, compelling book. --Tamsin Todd --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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The Internet is the most remarkable thing human beings have built since the Pyramids. A millennium from now, historians will look back at it and marvel that a people equipped with such clumsy tools succeeded in creating such a Leviathan. John Naughton's book intersperses wonderful personal stories with an authoritative and beautifully written account of where the net actually came from, who invented it and why, and where it might be taking us. Most of us have no idea of how the Internet works or who created it. Even fewer have any idea of what it means for society and the future. A Brief History of the Future is an impassioned attempt to rescue the Internet from the condescension of posterity, to celebrate the engineers and scientists who created it and to explain the values and ideas that drove them. Its heroes are the people who laid the foundations of the post-modern world -- from visionaries like Robert Taylor, Norbert Wiener and Ted Nelson to the engineers -- Paul Baran, Donald Davies, Larry Roberts, Bob Kahn and Tim Berners-Lee -- who implemented their dreams in hardware and software. In a cynical age, John Naughton has not lost his capacity for wonder. In this book, he writes about the Net in the way that Nick Hornby writes about football. He examines the nature of his own enthusiasm for technology and traces its roots in his lonely childhood and in his relationship with his father. A Brief History of the Future is an intensely personal celebration of vision and altruism, ingenuity and determination and above all, of the power of ideas, passionately felt, to change the world.

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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

Catch the author's enthusiasm for the magic of the Internet 10 Oct 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

John Naughton writes about the Internet with the same enthusiasm Nick Hornby displays when writing about Arsenal FC or rock music. From his early childhood days in rural Ireland to his current role as journalist and academic, Naughton describes his continuing sense of wonder at the development of communications technologies, and their implications for the future of our society. "A Brief History of the Future" conveys the author's passionate interest in the medium, while describing the development of the technology in terms that even the most technophobic reader can understand. If you've ever stopped to wonder how the @ sign got into your email address, or exactly what TCP/IP protocols are, then this book is for you. Packed with fascinating anecdotes about the team who transformed the pioneering ARPANET into the Internet we know today, it is an engrossing read and highly recommended.

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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

A must for all enthusiasts of the internet. 5 Sep 2001

By glamourpuss@hippychick.co.uk

A totally brilliant book based on the history of the internet and how it developed. I bought it for my studies towards a BSc Degree (first year) on the internet and I have been studying a module written by Mr Naughton. It has helped me understand and make sense of the history of the net without being boring. I enjoyed reading it and have recommended it to all my friends. Easy to read with good explanations. This book is a must for all!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

Fascinating 5 July 2001

This is a very well written, well researched history of the internet. It is not a dry technical account, but an exciting narrative of the key steps which have led to the Internet of today and the world wide web. A must for anyone who is interested in how it all came to be.

we owe it to the enterprise of the dedicated software artists/artistes

An excellent, well written, easy to read description of how the internet was developed. With so many contributors the book could not possibly name them all but in my opinion not... Read more

Published 11 months ago by bernard hardy

Tells the story very well

Going from the origins of computing (those that would later impact on the Web), through to the Microsoft v Netscape battle of the mid-late '90s, Naughton tells the story very well. Read more

Published on 25 Nov 2004 by "bayman15"

At last a well written and entertaining history of the Net

A superbly written book, with facts, anecdotes and a writing style that makes the history of how the Internet developed not so much interesting as exciteing. Read more

Published on 2 July 2004 by S. Howarth

Fascinating history of the Internet

One of if not the most significant change in lifestyle over the past 50 years has been the development of technology, and how it has affected all our lives. Read more

Published on 29 Feb 2004 by Darren Simons

An excellent read on how it all began

When you have read this book a lot of the pieces fall into place, as to why the world of computers runs the way it does. Read more

Published on 30 Dec 2003 by Mr. D. A. Forsyth

Fascinating Book

Fascinating and interesting account of the origins of the internet. You would probably need a pretty keen interest in the subject before you start reading it, but it always remains... Read more

Published on 24 Jan 2003 by JONATHAN BECKETT

Context

This is the best history of the net (odd idea, I know) that I have seen. More than others, it places the events in a context that helps one understand why innovation happened. Read more

Published on 28 Jan 2000 by Larry Lessig

Excellent,Entertaining history of the internet

If you want to understand why things are the way they are,words like "cool" and free things exist in computing then this great book will help you understand. Read more

Published on 15 Jan 2000 by Norfolk Chance

Excellent reading for the techie and the computer novice.

John naughton has always been my favourite columnist and to read this book was a joy. I am a computer programmer and I had to admit I didn't know much about the origins of the... Read more

Published on 6 Oct 1999

A Brief History of the Future: Origins and Destiny of the Internet [Hardcover]

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