BOOKISH: Andrew Blum @ Free Library, 6/7

POSTED: Wednesday, June 6, 2012, 11:00 AM

Filed Under: Arts Books

When you send an email to a friend, where does it go? If you answered “to my friend,” you are very smart, but can you tell me how it physically got there? Among its many revolutionizing facets, the Internet does away with physical space: An email sent to someone in the next room takes roughly the same amount of travel time as an email sent to a relative in China. Thousands of miles are traversed in a matter of seconds and space ceases to exist. Yet, space does exist, even in the strange realm of the Internet.

In his new book Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet, Andrew Blum uncovers the mystery of the web, giving nuts-and-bolts explanations for the seemingly magical powers of online communication. From the room in Los Angeles where the Internet first sparked to the 10,000-mile underwater cable connecting Europe to Africa, Blum provides the blueprint for the physical web behind the virtual web. Hear him speak for free at the Free Library (1901 Vine St.) tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. and discover exactly how it is that you — and your cousin in Venezuela and her friend in France — are reading these words that I never sent to you.

(nina@citypaper.net) (@willboctopus)

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