The Internet was borne of an experimental network developed by the Defense Department called the ARPAnet. The goal was to develop a decentralized communications network capable of withstanding a nuclear attack or other major catastrophe. If portions of the network were destroyed, messages could be automatically rerouted over segments still in service in order to reach their destination. These networks were designed using fiber optics which would not be affected by the magnetic field created by a nuclear bomb. 

     The system allowed communication between different types of computers from different manufacturers. To send messages, computers merely transmitted the information to one another in standardized Internet Protocol (IP) packets. A computer network protocol (including all of the Internet protocols) is the term used to describe how computer systems communicate with each other.  The addressing information in these packets told each computer in the chain where the packet was supposed to go.

   The government and universities began to recognize the potential of such a network for facilitating research and collaboration between individuals at remote locations. Toward this end, the National Science Foundation created the Internet based on the ARPAnet model. As the Internet grew, more capability was added. Telnet allowed remote users to run programs on computers at other sites. The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) allowed users to transfer data files and programs. Gopher programs allowed menu-driven access to data resources on the Internet. Search engines like Archie and Wide Area Indexed Search (WAIS) gave users the ability to search the Internet's numerous libraries and indexes.

     In the early 1990s, CERN (the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland) began developing the World Wide Web. The Web uses hypertext to connect and organize the information on the Internet and makes the finding of information more user-friendly and efficient. Whereas WAIS and Archie can provide a user with a list of specific sites to access one at a time, the hypertext technology of the Web allows each site to provide connections or links (like cross-references in a book) to any number of other, related sites.

Today the NSF has ceased to control the Internet, and the Internet, especially the World Wide Web, has become more commercialized.

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