City of Light: The Story of Fiber OpticsCity of Light tells the story of fiber optics, tracing its transformation from 19th-century parlor trick into the foundation of our global communications network. Written for a broad audience by a journalist 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. The modern version of fiber optics--using flexible glass fibers to transmit light--was discovered independently five times through the first half of the century, and one of its first key applications was the endoscope, which for the first time allowed physicians to look inside the body without surgery. Endoscopes became practical in 1956 when a college undergraduate discovered how to make solid glass fibers with a glass cladding. With the invention of the laser, researchers grew interested in optical communications. While Bell Labs and others tried to send laser beams through the atmosphere or hollow light pipes, a small group at Standard Telecommunication Laboratories looked at guiding light by transparent fibers. Led by Charles K. Kao, they proposed the idea of fiber-optic communications and demonstrated that contrary to what many researchers thought glass could be made clear enough to transmit light over great distances. Following these ideas, Corning Glass Works developed the first low-loss glass fibers in 1970. From this point fiber-optic communications developed rapidly. The first experimental phone links were tested on live telephone traffic in 1977 and within half a dozen years long-distance companies were laying fiber cables for their national backbone systems. In 1988, the first transatlantic fiber-optic cable connected Europe with North America, and now fiber optics are the key element in global communications. The story continues today as fiber optics spread through the communication grid that connects homes and offices, creating huge information pipelines and replacing copper wires. The book concludes with a look at some of the exciting potential developments of this technology. |
Contents
Introduction Building a City of Light | 3 |
Guiding Light and Luminous Fountains 18411890 | 12 |
Fibers of Glass | 28 |
The Quest for Remote Viewing Television and the Legacy of Sword Swallowers 18951940 | 34 |
A Critical Insight The Birth of the Clad Optical Fiber 19501955 | 46 |
99 Percent Perspiration The Birth of an Industry 19541960 | 60 |
A Vision of the Future Communicating with Light 18801960 | 76 |
The laser Stimulates the Emission of New Ideas 19601969 | 92 |
A Demonstration for the Queen 19701975 | 160 |
Three Generations in Five Years 19751983 | 176 |
Submarine Cables Covering the Ocean Floor with Glass 19701995 | 201 |
The Last Mile An Elusive Vision | 216 |
Reflections on the City of Light | 227 |
Epilogue The Boom the Bubble and the Bust | 239 |
Dramatis Personae Cast of Characters | 257 |
A FiberOptic Chronology | 265 |
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Common terms and phrases
Alec Reeves American Optical AT&T beam Bell Labs bits per second British Post Office bundle carry Charles Kao Chown cladding coaxial cables Colladon core Corning Corning's Curtiss decibels decibels per kilometer diode lasers Dyott early electric Electronics engineers erbium fiber cable fiber optics fiber-optic communications fused silica gallium arsenide glass fibers graded-index fibers Hansell Heel Hi-OVIS Hicks Hirschowitz Hockham Hopkins idea industry invention Kapany Karbowiak Keck Kompfner Laboratories Lamm Laser Focus light guiding long-distance looked loss low-loss Maurer micrometers microwave miles Miller millimeter waveguide million bits Møller Hansen nanometers O'Brien optical amplifiers optical communications Optical Fiber Communication optical fibers optical waveguides paper patent physicist pipes plastic problem pulses radio refractive index Robert scientists semiconductor laser signals single-mode fibers Snitzer soliton Standard Telecommunication submarine cables switching Telecom telephone interview television total internal reflection transmission transmit tube Valtec wavelengths waves wires