HISTORY OF FIBER OPTICS
In 1800s a British physicists by the name of John Tyndall discovered that light could be bent around a corner through a curved spout of running water [1]. In this experiment he permitted water to spout from a tube, the light on reaching the limiting surface of air and water was totally reflected and seemed to be washed downwards by the descending liquid. What he had discovered was the idea known as Total Internal Reflection. It is this idea that is the basis of Fiber Optics.
The first practical application of this was used in the United Kingdom during the 1930s in the medical field. An un-coated plastic “channel” was used to guide light to an area of interest for inspection [2]. Also during the 1930s, other ideas were developed with this newly found technology such as transmitting images through a fiber. The idea of transmitting an image through bundles of glass fibers was introduced in the 50s [1]. This idea of light propagating through a fiber was rapidly expanding. During the 1960s, Lasers were introduced as efficient light sources and in the 70s the refinement of pure low-loss glass fibers was establish [1] [3]. With these developments, fiber optic transmission became practical and advantageous for many applications.
In 1980s small telephone companies were allowed by the United State government to compete with the AT&T after it deregulated the service. Many other telephone companies like MCI and Sprint took advantage of this opportunity and installed their regional fiber optics telecommunications networks throughout the world.