Since its introduction to the mainstream in the early 1990’s, the Internet has grown at an astronomical pace. A few years ago, it was a relatively small network used mainly by computer engineers, the government, and the educational community. Since then, it has blossomed into a global communications infrastructure which anyone from a housewife in the U.S. to a 7-year old in Africa uses on a regular basis. In parallel with it, media and culture surrounding the Internet has experienced rmous expansion to the state of ubiquity.

With this permeation into our society and the corresponding media coverage, one would expect to find that people have at least basic knowledge of its history and the workings behind it. However, as with other modern utilities, most individuals are content to merely use it without an understanding of its background. This is acceptable for the common person, but those who are involved with computers to a considerable extent should consider it important to be familiar with the Internet’s structure and origins.

Beginnings: Packet Switching and ARPANET

After the end of World War II, tensions over territorial rights, the disintegration of wartime a

Some topics in this essay:
Internet Taylor, Wide Web, IBM MCI, Network CSNET, Foundation NSF, Newman BBN, Retirement ARPANET, MIT Q-32, Navigator Internet, Berkeley UNIX, packet switching, hauben 1995, computer science, computer communicate, cerf et al, switching networks, computer network, hardy 1993, operating systems, command control, et al 1998, world wide web, et al, ucsb university utah, national science foundation,