Voice across the sea

by Arthur C. Clarke

Book by Clarke, Arthur C.

Genres: History, Science

224 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1974

About the author

Stories, works of noted British writer, scientist, and underwater explorer Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, include 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

This most important and influential figure in 20th century fiction spent the first half of his life in England and served in World War II as a radar operator before migrating to Ceylon in 1956. He co-created his best known novel and movie with the assistance of Stanley Kubrick.

Clarke, a graduate of King's College, London, obtained first class honours in physics and mathematics. He served as past chairman of the interplanetary society and as a member of the academy of astronautics, the royal astronomical society, and many other organizations.

He authored more than fifty books and won his numerous awards: the Kalinga prize of 1961, the American association for the advancement Westinghouse prize, the Bradford Washburn award, and the John W. Campbell award for his novel Rendezvous with Rama. Clarke also won the nebula award of the fiction of America in 1972, 1974 and 1979, the Hugo award of the world fiction convention in 1974 and 1980. In 1986, he stood as grand master of the fiction of America. The queen knighted him as the commander of the British Empire in 1989.

Reviews

[ilya murychev · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about the megaproject of the 19th century. A project in terms of complexity comparable to the space program of the 20th century. For some reason, there is almost no literature on this topic in Russian. Arthur C. Clarke does a very good job of covering the whole story. The main conclusion in such enterprises is that perseverance in achieving the goal is very important.


Отличная книга про мегапроект 19 века. Проект по уровню сложности, сопоставимый с космической программой 20века. Почему-то на русском языке почти нет литературы, посвященной этой теме. Артур Кларк очень хорошо раскрывает всю эту историю. Главный вывод в таких предприятиях: очень важна настойчивость в достижении цели.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clarke wrote an updated version of this book named ‘How the World Was One’. If I knew of that version before I purchased this one I would have read that first. In any case while this book is a history, it contains some remarkably foresightful statements, two of which I quote below:

On the transistor (p. 151):
"The name ”transistor” was coined to describe such a device, and a revolution in electronics has started which in a few years will change the world. Its first impact was in the small but important field of hearing aids, which promptly shrank to invisible size and reduced their battery consumption to a fraction of its former value. Then came portable radios which were really portable, ”giant” computers that could fit into filing cabinets; and before long there will be more tiny transistorized devices watching over our safety, supervising our industrial processes, providing our communications and entertainment, than there will be human beings on the surface of this planet."

Regarding satellite communication, this sounds a lot like the Industrial Internet (p. 200):
"The band of wave lengths available would be enough to accommodate millions of radio circuits, and thousands of TV channels. One day we shall need them all; as automation spreads over the world, there will be armies of scattered machines and factories which will have to keep in touch with each other. They will be able to do so only with the aid of a global communications system immensely more widespread and more efficient than anything we possess today."

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am definitely a nerd, but I found this book to be amazing. It chronicals the history of transatlantic communication from the telegraph to the telephone cables laid in 1955 and 1956. Since the book was written in 1958, Clarke has an refreshing awe about the accomplishment that we today, with satellite communication, do not feel. I found the story engrossing and an interesting history of scientific accomplishments, but more than that, it was interesting to compare the technology of 1958 with today. Some of what Clarke hypothesized in his book is reality today, and some of what he glowed over is passé now.

[Ryan Latorre · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me it was very interesting to learn about what they went through in order to lay the first undersea trans-Atlantic communications cable. Perhaps one of the most significant milestones early in the journey to today's Internet.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clarke writes in an engaging, readable style about the many scientists and inventors who made transatlantic voice (telephone) communication possible.

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dated but still interesting history of international telegraph and telephone cable laying in the 19th and 20th centuries.