Front cover image for City of light : the story of fiber optics

City of light : the story of fiber optics

Jeff Hecht
"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 books is a lively account of both the people and the ideas behind this revolutionary technology."--Jacket
Print Book, English, 1999
Oxford University Press, New York, 1999
xii, 316 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm.
9780195108187, 0195108183
38527799
Introduction : building a city of light
Guiding light and luminous fountains (1841-1890)
Fibers of glass
The quest for remote viewing : television and the legacy of sword swallowers (1895-1940)
A critical insight : the birth of the clad optical fiber (1950-1955)
99 percent perspiration : the birth of an industry (1954-1960)
A vision of the future : communicating with light (1880-1960)
The laser stimulates the emission of new ideas (1960-1969)
"The only thing left is optical fibers" (1960-1969)
Trying to sell a dream (1965-1970)
Breakthrough : the clearest glass in the world (1966-1972)
Recipes for grains of salt : the semiconductor laser (1962-1977)
A demonstration for the Queen (1970-1975)
Three generations in five years (1975-1983)
Submarine cables : covering the ocean floor with glass (1970-1995)
The last mile : an elusive vision
Reflections on the city of light