A new version for the fourth edition should be available over the summer. If you have any trouble obtaining a copy or are involved in corporate training please e-mail me directly . Please e-mail me. I recently completed a pair of 5-hour video courses based on Understanding Fiber Optics , which is being distributed by SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering. For details, please see the SPIE Web site .
History can be fascinating and educational.
City of Light , part of the Sloan Technology Series, was published in Spring 1999 by Oxford University Press. It tells how the technology developed from early demonstrations of light guiding in flowing jets of water, through instruments that allow physicians to look inside the stomach without surgery, to the communication fibers that provide the backbone of today's global telecommunication network. There are tales of bright ideas, hard work, disappointment, and triumph. The cast ranges from the college undergraduate who made a key breakthrough to eminent professors of physics and independent-minded entrepreneurs. Read a brief narrative history More about City of Light.