How the Web Was Born: The Story of the World Wide Web

Abstract

In 1994, a computer program called the Mosaic browser transformed the Internet from an academic tool into a telecommunications revolution. Now a household name, the World Wide Web is a prominent fixture in the modern communications landscape, with tens of thousands of servers providing information to millions of users. Few people, however, realize that the Web was born at C.E.R.N., the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, and that it was invented by an Englishman, Tim Berners-Lee. Offering its readers an unprecedented "insider's" perspective, this new book was co-written by two C.E.R.N. employees-one of whom, Robert Cailliau, was among the Web's pioneers. It tells how the idea for the Web came about at C.E.R.N., how it was developed, and how it was eventually handed over at no charge for the rest of the world to use. The first book-length account of the Web's development, How the Web was Born draws upon several interviews with the key players in this amazing story. This compelling and highly topical book is certain to interest all general readers with a taste for the Web or the Internet, as well as students and teachers of computing, technology, and applied science.