豆知识 2009-05-10&-5-16 因特网的发展历史 (1/2)

 The Internet, in the year 2009: we send emails, make calls over the Internet, and discuss topics we take an interest in. Even our banking¹ is going virtual. But what we take for granted today was only a vague idea 50 years ago. In order to understand how we got this far, let's go back to 1957 when everything began.

 

Before 1957, computers only worked on one task at a time. This is called "batch² processing". Of course, this was quite ineffective. With computers getting bigger and bigger, they had to be stored in special cooled rooms. But then the developers couldn't work directly on the computers anymore. Specialists had to be called in to connect them. Programming at that time meant a lot of manual work and the indirect connection to the computers led to a lot of bugs³, wasting time and fraying⁴ the developers' nerves.

 

The year 1957 marked a big change: a remote connection had to be installed, so that the developers could work directly on the computers. At the same time, the idea of time-sharing came up. This is the first concept in computer technology to share the processing power of one computer with multiple users.

 

On October the 4th in 1957 during the Cold War, the first unmanned satellite Sputnik 1 was sent into orbit by the Soviet⁵ Union. The fear of a missile gap emerged. In order to secure America's lead in technology, the US founded the Defense⁶ Advanced Research Project Agency in February, 1958. At that time, knowledge was only transferred by people. The DARPA planned a large-scale computer network in order to accelerate knowledge transfer and avoid the doubling up of already existing research. This network would become the ARPANET.

 

Furthermore, three other concepts were to be developed, which are fundamental for the history of the Internet: the concept of a military network by the RAND Corporation in America, the commercial network of the National Physical Laboratory in England, and the scientific network CYCLADES in France. The scientific, military and commercial approaches of these concepts are the foundations for our modern Internet.

 

Let's begin with the ARPANET, the most familiar of these networks.

 

Its development began in 1966. Universities were generally quite cautious about sharing their computers; therefore, small computers were put in front of the mainframe. This computer, the Interface⁷ Message Processor, took over control of the network activities, while the mainframe was only in charge of the initialization of programs and data files. At the same time, the IMP⁸ also served as interface for the mainframe. Since only the IMPs⁹ were interconnected in a network, this was also called IMP Subnet.

1 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

2 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

3 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 fraying   

v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The cuffs of his shirt were fraying. 他衬衣的袖口磨破了。
• Support for the leader was fraying at the edges. 对这位领导人的支持已经开始瓦解。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。

8 imp   

n.顽童

参考例句：

• What a little imp you are!你这个淘气包！
• There's a little imp always running with him.他总有一个小鬼跟着。

9 imps   

n.（故事中的）小恶魔( imp的名词复数 )；小魔鬼；小淘气；顽童

参考例句：

• Those imps are brewing mischief. 那些小淘气们正在打坏主意。 来自辞典例句
• No marvel if the imps follow when the devil goes before. 魔鬼带头，难怪小鬼纷纷跟随。 来自互联网