Chronicling the Internet
The Internet is, in simple terms, a worldwide network of computers that can communicate with one another. The Fifth Framework Programme funded a 3-year research project entitled COSIN that had the ambitious aim of exploring the seemingly endless reach of the Internet. The culmination of the attempts of the COSIN consortium to define, map, model and statistically analyse the Internet is a book providing a thorough treatment of the subject. The initial chapters of the book cover the basics, such as defining the Internet, the terminology used to describe it and its history dating back to late 1960s. Next, the hardware that forms the physical backbone of the network is explained. As the book progresses, the level of detail and complexity increases, touching on hot topics such as mapping and visualisation techniques as well as data mining. This leads in to material about how networks such as the Internet can be modeled. As in the project itself, concepts of statistical physics are applied to enrich the analysis of the Internet. In this light the current threats to the health of the Internet are summarised. In the later chapters the focus shifts to the virtual networks made possible by the Internet, the primary example of which is the World Wide Web (WWW). Other important developments, such as peer-to-peer file sharing and online user communities, are also discussed. The composition of the book was coordinated by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), a member of the COSIN consortium from France. The intended audience includes academics from the fields of information technology, physics, mathematics and other physical sciences, but the general public may also find the book interesting.
