Innovation and the Communications Revolution: From the Victorian pioneers to broadband Internet (History and Management of Technology) - Hardcover

'Anyone who already knows a lot about communications and is interested in history will find this book absorbing' -- Laszlo Solymar * Times Higher Educational Supplement * 'This is a book that should be in every secondary school library and would make an excellent introductory text for many undergraduate courses in many branches of engineering. It deserves a wide audience' -- Colin Gaskell

This book describes the stage-by-stage creation and development, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, of the remarkable global communications technologies that have profoundly transformed the way that people live and work. Written in a highly readable style, this book provides a fascinating account of the key innovators from Faraday, Maxwell and Hertz to the inventors of the transistor, microchip, optical fibre systems and the World Wide Web. The book explores the background and motivation of these pioneers and the social and economic environment in which they worked. The significance of each innovative step is shown in terms of the impact - in scale and relevance - on today's communications world. John Bray also looks to the future for innovations yet to come. This book will be interest to all those interested in the human thread running through the history of technological advances in telecommunications and broadcasting.