Product Description

The Internet is the most remarkable thing human beings have built since the Pyramids. John Naughton's book intersperses wonderful personal stories with an authoritative 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. In a cynical age, John Naughton has not lost his capacity for wonder. 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #177798 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

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

About the Author
John Naughton has been an academic and a journalist all his working life. He is a Senior Lecturer in Systems at the Open University, and since 1987 has written a weekly column for the Observer which has won him several major awards including three nominations as Critic of the Year. He is also a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge and the Director of the College's Press Fellowship Programme.

Customer Reviews

Catch the author's enthusiasm for the magic of the Internet
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.

A must for all enthusiasts of the internet.
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!

Fascinating
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.