One of my favourite networking books is Patterns in Network Architecture. Unlike most networking books, this one treats networking like a science instead of just explaining how the Internet protocols work.

An interview with the author, John Day, was recently published which covers some of the topics in the book at a very high level. It’s worth a read and so is the book.

And if you have time, dig into RINA. RINA is the network architecture that is built up in the book. There are several academic groups around the world working on this.