The Evolution of the Net

This book describes the technology for the Net, the global infrastructure whose goal is immediate interaction with all the world's knowledge. Each stage of its evolution is explained with descriptions suitable for nonspecialists. Basic principles are illustrated with concrete examples from research prototypes in historical context to explain why certain functions emerged at certain times. This unique synthesis will enable scholars in many disciplines, especially biology and medicine, to plan new applications, as professionals in computer and information science create new foundations with emerging technologies. To achieve the visions to move from data and information to knowledge and wisdom, it is necessary to move beyond ideas from communications and linguistics into ideas from psychology and philosophy. The infrastructure evolution is from the network transmission of Telephony, the past mass communication medium of the 20th century, to the knowledge navigation of Telesophy, the future mass communication medium of the 21st century.