
This is a great book, BTW. All network engineers should read it.
Just happen to have it handy. Both of the earlier posters were correct. The book cites both Bob Taylor's priority on R&E networks and Baran's goal of a resilient communications system that could survive a nuclear holocaust. *Inspiration* - instead of measuring nuclear weapon destructive power in megatons, it would perhaps be useful to express it in megabackhoes. I suspect
this misunderstanding grew out of the idea that some of the original papers on packet switching used as one of their criteria, that the networks be highly survivable.
With regards to the purpose of the internet, I recall reading in the Prologue to _Where Wizards Stay Up Late_, by Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon, a true anecdote about Bob Taylor. The authors quote Mr. Taylor as refuting that the purpose of the arpanet was to provide communications in spite of a nuclear attack.