1: Introduction: Building a City of Light
2: Guiding Light and Luminous Fountains (1841-1890)
3: Fibers of Glass
4: The Quest for Remote Viewing: Television and the Legacy of Sword
Swallowers (1895-1940)
5: A Critical Insight: The Birth of the Clad Optical Fiber
(1950-1955)
6: 99 Percent Perspiration: The Birth of an Industry
(1954-1960)
7: A Vision of the Future: Communicating with Light (1880-1960)
8: The Laser Stimulates the Emission of New Ideas (1960-1969)
9: "The Only Thing Left Is Optical Fibers" (1960-1969)
10: Trying to Sell a Dream (1965-1970)
11: Breakthrough: The Clearest Glass in the World (1966-1972)
12: Recipes for Grains of Salt: The Semiconductor Laser
(1962-1977)
13: A Demonstration for the Queen (1970-1975)
14: Three Generations in Five Years (1975-1983)
15: Submarine Cables: Covering the Ocean Floor with Glass
(1970-1995)
16: The Last Mile: An Elusive Vision
17: Reflections on the City of Light
Appendix A. Dramatis Personae: Cast of Characters
Appendix B. A Fiber-Optic Chronology
Jeff Hecht is a Correspondent with New Scientist magazine.
"In this deft history, Hecht, a writer for the British weekly New
Scientist, shows how the illuminated fountains that thrilled crowds
at the great 19th-century exhibitions convinced scientists that
light can be guided along narrow tubes. In our century, scientists
used these tubes of light first to look inside the human body and
then, as the physics of wave transmission were better understood,
to transmit audio and optical information. Hecht explains
which technological advances have made fiber optics the backbone of
our telephone system in the last 10-15 years and how everyday
applications should increase exponentially once fibers are
connected directly to
our homes...[G]eneral science buffs should enjoy his account of the
development of the technology that will change our lives in many
unexpected ways in the next century."--Publishers Weekly
"Jeff Hecht brings to life the people, the competition, and the
human drama behind this technological breakthrough. Prepare
yourself for a delightful read as you discover what made the global
village called the City of Light a reality whose potential for
social change is still being fathomed."--Richard N. Zare,
Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science, Department of
Chemistry, Stanford University
"This book is a revelation and ranks with the best popular writing
on science and technology. Jeff Hecht's meticulous research proves
that even our newest technologies have a long past. His book tells
the enthralling story of fiber optics, used today in nearly every
facet of life, from transmitting digitized data to peering into and
even operating on the human body. With an eye for forceful
personalities, innovators and visionaries, he takes us from the
birth
of fiber optics in Victorian light-guiding parlor tricks and
illuminated fountains to the Information Age, with limitless
quantities of pure information coruscating globally along beams of
light in
glass fibers. Hecht embraces the human drama of the inventors with
all their successes and foibles and transforms the city of light
into an entertaining and illuminating celebration."--Martin C.
Carey, Harvard University Medical School, Senior Physician at
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston
"This is one of the best popular books on a technical subject I
have ever seen. It is written in a lively style and it covers all
parts of the optical fiber story, from the very beginning to the
present days, and, amazingly, all over the world."--Laszlo Solymar,
Professor of Applied Electromagnetism, University of Oxford
"A marvelous chronicle of fiber optics technology which in large
measure has created the Information Age. Jeff Hecht has not only
presented the history of this remarkable technology--uncovering
threads which I did not know--but captured the drama and human
aspects which make this an interesting read for anyone. All the
celebrities are here, each building on the other's
foundation."--Donald B. Keck, Division Vice President, Director of
Optics &
Photonics, Corning, Inc.
"As research manager responsible for the teams at STL who pioneered
the use of optical fibres for communications, I can say with
confidence that this book is a most carefully researched, very
comprehensive and balanced account of world-wide success and
failure. It makes fascinating and delightful reading."--Charles
Sandbank, Department of Trade and Industry, United Kingdom, and
Visiting Professor of Information Systems Design, University of
Bradford
"An engineer by training, New Scientist correspondent Hecht
explores the history of fiber optics in this interesting and
far-reaching study. Beginning in Victorian Europe, his chronology
traces the complex but fascinating drama of one of the key elements
in today's global telecommunications explosion....This readable,
well-documented, and scholarly text includes an informative
glossary of names and a concise reference to fiber-optic
development. Highly
recommended for all public and academic libraries."--Library
Journal
"In his latest book, City of Light...science writer Jeff Hecht
expertly tells the story of the painstaking discovery, rapid
development, and remarkable applications of optical fibers. Hecht,
a veteran contributing editor to Laser Focus World, has covered
fiberoptic technology for more than 20 years. His book, the latest
addition to Oxford's splendid Sloan Technology Series, traces the
story of fiberoptics from a Victorian parlor trick to the
foundation of today's global communications network. I strongly
recommend City of Light for your own bookshelf and for anyone with
an interest in communications."--Laser Focus World
"The technology of optical-fibre communications is arguably one of
the most spectacular developments of the late 20th century. It
touches all of our lives on a daily basis, and has created the
worldwide communications that we all take for granted and that we
expect to supply all our future needs. It is surprising, then, how
little attention this remarkable story of fibre optics has
received. This book makes an excellent start at redressing the
balance. It
provides for the first time a complete chronicle of the technology
over the last 150 years, concentrating on the years to 1983....This
book will show you how this position has been achieved, who the
main
characters were, and how they were inspired by visions of the
future that we now occupy. All in all, the author presents a
wonderfully rich story that has been painstakingly researched and
contains some excellent source notes."--Physics World
"This is the story of fiber optics, tracing its transformation from
nineteenth century parlor trick into the foundation of our global
communications network. Written for a broad audience by Hecht, an
engineer and the Boston correspondent for New Scientist, who has
covered the field for twenty years. The book is a lively account of
both the people and the ideas behind this revolutionary technology.
The basic concept underlying fiber optics was first
explored in the 1840s when researchers used jets of water to guide
light in laboratory demonstrations. The idea caught the public eye
decades later when it was used to create stunning illuminated
fountains at many
of the great Victorian exhibitions....In 1988, the first
transatlantic fiber-optic cable connected Europe with North
America, and now fiber optics is the key element in global
communications."--Science Writers
"The most powerful argument against monopoly is not that it
inflates its owners' profit...but rather that it retards
innovation....The decision of the British Post Office to pursue the
new technology; the discoveries by Corning Glass of new pure fiber
materials; the advent of the semiconductor laser as a source of
light....the rapid progress of the late 1970s....the climactic
decision in 1984 of MCI to install a transcontinental fiber network
in North
America--all these developments in some sense flowed out of
half-a-dozen years of missionary zeal by [Charles] Kao....This is
the story to be gleaned from 'City of Light: The Story of Fiber
Optics,' by Jeff
Hecht....[I]t is clear...that he has written an authoritative
history of an otherwise all-but-invisible industry....The
overwhelming moral here is that large numbers of persons are
involved in the accomplishment of any significant innovation-not a
solitary 'inventor' or two."--Chicago Tribune
"Hecht's narrative is a model of the sort--exactly what might have
been hoped from a writer who covered the industry for 25 years for
trade publications, yet who retains both the detachment and
perspective necessary to put a narrative construction on
events....Hecht now covers all manner of topics...for Britain's New
Scientist magazine....Trained as an engineer himself, Hecht has a
gift for conveying the fog of uncertainty about the possibilities
in which
scientists, engineers and managers must make their choices about
the approaches to pursue....He begins with an account of the
spectacular 'luminous fountains' that were centerpieces of the
great electrical
expositions in London, Paris and Chicago at the end of the 19th
century, then traces the slow zigzag development of the idea from
early applications...to theoretical investigation of the underlying
principles of light transmission by glass by those involved in the
telephone industry."--Boston Globe
"Hecht offers a fascinating chronicle of people, events, and
technological innovations that led to modern fiber optics. Though
he traces this history to the use of glass in Egypt at least 4,500
years ago, to Romans drawing glass into fibers, and then to some
pertinent events in the 1700s, his tale primarily covers relevant
developments over the past century and a half. Among the earliest
of these involves the ability of water to guide light and the
subsequent
use of this feature to create the luminous fountains for the 1889
Universal Exposition in Paris. Hecht identifies the individuals and
their contributions, some successful and others not, in the
sequence
of events that today makes possible enormous communication
bandwidths....Appendixes with annotated lists of people and
organizations; chronology of developments; extensive notes. General
readers; professionals; two-year technical program
students."--CHOICE
"This is a story of the technical advances in the
telecommunications industry, brought about by the continuously
increasing demands for greater capacity. (How we love to talk on
the phone!) A recurring theme--that photons would be better than
electrons for carrying signals--appears in each new generation, but
at the time, glass (the obvious material for transmitting light)
could not be fashioned into wires with an acceptably low
attenuation rate. Finally, as in
all good stories, the hero wins, and fiber-optic cables, become a
technological reality....Jeff Hecht has done an admirable job in
delving into the personalities of many of the key
contributors."--American Scientist
"This latest entry by engineering-trained science journalist Jeff
Hecht is a layperson's complete account of the history of fiber
optics, from their pre-electric beginnings. Like someone actually
working with fibers, Hecht weaves multiple threads into his story.
Read the book, which is certainly worthwhile. It is written for the
public, with the scientific principles simply explained and
well-illustrated. The inclusion of a large number of photographs of
the
players and their apparatus adds to the appeal of the story, as do
a timeline and 'dramatis personae' included."--Newsletter
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