City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics

Jeff Hecht

Oxford University Press, 2004 - Technology & Engineering - 340 pages

City 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.

What people are saying

City of light: the story of fiber optics

User Review  - Not Available - Book Verdict

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 ...

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
• The Only Thing Left Is Optical Fibers 19601966: 103
• Trying to Sell a Dream 19651970: 117
• Breakthrough The Clearest Glass in the World 19661972: 131
• Recipes for Grains of Salt The Semiconductor Laser 19621977: 147
• 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
• Notes: 279
• Index: 329

About the author

Jeff Hecht met his first laser as a Caltech undergraduate in 1968, and took a while to figure out what it was good for. In his case, it was a lot of words--he's been writing about lasers and optics for the past thirty years.

Bibliographic information

• Title: City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics; Oxford University Press paperback; Sloan technology series
• Author: Jeff Hecht
• Edition: illustrated, reprint, revised
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2004
• ISBN: 0195162552, 9780195162554
• Length: 340 pages
• Subjects: Technology & Engineering / Fiber Optics; Technology & Engineering / History