by Katie Hafner
John Melvin helped us in our unsuccessful search for whoever might have been at the other end of the initial log-in session between UCLA and SRI. Now we know who it was not. We are still eager to know who it was.
Chapter Six
The description of the earlyARPANETsites was based on BBN quarterly technical reports, technical papers, and interviews with John Melvin and John Day. Alex McKenzie supplied information on the early days of the Network Operations Center. The description of the IMP’s maintenance problems and subsequent resolution was based on interviews with Ben Barker, Frank Heart, Severo Ornstein, and Alex McKenzie. The description of the ICCC ’72 demonstration of theARPANETwas based on interviews with Al Vezza, Bob Kahn, Steve Crocker, Len Kleinrock, Jon Postel, Alex McKenzie, and Larry Roberts. “PARRY Encounters the Doctor” was published in its entirety as an RFC and appeared inDatamationmagazine, July 1973.
Chapter Seven
The description of Ray Tomlinson’s original e-mail hack and his choice of the @ sign as a separator—and as a problem forUNIXusers—was based on interviews with Tomlinson and JohnVittal.
Parts of the MsgGroup archives were first sent to us by Ed Vielmetti. Einar Stefferud saved them all and deposited them at the Boston Computer Museum. Ken Harrenstien helped us straighten out some early mailing-list history. Ned Freed supplied us with comparative figures on e-mail usage.
The description of the origins of Adventure was based on interviews with Don Woods, Will Crowther, and Dave Walden. Woods’s recollections of Adventure also appear inThe Unix Book of Games,by Janice Winsor, Prentice-Hall Computer Books, 1996. Observations on page 208 about proclamations of officialness on the Net come from “How Anarchy Works,” by Paulina Borsook,Wiredmagazine, October 1995. The history of the finger program came from Les Earnest.
Chapter Eight
Descriptions of the packet-radio and packet-satellite programs were based on various technical papers (see bibliography), as well as on personal interviews withVint Cerf, Alex McKenzie, and Bob Kahn. Some material was taken from interviews conducted by the Charles Babbage Institute. The description of the evolution of TCP/IP was based on interviews with Vint Cerf, Bob Kahn, John Shoch, Alex McKenzie, and Jon Postel.
The description of the origins of Ethernet was based on interviews with Bob Metcalfe. Butler Lampson’s description of Ethernet is taken fromFumbling the Future,by Douglas Smith and Robert C. Alexander (William Morrow, 1988), p. 97.
Ole Jacobsen’s article, “The Trouble with OSI,” ConneXions,volume 6, no. 5, May 1992, particularly the reference to double AA batteries, helped guide the section on OSI vs. TCP/IP. Peter Salus’s bookCasting the Net,(Addison-Wesley, 1995), and his article “Protocol Wars: Is OSI Finally Dead?” inConneXions,volume 9, no. 8, August 1995, also helped frame the debate.
Danny Cohen gave us permission to edit slightly and reprint the poem that he read to those gathered at the Act One Symposium at UCLA in 1989.
Bibliography
Books
Alexander, Charles C. Holding the Line: The Eisenhower Era, 1952–1961.Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975.
Baran, Paul.“Packet Switching.” InFundamentals of Digital Switching.2d ed. Edited by John C. McDonald. New York: Plenum Press, 1990.
Barry, John A. Technobabble.Cambridge: MIT Press, 1991. Bell, C. Gordon, Alan Kotok, Thomas N. Hastings, and Richard Hill. “The Evolution of the DEC System-10.” InComputer Engineering: A DEC Viewof Hardware Systems Design.Edited by C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, and John E. McNamara. Bedford, Mass.: Digital Equipment Corporation, 1978.
Bell, C. Gordon, Gerald Butler, Robert Gray, John E. McNamara, Donald Vonada, and Ronald Wilson. “The PDP-1 and Other 18-Bit Computers.” InComputer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design.Edited by C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, and John E. McNamara. Bedford, Mass.: Digital Equipment Corporation, 1978.
Bergaust, Erik. Wernher von Braun.Washington, D.C.: National Space Institute, 1976. Blanc, Robert P., and Ira W. Cotton, eds. Computer Networking.New York: IEEE Press, 1976. Brendon, Piers. Ike: His Life and Times.New York: Harper & Row, 1986. Brooks, John.Telephone: The First HundredYears.New York: Harper & Row, 1976.
Brucker, Roger W., and Richard A. Watson. The Longest Cave.New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976. Clarke, Arthur C., et al. The Telephone’s First Century—And Beyond: Essays on the Occasion of the 100th Anniversary of Telephone Communication.New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1977
Computer Science, Numerical Analysis and Computing. National Physical Laboratory, Engineering Sciences Group, Research 1971.London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1972.
Froehlich, Fritz E., Allen Kent, and Carolyn M. Hall, eds. “ARPANET, the Defense Data Network, and Internet.” InThe Froehlich/Kent Encyclopedia of Telecommunications.New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1991.
Goldstein, Jack S. A Different Sort of Time: The Life of Jerrold R. Zacharias.Cambridge MIT Press, 1992.
Halberstam, David. The Fifties.New York:Villard Books, 1993. Hall, Mark, and John Barry. Sunburst: The Ascent of Sun Microsystems.Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1990. Hammond, William M. Public Affairs: The Military and the Media, 1962– 1968.Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, U.S. Army, Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1968.
Hamner, W. Clay. “The United States Postal Service: Will It Be Ready for the Year 2000?” InThe Future of the Postal Service.Edited by Joel L. Fleishman. New York: Praeger, 1983.
Holzmann, Gerard J., and Björn Pehrson. The Early History of Data Network.Los Alamitos, Calif.: IEEE Computer Society Press, 1995.
Kidder, Tracy. The Soul of a New Machine.Boston: Little, Brown, 1981. Killian, James R., Jr. Sputnik, Scientists, and Eisenhower: A Memoir of the First Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology.Cambridge: MIT Press, 1977. ———. The Education of a College President: A Memoir.Cambridge: MIT Press, 1985. Kleinrock, Leonard. Communication Nets: Stochastic Message Flow and Delay.New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964.
———. Queueing Systems.2 vols. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1974–1976. Langdon-Davies, John. NPL: Jubilee Book of the National Physical Laboratory.London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1951.
Lebow, Irwin. Information Highways & Byways: From the Telegraph to the 21stCentury.New York: IEEE Press, 1995. Licklider, J. C. R. “Computers and Government.” In The Computer Age: ATwenty-Year View,edited by Michael L. Dertouzos and Joel Moses. MIT Bicentennial Series. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1979.
———. Libraries of the Future.Cambridge: MIT Press, 1965. Padlipsky, M. A. The Elements of Networking Style and Other Essays & Animadversions of the Art of Intercomputer Networking.Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1985. Proceedings of the Fifth Data Communications Symposium.IEEE Computer Society, Snowbird, Utah, September 27–29, 1977.
Pyatt, Edward. The National Physical Laboratory: A History.Bristol, England: Adam Hilger Ltd., 1983.
Redmond, Kent C., and Thomas M. Smith. The Whirlwind Project: The History of a Pioneer Computer.Bedford, Mass.: Digital Press, 1980.
Rheingold, Howard. The Virtual Community.New York: Harper Perennial, 1994.
———. Tools for Thought: The People and Ideas Behind the Next Computer Revolution.New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988. Roberts, Lawrence G. “The ARPANET and Computer Networks.” In A History of Personal Workstations,edited by Adele Goldberg. Reading, Mass.: ACM Press (AddisonWesley), 1988.
Rose, Marshall T. The Internet Message: Closing the Book with Electronic Mail.Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: PTR Prentice Hall, 1993.
Sherman, Kenneth. Data Communications: A User’s Guide.Reston,Virginia: Reston Publishing Company, 1981.
Smith, Douglas K., and Robert C. Alexander. Fumbling the Future: How Xerox Invented, then Ignored, the First Personal Computer.New York: William Morrow, 1988. Udall, Stewart L. The Myths of August: A Personal Exploration of Our TragicCold War Affair with the Atom.New York: Pantheon, 1994.
Wildes, Karl L., and Nilo A. Lindgren. A Century of Electrical Engineeringand
Computer Science at MIT, 1882–1982.Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1985.
Winner, Langdon. The Whale and the Reactor: A Search for Limits in an Ageof High Technology.Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.
Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles
Abramson, Norman. “Development of the Alohanet.” IEEE Transactions onInformation Theory,January 1985.
Anderson, Christopher. “The Accidental Superhighway.” The Economist,1 July 1995. Baran, Paul. “On Distributed Communications Networks.” IEEE Transactions on Communications Systems,1 March 1964.
———.“Reliable Digital Communications Systems Using Unreliable Network Repeater Nodes.” RAND Corporation Mathematics Division Report No. P-1995, 27 May 1960. Boggs, David R., John F. Shoch, Edward A. Taft, and Robert M. Metcalfe. “PUP: An Internetwork Architecture.” IEEE Transactions on Communications,April 1980. “Bolt Beranek Accused by Government of Contract Overcharges.” Dow Jones News Service– Wall Street Journalcombined stories, 27 October 1980.
“Bolt Beranek and Newman: Two Aides Plead Guilty to U.S. Charge.” Dow Jones News Service– Wall Street Journalcombined stories, 12 November 1980.
“Bolt Beranek, Aides Accused of Cheating U.S. on Several Jobs.”The WallStreet Journal,28 October 1980.
Bulkeley, William M. “Can He Turn Big Ideas into Big Sales?” The WallStreet Journal,12 September 1994.
Bush,Vannevar. “As We May Think.” Atlantic Monthly,July 1945. Campbell-Kelly, Martin. “Data Communications at the National Physical Laboratory: 1965–1975.” Annals of the History of Computing9, no. 3/4, 1988.
Cerf,Vinton G., and Peter T. Kirstein. “Issues in Packet-Network Interconnection.” Proceedings of the IEEE,November 1979. Cerf, Vinton G., and Robert E. Kahn. “A Protocol for Packet-Network Intercommunication.” IEEE Transactions on Communications,May 1974. Cerf, Vinton. “PARRY Encounters the Doctor: Conversation Between a Simulated Paranoid and a Simulated Psychiatrist.” Datamation,July 1973. Clark, David D. “The Design Philosophy of the DARPA Internet Protocols.” Proceedings of the Association for Computing Machinery SigcommSymposium on Data Communications,August 1988.
Clark, David D., Kenneth T. Pogran, and David P. Reed. “An Introduction to Local Area Networks.” Proceedings of the IEEE,November 1979.
Comer, Douglas. “The Computer Science Research Network CSNET: A History and Status Report.” Communications of the ACM,October 1983. Crowther, W. R., F. E. Heart, A. A. McKenzie, J. M. McQuillan, and D. C. Walden.“Issues in Packet Switching Networking Design.”Proceedings ofthe 1975 National Computer Conference,1975.
Denning, Peter J. “The Science of Computing: TheARPANETAfter Twenty Years.” American Scientist,November-December 1989. Denning, Peter J., Anthony Hearn, and C. William Kern. “History and Overview of CSNET. “Proceedingsof the Association for Computing Machinery Sigcomm Symposium on Data Communications,March 1983.
“Dr. J. C. R. Licklider Receives Biennial Award at State College Meeting.” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, November 1950. Engelbart, Douglas C. “Coordinated Information Services for a Discipline-or MissionOriented Community.”Proceedings of the Second AnnualComputer Communications Conference,January 1972.
———. “Intellectual Implications of Multi-Access Computer Networks.”Proceedings of the Interdisciplinary Conference on Multi-Access ComputerNetworks, Austin, Texas, April 1970.
Ericson, Raymond. “Philharmonic Hall Acoustics Start Rumors Flying.” The NewYork Times, 4 December 1962.
Finucane, Martin. “Creators of the Internet Forerunner Gather in Boston.” Reading (Mass.) Daily Times Herald, 12 September 1994.
Fisher, Sharon. “The Largest Computer Network: Internet Links UNIX Computers Worldwide.” InfoWorld,25 April 1988.
Hines, William. “Mail.” Chicago Sun-Times,29 March 1978. Haughney, Joseph F. “Anatomy of a Packet-Switching Overhaul.” DataCommunications,June 1982. Holusha, John. “Computer Tied Carter, Mondale Campaigns: The Bethesda Connection.” Washington Star,21 November 1976.
Jacobs, Irwin M., Richard Binder, and EstilV. Hoversten. “General Purpose Packet Satellite Networks.” Proceedings of the IEEE,November 1978.
Jennings, Dennis M., Lawrence H. Landweber, Ira H. Fuchs, David J. Farber, and W. Richards Adrion. “Computer Networking for Scientists.” Science, 22 February 1986. Kahn, Robert E. “The Role of Government in the Evolution of the Internet.” Communications of the ACM,August 1994.
Kahn, Robert E., Steven A. Gronemeyer, Jerry Burchfiel, and Ronald C. Kunzelman. “Advances in Packet Radio Technology.” Proceedings of theIEEE,November 1978. Kantrowitz, Barbara, and Adam Rogers. “The Birth of the Internet.” Newsweek, 8 August 1994.
Kleinrock, Leonard. “Principles and Lessons in Packet Communications.” Proceedings of the IEEE, November 1978.
Landweber, Lawrence H., Dennis M. Jennings, and Ira Fuchs. “Research Computer Networks and Their Interconnection.” IEEE CommunicationsMagazine,June 1986.
Lee, J. A. N., and Robert F. Rosin.“The CTSS Interviews.” IEEE Annals of theHistory of Computing14, no. 1, 1992. ———.“The Project MAC Interviews.” IEEE Annals of the History of Computing14, no. 2, 1992.
Licklider, J. C. R. “A Gridless, Wireless Rat-Shocker.”Journal of Comparativeand Physiological Psychology44, 1951.
———. “Man-Computer Symbiosis.” Reprint. In Memoriam: J. C. R. Licklider.Digital Equipment Corporation Systems Research Center, 7 August 1990.
Licklider, J. C. R., and Albert Vezza. “Applications of Information Networks.” Proceedings of the IEEE,November 1978. Licklider, J. C. R., and Robert W. Taylor. “The Computer as a Communication Device.” Reprint.In Memoriam: J. C. R. Licklider.Digital Equipment Corporation Systems Research Center, 7 August 1990.
Markoff, John. “Up from the Computer Underground.” The NewYork Times,27 August 1993.
McKenzie, Alexander A., and B. P. Cosell, J. M. McQuillan, M. J. Thrope. “The Network Control Center for the ARPA Network.” Proceedings of theIEEE,1972. Mier, Edwin E. “Defense Department Readying Network Ramparts.” DataCommunications,October 1983. Mills, Jeffrey. “Electronic Mail.” Associated Press, 4 January 1976. ———.“Electronic Mail.” Associated Press, 19 June 1976.
———. “Postal Service Tests Electronic Message Service.” Associated Press, 28 March 1978.
Mills, Kay.“The Public Concern: Mail.” Newhouse News Service, 27 July 1976. Mohl, Bruce A. “2 Bolt, Beranek Officials Collapse in Federal Court.” TheBoston Globe,31 October 1980.
Pallesen, Gayle. “Consultant Firm on PBIA Faces Criminal Charges.” PalmBeach (Florida) Post,8 November 1980.
Pearse, Ben. “Defense Chief in the Sputnik Age.” The NewYork Times Magazine,10 November 1957.
Pool, Bob. “Inventing the Future: UCLA Scientist Who Helped Create Internet Isn’t Done Yet.” Los Angeles Times,11 August 1994.
Quarterman, John S., and Josiah C. Hoskins. “Notable Computer Networks.” Communications of the ACM,October 1986. Roberts, Lawrence G. “ARPA Network Implications.” Educom,Bulletin of the Interuniversity Communications Council, fall 1971. Salus, Peter. “Pioneers of the Internet.” Internet World,September 1994. “Scanning the Issues,”IEEE Spectrum,August 1964.
Schonberg, Harold C. “4 Acoustics Experts to Urge Revisions in Auditorium.” The NewYork Times,4 April 1963.
———.“Acoustics Again: Philharmonic Hall Has Some Defects, But Also Has a Poetry of Its Own.” The NewYork Times,9 December 1962. Selling It. Consumer Reports,June 1977. Space Agencies. “ARPA Shapes Military Space Research.”Aviation Week,16 June 1958. Sterling, Bruce. “Internet.”Fantasy and Science Fiction,February 1993.
Swartzlander, Earl. “Time-Sharing at MIT.” IEEE Annals of the History ofComputing14, no. 1, 1992.
“Transforming BB&N:ARPANET’s Architect Targets Non-Military Networks.” Data Communications,April 1984.
Wilson, David McKay. “BBN Executives Collapse in Court.” Cambridge(Mass.) Chronicle,6 November 1980.
———. “Consulting
Co. Admits Overcharge.” Cambridge (Mass.) Chronicle,30 October 1980.
Zitner, Aaron. “A Quiet Leap Forward in Cyberspace.” The Boston Globe,11 September 1994.
Zuckerman, Laurence.“BBN Steps Out of the Shadows and into the Limelight.” The NewYork Times,17 July 1995.
Unpublished Papers, Interviews from Secondary Sources, and Other Documents
”Act One.” Symposium on the history of theARPANETheld at the University of California at Los Angeles, 17 August 1989. Transcript. ARPA Network Information Center, Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, Calif. “Scenarios for Using theARPANET.”Booklet. Prepared for the International Conference on Computer Communication, Washington, D.C., October 1972.
Baran, Paul. Interview by Judy O’Neill. Charles Babbage Institute, DARPA/IPTO Oral History Collection, University of Minnesota Center for the History of Information Processing, Minneapolis, Minn., 5 March 1990.
Barlow, John Perry. “Crime and Puzzlement.” Pinedale, Wyo., June 1990.
BBN Systems and Technologies Corporation. “Annual Report of the Science Development Program.” Cambridge, Mass., 1988.
Bhushan, A. K. “Comments on the File Transfer Protocol.” Request for Comments 385. Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, Calif., August 1972.
———.“The File Transfer Protocol.” Request for Comments 354. Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, Calif., July 1972.
Bhushan, Abhay, Ken Pogran, Ray Tomlinson, and Jim White. “Standardizing Network Mail Headers.” Request for Comments 561. MIT, Cambridge, Mass., 5 September 1973. Blue, Allan. Interview by William Aspray. Charles Babbage Institute, DARPA/IPTO Oral History Collection, University of Minnesota Center for the History of Information Processing, Minneapolis, Minn., 12 June 1989.