The Communications Miracle: The Telecommunication Pioneers from Morse to the Information Superhighway (Applications of Communications Theory) - Hardcover

This book describes the stage-by-stage creation, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, of one of the greatest human artifacts--the world communication, broadcasting, and information technology systems which are essential to modern life and which will transform the ways in which people live and work in the future. The significance of each innovative step is shown in terms of its impact--in scale and relevance on today's communication world. A final chapter looks to the future and considers the ability of information technology and information superhighways to improve rural, urban, and national economies. The author presents his account of the dramatic advances in telecommunications and broadcasting as essentially a human story.Bray takes a compelling look at the brilliant minds and personalities who helped launch the electronic revolution. He provides remarkable accounts of the early scientists and mathematicians such as Ampere, Faraday, Maxwell, Hertz, and Planck--exploring their backgrounds and motivations. In giving us this perspective, John Bray has a unique advantage. As a world-renowned scientist and pioneer in British telecommunication technology, he himself was a principal player in the subject of his narrative. It would be hard to find any person more qualified to undertake a task as monumental in scale and importance.

This book describes the stage-by-stage creation, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, of one of the greatest of human artifacts - the world communication, broadcasting, and information technology systems which are essential to modern life and which will transform the ways in which people live and work in the future. This volume also identifies the roles played by individual innovators - from early scientists and mathematicians such as Faraday, Maxwell, and Hertz to the inventors of the transistor and microchip, digital techniques, and satellite and optical fiber systems - whose work can now be seen to have been of critical importance in the creative process. The significance of each innovative step is shown in terms of its impact - in scale and relevance - on today's communication world. A final chapter looks to the future and considers the ability of information technology and information superhighways to improve rural, urban, and national economies.