Radio 4’s Book of the Week is Andrew Blum’s Tubes: Behind the scenes at the internet & I was lucky enough to find a copy available to borrow in the library on the day I heard the first episode – I wanted to be able to read the whole story.
Blum writes vividly & at first I thought I might be in for something as heart-stopping as William Russell’s account of the attempt to lay the first transatlantic cable, but the internet, though a fascinating & satisfying story has not, at least in those areas of the world where Blum went to inspect it, involved exposure to such physical dangers, alarms & excursions.
I was surprised to learn from this book that the first transatlantic telephone cable was laid only in 1955 – radio buoys were used before then.
Blum does acknowledge the achievements of those who laid that very first Atlantic cable, dubbing the man who he, rather touchingly (to British ears) calls Kingdom Brunel, the patron saint of the triumph of technology over space.
I also learnt from this book that the vital process of making connections between networks is called ‘peering’ with two e’s. Having only heard the word before I had assumed it was spelled p-i-e-r as in docking.
John Schwab read the book for Radio 4 & so English ears have had to get used to hearing a word which sounds like rowter for the ubiquitous bits of kit which form the basic building blocks of the internet; it’s a good job Feedback is off the air or there would be complaints. English network engineers may well pronounce it so when dealing with fellow professionals, but it is unlikely Londoners will take a Rowtmaster bus any time soon.
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