--- product_id: 4162998 title: "Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet" price: "VT5070" currency: VUV in_stock: true reviews_count: 9 url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/4162998-where-wizards-stay-up-late-the-origins-of-the-internet store_origin: VU region: Vanuatu --- # Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet **Price:** VT5070 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet - **How much does it cost?** VT5070 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vu](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/4162998-where-wizards-stay-up-late-the-origins-of-the-internet) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet [Hafner, Katie] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet Review: The story on the history of the Internet - "Where the wizards stay up late" is an excellent, funny and easy to read description about the history of the internet. It is well researched and engaging. The book consists of eight chapters about the creation of the ArpaNet, the predecessor of the Internet. It starts with describing the creation of the ARPA research organization in the US government, the people influencal to that creation and the description of Licklider, the early head of the agency which was so influencal to the creation on the net. The second chapter discusses the creation of the concept of packet-switching by Paul Baran and Donald Davies and how this was, early on, ignored by most of the rest of the world. Especially the attitude of AT&T is, in retrospective, of course quite amusing. The third chapter talks about the history of BBN, which was the company that build the first 'routers' (called IMPs) for the first network. And how this small company won the contract for building the ARPANET. The book continues with the creation of the first IMP for the UCLA and how the company had trouble with the early Honeywell computers that were used as a basis. The early computers had a bug in their synchronization which caused the machine to be much less reliable than needed. Honeywell couldn't believe how reliable BBN wanted the machine to be. Quite amusing. The following chapter covers the history of Steve Crocker and Vint Cerf. Vint created (with Kahn) later the TCP and IP protocols, Steve was the author of the first RFC--the way internet standards are described and how they have been evolved. The sixth chapter describes the creation of more IMPs and how the ARPANET gradually grew... and the problems that caused. How the FTP protocol was created (and the mail protocol hacked in the FTP protocol) and how they showed off the ARPANET during a small conference (and AT&T still not believing in the concept). The next chapter covers Email. The creation of Email and how it became the major usage of the network early on. Especially interesting are the discussions about mail headers and inconsistency. At least it demonstrations that easy agreement in creating the internet protocols is an illusion, it took a lot of discussion and a long time. The final chapter goes in a faster pace and explains how Cerf/Kahn created the IP protocol and implemented that on other networks and how the NFS created a new network gradually linking more and more networks together and creating the Internet. Amusing to read was how the ARPANET actually became more and more a government DOD network and that it, in a sense, was NOT the 'father' network of the internet (depending on how you define father... it wasn't the first network to be linked up). Also the story of the creating of Ethernet and the fight between OSI and TCP/IP are amusing. The book ends with a small epilogue describing the 25th anniversary of BBN for the creating of the first IMP. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is exceptionally well written and researched. The history its sharing is amusing and especially considering the impact of the decisions made back then in the world today. This book is definitely worth reading for anyone interested in computer science, networking and its history. A must read. Review: Excellent account of the early origins of the internet. Yes kids, they had computers before 1995. - After watching Halt and Catch Fire, I became interested in the early internet and this book popped up in a recommended list. The reviews aren't incorrect. This book is terrific. This was written in the late '90's so the purview of the book is a bit dated considering how the internet exploded by 2000, but this is a fascinating story. The book is somewhat technical so if you have a slight understanding of how the internet works, information is transmitted and the like, this is an easy read and excellent. Well worth the read to see how the foundations of the internet lied in computing explosions of technology in the '50's and '60's. Yes millennials they actually had computers dating back decades..... I digress. Also, thought ARPA was involved and there was discussion of communication due to a nuclear attack, this is actually a myth. The main reason was to be able to network computing power across the county and to be able to exchange information with different computers and systems. Somehow I whipped through this book in a few sittings. Wonderful. Recommended. (Why not 5 stars then? Well, this is a very worthwhile book. I give 5 stars for things that blow my socks off. This is a great read, but my socks are still on if I give everything 5 stars I have no 11 to go to. What does 11 mean? LOL). ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | ASIN | 0684832674 | | Best Sellers Rank | #143,003 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #9 in Computer Networks, Protocols & APIs (Books) #53 in Internet & Telecommunications #121 in Internet & Social Media | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (640) | | Dimensions | 5.5 x 1.3 x 8.44 inches | | Edition | First Paperback Edition | | ISBN-10 | 9780684832678 | | ISBN-13 | 978-0684832678 | | Item Weight | 10.4 ounces | | Language | English | | Print length | 304 pages | | Publication date | January 21, 1998 | | Publisher | Simon & Schuster | ## Images ![Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81dvEjqwMiL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The story on the history of the Internet *by B***E on July 12, 2009* "Where the wizards stay up late" is an excellent, funny and easy to read description about the history of the internet. It is well researched and engaging. The book consists of eight chapters about the creation of the ArpaNet, the predecessor of the Internet. It starts with describing the creation of the ARPA research organization in the US government, the people influencal to that creation and the description of Licklider, the early head of the agency which was so influencal to the creation on the net. The second chapter discusses the creation of the concept of packet-switching by Paul Baran and Donald Davies and how this was, early on, ignored by most of the rest of the world. Especially the attitude of AT&T is, in retrospective, of course quite amusing. The third chapter talks about the history of BBN, which was the company that build the first 'routers' (called IMPs) for the first network. And how this small company won the contract for building the ARPANET. The book continues with the creation of the first IMP for the UCLA and how the company had trouble with the early Honeywell computers that were used as a basis. The early computers had a bug in their synchronization which caused the machine to be much less reliable than needed. Honeywell couldn't believe how reliable BBN wanted the machine to be. Quite amusing. The following chapter covers the history of Steve Crocker and Vint Cerf. Vint created (with Kahn) later the TCP and IP protocols, Steve was the author of the first RFC--the way internet standards are described and how they have been evolved. The sixth chapter describes the creation of more IMPs and how the ARPANET gradually grew... and the problems that caused. How the FTP protocol was created (and the mail protocol hacked in the FTP protocol) and how they showed off the ARPANET during a small conference (and AT&T still not believing in the concept). The next chapter covers Email. The creation of Email and how it became the major usage of the network early on. Especially interesting are the discussions about mail headers and inconsistency. At least it demonstrations that easy agreement in creating the internet protocols is an illusion, it took a lot of discussion and a long time. The final chapter goes in a faster pace and explains how Cerf/Kahn created the IP protocol and implemented that on other networks and how the NFS created a new network gradually linking more and more networks together and creating the Internet. Amusing to read was how the ARPANET actually became more and more a government DOD network and that it, in a sense, was NOT the 'father' network of the internet (depending on how you define father... it wasn't the first network to be linked up). Also the story of the creating of Ethernet and the fight between OSI and TCP/IP are amusing. The book ends with a small epilogue describing the 25th anniversary of BBN for the creating of the first IMP. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is exceptionally well written and researched. The history its sharing is amusing and especially considering the impact of the decisions made back then in the world today. This book is definitely worth reading for anyone interested in computer science, networking and its history. A must read. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent account of the early origins of the internet. Yes kids, they had computers before 1995. *by N***T on May 3, 2017* After watching Halt and Catch Fire, I became interested in the early internet and this book popped up in a recommended list. The reviews aren't incorrect. This book is terrific. This was written in the late '90's so the purview of the book is a bit dated considering how the internet exploded by 2000, but this is a fascinating story. The book is somewhat technical so if you have a slight understanding of how the internet works, information is transmitted and the like, this is an easy read and excellent. Well worth the read to see how the foundations of the internet lied in computing explosions of technology in the '50's and '60's. Yes millennials they actually had computers dating back decades..... I digress. Also, thought ARPA was involved and there was discussion of communication due to a nuclear attack, this is actually a myth. The main reason was to be able to network computing power across the county and to be able to exchange information with different computers and systems. Somehow I whipped through this book in a few sittings. Wonderful. Recommended. (Why not 5 stars then? Well, this is a very worthwhile book. I give 5 stars for things that blow my socks off. This is a great read, but my socks are still on if I give everything 5 stars I have no 11 to go to. What does 11 mean? LOL). ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Readable, fascinating history *by C***D on August 20, 2025* Compelling read with interesting personalities and seemingly impossible challenges. Technical terms succinctly explained in parentheses. People who grew up in the era before the internet will be fascinated with what was accomplished. People who grew up with ubiquitous access to computer technology will get a good idea of what it takes to make it all work. ## Frequently Bought Together - Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet - The Soul of A New Machine - Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - 25th Anniversary Edition --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.vu/products/4162998-where-wizards-stay-up-late-the-origins-of-the-internet](https://www.desertcart.vu/products/4162998-where-wizards-stay-up-late-the-origins-of-the-internet) --- *Product available on Desertcart Vanuatu* *Store origin: VU* *Last updated: 2026-05-06*