Kao, Kow, Gau, Ko
Ways to pronounce the
name of Charles,
Or the “Charlie” who I
know.
It doesn’t seem too grand
to say:
I love this man.
For he gave me much,
I’ll always be a loyal
fan.
A lifelong career for a
start.
Filled with excitement.
A path with purpose, and
with heart.
For this I owe a debt of
gratitude
For gifts of friendship,
opportunity, encouragement,
And for enthusiasm which
he imbued.
But for humanity he did
much more
He changed the way our
world Communicates,
How we move information
from man to man.
Like the Wheel’s
invention long before.
By reducing friction, and
increasing the speed
1
Fibre responded to mans
latest, growing need.
Charles was a Little man
with a Big heart and a Giant vision.
Through modesty, he
realised that success could only come
If he could sell his
vision to the wider world,
And that became his
fervent mission.
So he embarked upon a
crusade,
To enlighten key labs in
Travelled far, and
generously shared,
His ideas and material
with science minds,
Who otherwise, would not
have cared.
Some, may in their measly
way
Say of his great vision:
“It would have happened
anyway”.
But I recall how
vehemently it was opposed
By the experts, with
unenlightened plans less bold.
Charles with clever
colleague George did toil,
Proved fibre failings
were not fundamental
And that vast improvement
had potential.
The competing Microwave
solution then went off the boil.
Even
I
thought the vision rather optimistic
Yet, from the very start
He did see
That optical fibre would
in time,
Span the globe, and cross
the sea.
The clearest glass of the
day
Used to be made from
sand.
Fibre loss had to fall,
And now great minds lent
a hand.
The purest of chemicals
were turned into glass,
Clearer than the clearest
air upon this earth,
For hundreds of miles
light could now freely pass.
Information became the
cheapest commodity to transport.
Optical fibre has
“annihilated distance”, began the retort.
No more long distance
calls, made brief by cost,
Made awkward, by
satellite induced delay,
Intimacy lost,
Quite a different price
to pay.
Now that much time has
passed
Charles’ pioneering
vision seen to last.
And he receives his
greatest accolade
A Nobel Prize for
Physics,
The great award is made.
When young and playful
He like many bright boys
Found fire and explosives
Were his formative toys
Alfred Nobel was one of
that gang,
For he invented dynamite
For that very big Bang!
I think of Charles he
would be proud
Though his gift was not
so loud
For our Charles with the
Kao name
Always was a modest man
Never courted money of
fame.
What if Charles’
obsession with fibre had not been?
Long Haul Microwave
Waveguide
Would likely now have
been the scene.
Its constraints would
soon be met
There would now be no
World Wide Web,
No internet!
The world would be a
different place.
Greater separation
between nation and race.
Perhaps fibre will be
good for humanity,
Bringing us closer to a
shared responsibility
For climate and for
peace.
Alas technology can only
play a part
It is not enough for
Humanity to speak,
It must also listen to
its heart.
It is often said that as
we age,
We are left with just our
memories
As we move towards the
final page.
Ah, if only that were
always true
For those whose past
contains rich stories.
For some, the brain
begins to lose its glue
And the man who shrank
the world with light
Moves slowly into
darkness, towards the night.
Richard Epworth,
November 6, 2009
1:
What the wheel did for transport, optical fibre has done for
communications: less energy required
(i.e. by reducing attenuation), and increased speed enabled (information rates).
Notes:
I wrote this poem in just a couple
of hours, to share my emotional response to the news, with some close friends I
was meeting that evening.
Although optical fibre would never
have happened without all the other people too, Charles lit the fire and blew on
the sparks till the fire caught hold. We
have warmed ourselves around the blaze ever since!
Richard Epworth, STL 1966-2004