Where Wizards Stay Up Late

The Origins Of The Internet

by Katie Hafner

Paperback, 304 pages

English language

Published Jan. 21, 1998 by Simon & Schuster.

ISBN:: 978-0-684-83267-8
OCLC Number:: 65164090

(20 reviews)

Twenty five years ago, it didn't exist. Today, twenty million people worldwide are surfing the Net. Where Wizards Stay Up Late is the exciting story of the pioneers responsible for creating the most talked about, most influential, and most far-reaching communications breakthrough since the invention of the telephone.

In the 1960's, when computers where regarded as mere giant calculators, J.C.R. Licklider at MIT saw them as the ultimate communications devices. With Defense Department funds, he and a band of visionary computer whizzes began work on a nationwide, interlocking network of computers. Taking readers behind the scenes, Where Wizards Stay Up Late captures the hard work, genius, and happy accidents of their daring, stunningly successful venture.

4 editions

Kaslov reviewed Where Wizards Stay Up Late by Katie Hafner

Review of 'Where Wizards Stay Up Late' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This book is about the creation of the Internet, or better yet the ARPAnet (1969 - 1990) that spawned it.

Everything is here: the people and reasons for its creation, beginnings of underlying technologies like packet switching, distributed networks an so on, early fights over standards and finally its proliferation and metamorphosis from ARPAnet to the Internet. Of course there were little detours into the culture of openness and early flame wars as well. It is both reassuring and disturbing that flaming has been with us since the 70s.

When it came to explaining the technology and engineering I believe that the author managed to hit the right balance of writing it in general terms without watering it too much down. Now, I see many people struggling with keeping track of people. Sure, the book may seem like a never ending list of names, but ARPAnet was an endeavor that …

Daniel Norton reviewed Where Wizards Stay Up Late by Katie Hafner

Review of 'Where Wizards Stay Up Late' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This book's not for everyone. But computer nerds like me will love it.

Kevin B. O'Brien reviewed Where Wizards Stay Up Late by Katie Hafner

Review of 'Where Wizards Stay Up Late' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is a classic book that sat on my shelf for a while and I just decided to pick it up and read. It was very rewarding. It tells the story of how the Internet came to be, and opens with one of the pioneers explaining that he wants to kill the myth that the Internet was designed to withstand a nuclear war. It wasn't, and most of the people involved never thought about it (though Paul Baran did, apparently). But the way it happened is fascinating, and people who pulled this off were some of the best and brightest of technology. I recommend it highly.