Arthur C. Clarke wrote a non-fiction book about this, I think it is called Voice Across the Sea. I read it many years ago and found it very good.
The first transatlantic telegraph cable was a bold, beautiful failure (2019)
11–19 of 19 posts
Re: The first transatlantic telegraph cable was a bold, beautiful failure (2019)
#12Mother Earth Mother Board
Re: The first transatlantic telegraph cable was a bold, beautiful failure (2019)
#13https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_telegraph_cable#...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_communications_cable...
Thomson (Kelvin) was right, and Whitehouse was wrong. It's seriously disappointing how the IEEE of all groups is now trying to spin this differently.
Re: The first transatlantic telegraph cable was a bold, beautiful failure (2019)
#14There is a hard to find book called "Tent life in Siberia" by George Kennan, which is his account of a scouting trip of a bunch of Americans trying to build an overland telegraph route to Europe via Canada, Alaska then Russia, because it's proven too difficult to go under the Pacific. It's quite an entertaining read if you're into that kind of thing. It's not the most professional operation and after two years they g…
It may be hard to find in print, but it's not hard to find!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12328
Re: The first transatlantic telegraph cable was a bold, beautiful failure (2019)
#15Mother Earth Mother Board
https://www.wired.com/1996/12/ffglass/
I'm very jealous of everyone who gets to read this for the first time this weekend.
Re: The first transatlantic telegraph cable was a bold, beautiful failure (2019)
#16Posted this because I saw a piece of the cable at the Science Museum in London years ago. It looks like it's still on display in the Information Age gallery:
https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co33448...
Re: The first transatlantic telegraph cable was a bold, beautiful failure (2019)
#17Once it was working, operation was like this: [1] The siphon recorder produced a squiggly line, which could be read as a code similar to Morse code. Not clicks, though. The cable had so much inductance that the data rate was very limited.
[1] https://atlantic-cable.com/Article/1895HazelHill/index.htm
Re: The first transatlantic telegraph cable was a bold, beautiful failure (2019)
#18If you ever had a root canal treatment, you might have some of the same building materials in your mouth as the cable (Gutta Percha)!
Re: The first transatlantic telegraph cable was a bold, beautiful failure (2019)
#19This is a very familiar pattern: brilliant visionary bring new technology too early and it fails. The next guy does not need to be such a prodigy - he just need to be right on time to succeed.