The document discusses the origins and development of fiber optic technology and its role in enabling the internet. It describes how Albert Einstein first conceived of stimulated light emission in 1916 and how Gordon Gould later invented the laser in 1960. Gould then co-founded Optelecom to use lasers for optical communications. Breakthroughs in dense wave division multiplexing in the 1990s allowed for the "real dawn of the internet" by enabling the first commercial DWDM system in 1996, establishing fiber optic networks as the foundation of global telecommunications.

1. The Dawn of the Internet
Kevin Kimberlin
Chairman, Spencer Trask & Co.

2. Albert Einstein first conceived of
stimulating the emission of light in 1916

3. In this
paper

4. Based on Einstein’s proof, 40 years
later, Columbia University student,
Gordon Gould, invented the Laser
(Light Amplification by Stimulated
Emission of Radiation)

5. First awareness of the laser!

6. Gordon Gould
co-founded
Optelecom Inc.
to use lasers for
communications
Source: Taylor, Nick, Laser, Simon and Shuster; August 2000, page 212.

7. Their Light Optics
Program leader was
Dr. David Huber

8. Gould’s company, Dr. Huber and
Kevin Kimberlin founded a
company to create…

10. Breakthrough: light amplification within
Dense Wave Division Multiplexer

12. “…that first commercial
DWDM system was “the
real dawn of the
internet.”
“Ciena was the first to
offer dense WDM
(DWDM)…in 1996.”
OSA Centennial Snapshots
Boom, Bubble, Bust: The Fiber Optic Mania
JEFF HECHT
In the decade from 1996 to
2005, breakthroughs in fiber
optics and networking
transformed society and laid the
groundwork for the global
internet.

13. “…commercial WDM
transport systems as
the common basis of
all…
telecommunications
networks.”