The World Wide Web's explosion onto the global scene is one of the most dramatic arrivals of technology in history. Consequently, myths and misconceptions about the origins, impact and future of this technology have run wild. Now, for the first time, the world hears from the man who invented the WWW. English computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee quietly laid the groundwork for the WWW (and consequently Hypertext) in 1980, created a prototype in 1990, and unleashed it to the public in 1991. Now the Head of the Worldwide Web Consortium that oversees the WWW's growth, Berners-Lee provides in this book the inside truth about where the WWW came from and the remarkable discoveries that made it the platform to today's communications revolution. He also offers an important analysis of the future development of the WWW, and the likely impact on business and society. Berners-Lee was recently described in The Observer as the man 'who invented the future, who created something which one day will be bigger than all the other industries on earth'.
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Building the Internet was the collective achievement of hundreds of engineers and scientists. The intriguing thing about the World Wide Web is that, alone among Internet technologies, it was conceived and created by a single individual--the English physicist Tim Berners-Lee. He articulated the vision of a global universe of linked documents, wrote the first browser and server programs and came up with the protocols and acronynms (HTTP, URL, HTML, WWW) which are now part of all our lives.
Given the way the Web has become the dominant communications technology of our time, one could argue that Berners-Lee is the guy who invented the future. Yet up to now he has remained reticent about how he did it. Weaving the Web is therefore the definitive account of how the World Wide Web came to be. No one else could have written this book--the history of the Web straight from the source. Yet it's a characteristically modest and self-effacing book, in which Berners-Lee relegates the story of how he came to create the Web to the first 90 pages. They make riveting reading as they tell a story of ingenuity and persistence and vision; but most of all they tell a remarkable parable about civic values. The Intellectual Property Rights embodied in the Web could have made Berners-Lee the richest man in history. Yet he turned his back on the money and set his creation free. He was determined from the outset that the Web should belong not to him but to us.
The remaining 130 pages are devoted to an account of how he implemented this commitment to the public domain by setting up the World Wide Web Consortium--the organisation he created to ensure that that the Web continues to develop without becoming the proprietary reserve of the powerful corporations which aspire to control it. Through this account--of protocol wars and technical disputes and unbearable pressures--runs a consistent vision challenging the prevailing orthodoxy that regards the Web simply as a wonderful new way of doing business. Of course, it is a new way of doing business--but in Berners-Lee's view that is perhaps the least interesting thing about the Web. He continues to view the Web as he has always seen it--as a medium that can codify the sum total of human knowledge and understanding. Weaving the Web is an unforgettable testimony to that heroic vision. --John Naughton
Review
"After the bloated egos of Mr Gates and his enemies, the account of how an Englishman called Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web is quite refreshing. The extent to which the Web really is one man's creation is almost incredible." -- The Economist
"For this is a man who invented the future, who created something which one day will be bigger than all other industries on earth." -- John Naughton, on Tim Berners-Lee, in the Observer
"Should be required reading for anyone quitting their nine-to-five for an Internet start-up." -- Guardian
"For this is a man who invented the future, who created something which one day will be bigger than all other industries on earth." -- John Naughton, on Tim Berners-Lee, in the Observer
"Should be required reading for anyone quitting their nine-to-five for an Internet start-up." -- Guardian
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First Sentence
"When I first began tinkering with a software program that even gave rise to the idea of the World Wide Web, I named it Enquire, short for Enquire Within upon Everything, a musty old book of Victorian advice I noticed as a child in my parents' house outside" Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
"When I first began tinkering with a software program that even gave rise to the idea of the World Wide Web, I named it Enquire, short for Enquire Within upon Everything, a musty old book of Victorian advice I noticed as a child in my parents' house outside" Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Most people don't understand how Internet is different from World Wide Web. The author, Tim Berners-Lee, shows how the web evolved from his work at CERN and how his own and other people's need led to the initial ideas of the web segmented ideas of HTTP, Internet and URI. He goes on to explain his vision of the web and also explains his decision of not starting his own company as so many others of his time did.
The book also delves into his efforts for making CERN a European hub- a counterpart to MIT in USA. The book then discusses his present role as director of the W3C consortium and its numerous reseachers.
Also, the book illustrates the need for
keeping the web decentralized and free from monopolistic technologies.
The book is meant for non-technical people as
well. Tim has to be congratuled for doing a thorough job and the book has a decent cover and printing - which all makes it an enriching experience to read.
The book also delves into his efforts for making CERN a European hub- a counterpart to MIT in USA. The book then discusses his present role as director of the W3C consortium and its numerous reseachers.
Also, the book illustrates the need for
keeping the web decentralized and free from monopolistic technologies.
The book is meant for non-technical people as
well. Tim has to be congratuled for doing a thorough job and the book has a decent cover and printing - which all makes it an enriching experience to read.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By "dan90251"
Format:Paperback
For some reason I now seem to be reading a lot of computer / internet related books and I blame this book for starting it all.
It's a fascinating account of how the web evolved and gives you a real grass roots feel, to the now highly commercialised internet.
I have great respect for the author because unlike other famous software veterans, it was not his vision to profit from his development but to benefit others.
The book goes onto to describe the future of the internet in the view of its creator, as good a guess as any and you can see it already coming true. Look at XML its eveywhere.
Brilliant book fuels the desire to learn about the history and future of the technologies we have today and tomorrow.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Keith Appleyard
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Tim Berners-Lee explains how the Internet got started, but how he then conceived of the World Wide Web, all in a very non-technical way.
Berners-Lee is a very modest man, and tells a good story that makes you feel you were there.
He then takes us through his plans for the future of the WWW; obviously there are greater commercial forces now at play that might foil his plans, but good luck to him in his endeavours.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Messed up my head to start with.
A very interesting read.As I said it did mess with my head to start,but if your trying the write what somone is imagning in the head of a 'geek'. It does explane this very well.
Published 2 months ago by N. Johnson
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not very perceptive techie material
Most of the action here, assuming it's not updated, is 1990 to 2000. The end-point seems a bit dated now - Amazon gets a mention, but not Google or Windows XP or e-Bay. Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2010 by Rerevisionist
4.0 out of 5 stars
A comprehensive account of the World Wide Web
Addressed from a generally technologist's point of view, Berners-Lee nonetheless does much to convey the sense of adventure and optimism inherent in the whole process of the Web's... Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2001 by David Talbot
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read - but the author is a bit annoying!
This is a good book by any standards - well written, good pace - and very interesting if you have an interest in computers or the Internet. Read more
Published on 17 Jan 2001 by Bobby Elliott
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Insight into the Birth of the World Wide Web
I couldn't wait for this book to arrive, and when it did I couldn't put it down...
'Weaving the Web' is a personal account by Tim Berners-Lee the creator of the World Wide Web... Read more
Published on 11 Oct 2000 by stumartin@btinternet.com
4.0 out of 5 stars
Man struggles with man and technology, in that order
Tim Berners-Lee ("TBL") has a story to tell rather than a web to weave. Readers looking for a deep technical account of how the web was built will be thoroughly disappointed as... Read more
Published on 6 April 2000
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Synopsis of www - how, why and where it is heading
An excellent read. As many have commented, not actually a techie book (per se) but about a technical subject. Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2000 by Happy Techie
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Manifesto for the online future...
If this book is bought as anything other than a white paper on the future of the web, then the purchaser will be disappointed...but it is no less a book for that. Read more
Published on 17 Jan 2000
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well worth the read
As an ex-CERN student, fellow and consultant at the time that the Web was being born I ordered "Weaving the Web" with great anticipation.
I was not disappointed. Read more
Published on 6 Dec 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Big Kahuna
Slip inside the recursive mind of a guy whose work has made cyber-surfing possible: "Inventing the World Wide Web involved my growing realization there was a power in arranging... Read more
Published on 19 Nov 1999
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