Preface to the Paperback Edition
‘‘It’s not over,’’ Don Keck told me in 1995 when I interviewed him about the
development of fiber optics. The intervening years proved he was right. The
bandwidth revolution that Will Hicks foresaw has come to pass. Indeed,
the revolution has had consequences that no one expected. For the first time,
the telecommunications industry had more bandwidth than it knew what to
do with. Combined with the emergence of the World Wide Web and expansion
of the Internet, the bandwidth revolution has taken the fiber-optics world
on a roller-coaster ride that has soared to the heights of overnight wealth
and plummeted to the depths of economic ruin.
A new epilogue reflects those tumultuous times. My original story wound
down with the completion of the global fiber-optic telecommunications network
around 1990. The epilogue covers the bandwidth revolution. It starts
with the technology that opened the door, the optical amplifier, which I had
mentioned only briefly before. Then it shows the origins of the boom in optical
networks, which evolved into the telecommunications bubble that led to today’s
economic bust. The dot.com companies that grew with the Internet
started the technology stock bubble, but fiber-optic communication rode it to
the bitter end. The bold dream of a planet-spanning network wound up in
bankruptcy court.
The story of fiber optics isn’t complete without the tale of the boom, the
bubble, and the bust. I have room here to cover it only briefly. Having ridden
that particular roller coaster, I’m still a bit wobbly on my feet, trying to
understand what really happened. Telecommunications was swept up in the
teenth century. Railroads remained the backbone of national transportationeconomic tempest of a speculative bubble, like railroads were in the late nine
systems for a century. Likewise, fiber will remain the backbone of the
global telecommunication network, although individual companies will come
and go.
I have taken advantage of this new edition to correct mistakes and omissions
in the first. I owe particular thanks to Bob Maurer, Don Keck, and Bill Wolf
for their comments and reflections. The part of the epilogue covering optical
amplifiers is based in part on my article ‘‘The evolution of optical amplifiers,’’
in the August 2002 issue of Optics & Photonics News. I think Lisa Rosenthal
for commissioning the article, and Dave Payne, Emmanuel Desurvire, and
Larry Johnson for helping with my research on optical amplifiers.
Preface
When I started to explore the history of fiber optics, I had no idea the origins
of what seemed such a young technology dated back more than a century
and a half. Yet the more I dug, the farther the roots stretched, back in time,
around the world, and across disciplines. I found forgotten heroes, discovered
mistakes in the sketchy standard histories, and tried to untangle a few lingering
mysteries. I learned how a powerful new technology evolved to fill the
needs of our society.
The basic concept behind fiber optics began as a thing of beauty, but Victorian
scientists saw it as little more than a parlor trick to play with light.
Over the decades, others borrowed the idea, inventing and re-inventing ways
to guide light. The trickle of innovation reached a critical mass in the 1950s,
and the young technology slowly emerged into the world. More advances
followed, including a series of breakthroughs that in twenty years transformed
a crazy idea into the backbone of the global telecommunications network.
My job here is to tell the story of fiber optics. If I were writing a novel, my
hero might make an elegant invention in her basement, struggle for years to
perfect and market the idea, and ultimately become the multibillionaire head
of an industrial empire. Modern technology doesn’t work like that, making
the tale both more complex and more fascinating.
No one genius did it all. It took a cast of thousands to develop the essential
pieces and assemble them into working systems. Think of it as a city of light,
a still-growing community building a structure elegant in concept and useful
in function. I’ve had the good fortune to spend many years watching and
writing about that richly textured place. It’s full of struggles and successes, bright and beautiful ideas, and fireside tales told relaxing with old friends. I
have tried to fill this book with that spirit.
I owe many people thanks for making this book possible. A generous grant
from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation gave me the time and resources for the
job. Art Singer of the Sloan Foundation supplied help and encouragement
well beyond the financial support. Victor McElheny generously helped me
with my proposal; he and John Armstrong gave thoughtful feedback on my
manuscript. My Oxford editor, Kirk Jensen, patiently guided me to tell the
story and explain the technology clearly. Thanks also to my agent, Jeanne
Hanson, and to Helen Gavaghan for telling me about the Sloan program.
The story of the origins of light guiding draws heavily on careful research
by the late Kaye Weedon, who found the earliest accounts of demonstrations
by Daniel Colladon and Jacques Babinet. Sadly, I never met Weedon, and he
never published his findings. However, he did give several lectures and gave
copies of his notes to Jeofry Courtney-Pratt, who kindly sent me copies. I wish
I could have thanked Weedon in person for pointing me in the right direction.
Many others have given generously of their time, lent me documents and
pictures, and commented on earlier drafts of parts of the book. For insight
into the early days of imaging fiber optics, I thank especially Lem Hyde, Brian
O’Brien, Jr., Walt Siegmund, Martin Carey, Willem Brouwer, Larry Curtiss,
Bob Potter, Will Hicks, and Holger Møller Hansen. Many others helped me
understand the development of fiber-optic communications, including Charles
Kao, George Hockham, Don Keck, Murray Ramsay, Dick Dyott, John Midwinter,
Martin Chown, Roger Heckingbottom, Jack Cook, David Hanna, Charlie
Sandbank, Richard Epworth, Laszlo Solymar, Rich Cerny, Al Kasiewicz, Paul
Lazay, Ray Jaeger, Rob Cassetti, and Jack Kessler. Max Riedl, Jean-Louis Trudel,
Jonathan Beard, and Julian Carey translated articles. To The Point Graphics
in Newton, Massachusetts, helped me with drawings. Phyllis Smith, Donna
Cunningham, Joan Finamore, Mary Wright, Connie Coburn, Patricia Thiel,
Andy Goldstein, Tim Proctor, Rene´ Sigrist, and Lesley Hepden helped me track
down details, people, and pictures. Fred Abbott, Rick Martin, and Steve Salt
trusted me with rare references that have sat too long in my office. Countless
others talked with me in person or on the phone, sharing stories and answering
questions about friends, relatives, and former co-workers. I’ve tried
to keep everything straight, but if I haven’t it’s my fault, not theirs.
I’ve had a good time writing this book. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Newton, Massachusetts J. H.
December 1997
Contents
1 Introduction: Building a City of Light 3
2 Guiding Light and Luminous Fountains (1841–1890) 12
3 Fibers of Glass 28
4 The Quest for Remote Viewing:
Television and the Legacy of Sword Swallowers (1895–1940) 34
5 A Critical Insight:
The Birth of the Clad Optical Fiber (1950–1955) 46
6 99 Percent Perspiration: The Birth of an Industry (1954–1960) 60
7 A Vision of the Future: Communicating with Light (1880–1960) 76
8 The Laser Stimulates the Emission of New Ideas (1960–1969) 92
9 ‘‘The Only Thing Left Is Optical Fibers’’ (1960–1969) 103
10 Trying to Sell a Dream (1965–1970) 117
11 Breakthrough: The Clearest Glass in the World (1966–1972) 131
12 Recipes for Grains of Salt:
The Semiconductor Laser (1962–1977) 147
13 A Demonstration for the Queen (1970–1975) 160
14 Three Generations in Five Years (1975–1983) 176
15 Submarine Cables:
Covering the Ocean Floor with Glass (1970–1995) 201
16 The Last Mile: An Elusive Vision 216
17 Reflections on the City of Light 227
18 Epilogue: The Boom, the Bubble, and the Bust 239
Appendix A. Dramatis Personae: Cast of Characters 257
Appendix B. A Fiber-Optic Chronology 265
Notes 279
Index 329
Photo gallery follows page 116
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