When was the internet really invented?

[ruveyn ben yosef 0]

Most folks think the internet was invented in the 1960s an outgrowth of DARPAnet, a computer controlled communication system funded by the Defense Department.

Nay, nay.

The internet really started with Cooke and Wheatstone who both developed the electromagnetic telegraph. At least that was the first internet technology. In 1856, 1865 and 1866 attempts were made to lay a transatlantic cable. In 1866 a connection that lasted was finally made. Later in the 19-th century came the telephone (an extension of telegraph technology) and the first radio broadcast by Hertz when he tested Maxwell's electromagnetic wave theory. Hertz' apparatus was an RLC tuned circuit with a dipole receiving antenna. The teletype system combined the mechanical typewriter and the telegraph so remote typing was invented in the 19th century.

Toward the end of the 19-th century, Nikola Tesla invented broadcasting apparatus based on Hertz work. He made a wireless communication device even before Marconi.

Westinghouse and his associates developed the electromagnetic block signaling system for the railroads, and electromagnetic relay systems were built to control the switching points in complex railway junctions. The so-called interlocking system prevent the establishment of conflicting or colliding flows. Think of this as the precursor to landing systems later used at airports. The Westinghouse Interlocking system was a special purpose computer.

Before the turn of the century Hermann Holerith developed the electromagnetic punch card collating system, one of the precursors to the electronic computer. This was developed to make the 1890 census deliverable in the 19th century. Without Hollerith's invention, the census would not have been completely digested until after 1901. The amount of data had completely outrun the prior technology for storing and digesting it.

By the end of the 19th century the world was Wired. And this, sixty years before Al Gore invented the Internet (joke).

In many respects, the 19th century was the most progressive century in terms of intellectual development since the founding of Alexandria by General (and later Pharo) Ptolemy*. It was the century of the practical large scale steam engine, the telegraph, the telephone and the electrical generator. It was also the century in which chemistry took on its modern form and the century in which the theory of evolution was developed and radioactivity was discovered.

ruveyn

*Alexandria was Brain City. It was a conscious and deliberate policy of Ptolemy (and several successive generations of the dynasty he founded) to make Alexandria the capital of the thinking world. He established the Library (the world's first Think Tank) and attracted many of the great geniuses to come and work there. For example Archimedes. He worked in Alexandria before returning to Syracuse.

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[piz 0]

Westinghouse and his associates developed the electromagnetic block signaling system for the railroads, and electromagnetic relay systems were built to control the switching points in complex railway junctions. The so-called interlocking system prevent the establishment of conflicting or colliding flows. Think of this as the precursor to landing systems later used at airports. The Westinghouse Interlocking system was a special purpose computer.

The purpose of the interlocking system, of course, was to prevent two trains from being routed onto the same track at the same time, thereby preventing accidents. When classified as a special purpose computer, it can therefore be considered one of the very first computers. Interestingly, perhaps the most common example given in computer courses when describing techniques for preventing simultaneous modification of memory by more than one program, is a shared train track. Some of the terminology is even based on railroads: for example, one such technique is called a "semaphore."*

Railroad begets computer, computer emulates railroad. Sort of came full-circle, didn't it?

____

*The term "semaphore" originated in naval operations as a means of signaling between ships. Railroads adopted the term for signaling between switch operators, and it then came to refer to other similar signaling systems (even such things as mechanical turn signals used on cars in the early 20th century), eventually reaching what may be the defining technology of modern times, the computer. Epistemologically, an excellent example of the evolution of a concept. Also, don't miss Monty Python's production of Wurthering Heights in flag semaphore.

[Brad Aisa 0]

... the founding of Alexandria by General (and later Pharo) Ptolemy*.

*Alexandria was Brain City. It was a conscious and deliberate policy of Ptolemy (and several successive generations of the dynasty he founded) to make Alexandria the capital of the thinking world. He established the Library (the world's first Think Tank) and attracted many of the great geniuses to come and work there. For example Archimedes. He worked in Alexandria before returning to Syracuse.

Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great. He founded several such "Alexandria's" across the newly conquered world, to establish centers of scholarship and civilization.

From http://www.amazon.com/Footsteps-Alexander-.../dp/0520231929/

So it was with acute political acumen and gegraphical insight [...] that he chose to formall mark out the foundations of a great city on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt--Alexandria. This was the first of over thirty cities that would bear his name...

[ruveyn ben yosef 0]

... the founding of Alexandria by General (and later Pharo) Ptolemy*.

*Alexandria was Brain City. It was a conscious and deliberate policy of Ptolemy (and several successive generations of the dynasty he founded) to make Alexandria the capital of the thinking world. He established the Library (the world's first Think Tank) and attracted many of the great geniuses to come and work there. For example Archimedes. He worked in Alexandria before returning to Syracuse.

Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great. He founded several such "Alexandria's" across the newly conquered world, to establish centers of scholarship and civilization.

From http://www.amazon.com/Footsteps-Alexander-.../dp/0520231929/

So it was with acute political acumen and gegraphical insight [...] that he chose to formall mark out the foundations of a great city on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt--Alexandria. This was the first of over thirty cities that would bear his name...

Yes. A the G marked the boundaries. Ptolemy did the job. A the G would have built the city, but he died in Persia which would have made that rather difficult.

For an entertaining history of Alexandria (the big city in Egypt) please refer to

-The Rise and Fall of Alexandria; Birthplace of the Modern Mind-

by Justin Pollard of Howard Reid, Viking, 2006.

ISBN 0-670-03793-4

Enjoy!

ruveyn