Customer Reviews

Circuits in the Sea: The Men, the Ships, and the Atlantic Cable

5 star:		(3)
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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As we approach and pass significant anniversaries in the history of submarine telegraphy much interest is being shown in the events of almost 150 years ago; Chester Hearn's book on the Atlantic Cable is the third such in as many years. In his preface to the book, Hearn notes that his interest in the cable came from the research for an earlier book: Tracks in the Sea: Matthew Fontaine Maury and the Mapping of the Oceans. Maury, of course, was the oceanographer whose favorable report on the conditions of the Atlantic sea bed encouraged Cyrus Field to pursue the laying of an Atlantic cable, and he continued to collaborate with Field, offering advice and assistance in dealing with the US Navy as Field gathered the resources he needed for the vast project.

Using for its sources both contemporary accounts of the cable story, and archival papers and business records of such participants as Cyrus Field and Samuel Morse, Circuits in the Sea gives a detailed and comprehensive report of the enterprise from it shaky beginnings in 1854 to its successful conclusion twelve years later. The book follows a strict chronology, beginning with a brief description of the origins of land line telegraphy in the US and Britain and the subsequent development in England of the first undersea cables in 1850 and 1851. It then moves quickly to the start of the Atlantic cable story with details of Frederick Gisborne's work in Newfoundland which led to his meeting with Cyrus Field in early 1854, and the remainder of the book takes us through the successful completion of the Atlantic cable in 1866. A brief "Summing Up" chapter mentions the evolution of the submarine cable in the following years, and brings the reader to Field's death in 1892.

For the interested reader, Circuits in the Sea is a worthy addition to the list of cable histories. For the researcher, each chapter has many notes giving the source of information and quoted material, and the book also has an extensive list of sources and a comprehensive bibliography, the only deficiency, perhaps, being a lack of on-line references.

Hearn's handsomly presented volume "Circuits in the Sea" chronicles, in uneven, and I think, misplaced detail, the efforts, principally, of Cyrus Field, to lay a telegraphic cable across the north atlantic, over a period of over a decade.

The story itself is a compelling one. Hearn gives us enough of a sense of the character of the main players to bring us into the drama to a degree, although I think he is more concerned to give us a factual account, than attempting a vivid dramatic recreation.

If 3.5 stars had been a rating option I'd have scored the book this way - I wasn't as drawn into the story as presented by Hearn as I have been with another author. Whilst the whole saga is a very drawn out affair, and in many ways, the real affair is a catologue of mishap, disaster and recklessness, it realy doesn't excuse the fact that the book does become a little tedious in parts in catologuing the littany of mishap and misfortune. The weariness that some of the chief protagonists must have felt by being involved with such a drawn out and difficult venture should not in any way be visited upon the reader. Hearn eskews the romantic view of the undertakings common of many authors of this story, and perhaps this is what I missed.

That said though, this is a comprehensive account, and certainly, one feels, is technically accurate. The (almost) countless crossings by Field across the atlantic to attract and retain investors, to oversee elements of the cable's construction, to prepare for the voyages, and to lobby for naval assistance, are faithfully recounted here.

Personally, I enjoyed the few chapters devoted to the subject in Howard Clayton's "Atlantic Bridgehead" more, but, Hearn has probably tried to steer the difficult course between catering to the seasoned reader on this subject - who already knows the outline of events quite well - and the more general reader who might be coming to it for the first time.

This volume brings together the financial, technical, political and strategic business events that formed the background to the decision to try and lay the cable, and the acutal attempts to lay it. I recommend it to anyone interested in the industrial heroics of the nineteenth century, the life of Cyrus Field, the evolution of electrical theory, or, of course, the meaning of the advent of instantaneous international communications in an age that hungered after information as much as our own.

Dear Sir,
I am a retired "Cable Ship" Captain who's hobby is the study of the Submarine Telegraph Cable era from 1850 to 1950.

This book "Circuits in the Sea" tells the story and the history of the first Atlantic Telegraph Cable and in my opinion is the finest book written on this subject.

I have ordered 5 copies of the book and await delivery (in March?) of the final two copies!

Regards,

Franklin

This is a well written book about an amazing story. Since it was published in 2004, there have been only three reviews written in Amazon.com. I assume that it is not a very popular book.

If potential readers understood how this work enriches our lives today they might be more interested in the topic. For the most part the book ends in 1866, when the transatlantic cable was finally working after an 11 year effort.

I am interested in the story between 1866 and the present time. Here are some highlights:

1. In 1866 the cable could send only seven words per minute.
2. In 1913 AT&T developed the first electronic amplifiers. These could provide huge improvements in the speed of communications.
3. By 1927 two way radio calls could be made between New York and London. The cost for a 3 minute call was $75.
4. In 1956 a transatlantic cable called "TAT-1" was installed. This could handle 36 calls at one time. It used vacuum tube repeaters and copper cable.
5. In 1978 "TAT-9" was installed. It still used copper cable, but in could handle 4,000 calls.
6. In 1988 "TAT-10" was installed, using fiber optic cable, and it could handle 40,000 calls.
7. Note that a phone call requires about 4,000 bits per second (4 Kilobits, where a bit is a "1" or a "0"). Live video displays require about 2,000,000 bits per second (2 Megabits, or 2 Mbs).
8. The "Apollo" cable was installed in 2002, and handles 3.2 Terabits per second. This is 3,200,000,000,000 bits per second.
9. The fastest satellite link "Eutelsat" was launched in 2010. It's speed is 70 Gigabits per second. This is 70,000,000,000 bits per second.
10. 3G cell phones handle 2.4 Mbs . This is 2,400,000 bits per second.
11. 4G cell phones handle between 10 Mbs and 20 Mbs.

I would be fascinated about a story that described the full range of applications for all these improvements. I would also like to know who made all these things happen.