History

             HISTORY.
             The first person that was credited on the research of total internal reflection was John Tyndall. In 1854, he demonstrated that light used internal reflection to follow a specific path by using a jet of water that flowed from one container to another with light that was made incident at a glancing angle. This simple experiment marked the first research into the guided transmission of light. .
             In 1880, Alexander Graham Bell invented "photophone". This device allowed for the transmission of sound on a beam of light by projecting voice through an instrument toward a mirror demonstrating the basic principle of optical communications. (Bell transmitted his voice as a telephone signal through about 600 feet of free space (air) using a beam of light as the carrier). It functioned similarly to the telephone, except the photophone used light as a means of projecting the information, while the telephone relied on electricity. This type of transmission was rather ineffective due to outside interferences such as clouds or trees that disrupted transport but it is recognized as the progenitor of the modern fiber optics. .
             The rise of the innovation reached a critical mass in 1950's and the young technology slowly emerged into the daily world. In 1956, Narinder Kapany who took the important role in the whole drama invented the glass-coated glass rod (optical fiber with cladding) that was used for non-telecommunications applications. The optical fiber with cladding helped eliminate the biggest problem that hindered Alexander Graham Bells photophone by providing a means of protecting the beam of light from environmental obstacles. This development was suitable for medical purposes because it had a light loss of one decibel per meter, which did evolved to make the laparoscopic surgery device. .
             The invention of the laser in the 1960's developed by Theodore Maiman embarked a widespread interest in optical systems for data communications.