HOW THE WORLD WAS ONE

In a cheerful, if hardly startling, review, Clarke traces humankind's transformation from a mosaic of isolated states into a true global community—through modern communications-technology that began with the laying of the first submarine cables and continues to future visions of "talkmen" (Walkman-like telephones). The story of the laying of the first submarine communications-cables—highly speculative ventures to which many men's fortunes, careers, and spirits were eagerly sacrificed—is one of the most profound of the 19th century, Clarke suggests; and he proves it by describing the nerve-racking succession of broken cables, entangled whales, and deadly silences that led to the miraculous, transformative intercontinental communications. Clarke maintains that the first messages to cross the oceans sparked a thirst for increased interaction that has yet to be slaked, and that led, almost inevitably, to such astonishing technical achievements as the telephone, long-distance service, TV, satellite communications, and fiber optics. Clarke's off-repeated hope is that universal communication will continue to transform what has become a global village into an interactive global family—easing ignorance through satellite-beamed, televised education in rural areas (as demonstrated in India); discouraging war through live, uncensored broadcasts from battle scenes (via such 24-hour coverage as CNN's) and through satellite surveillance; and, perhaps, even allowing for diversity within the global whole as small communities take what they need from dozens of orbiting moons while maintaining their independence. Little here is new—Clarke must be hoarse from repeating this message—but such a charming, pleasurable retelling of the societal unification myth is certainly worthwhile.