Beginning ~ with our war against the sea

Beginning

This is the story of Man's [sic] newest victory in an age-old conflict — his war against the sea.  It is a story of great moral courage, of scientific skill, of million-dollar gambles; and though it affects every one of us directly or indirectly, it is almost entirely unknown to the general public.

For almost a century, the cables could carry only telegraph signals; then the development of submerged repeaters made possible the first transatlantic telephone circuits in 1956.  But only one year later, the dawn of the Space Age presented the cables with a new challenge — communications satellites.  This book is a complete though non-technical account of this electronic adventure, which has profoundly changed the patterns of human life.

Voice Across the Sea ~ by Arthur Charles Clarke, 1974, history, 228 pages

The laying of the first transatlantic cable, just over a hundred years ago, was the Victorian equivalent of the Apollo Project.  It was also almost as well documented by the leading journalists and artists of the time, for it was linked with the saga of the famous Great Eastern, the only ship in the world that could carry enough cable to reach from Europe to America.

"How inappropriate to call this planet 'Earth' when it is clearly 'Ocean'." — Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)

Footnote:  This hardcover turned up during my recent move.  The dust jacket shows that it originally cost $10, but the sticker still on it shows that I paid a mere 25-cents.  Only a quarter!  This copy had once been a library book in a private girls school in Chattanooga, and exactly one student ever checked it out!  The Dewey Decimal System (621.382) indicates that Donna B. (that student) was interested in Applied Physics.  Well, so am I.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.