INTERNETWORKING AND THE POLITICS OF SCIENCE - NSFNET IN INTERNET HISTORY

This article presents an account of the process of development of the NSFNET and ifs significance for the emergence of the Internet of the 1 990s. The fact that the development of the interconnected system of co mputer networks occurred within the realm of academic research is not incidental. The dynamics of the world of scientific research were inti mately related to the shaping of the network and to the way In which i t spread to other sectors of society. The construction of computer net works crossed the boundaries between science and society in order to b uild the scientific realm by transforming the world in which it is emb edded.