"A Thread Across the Ocean" is an outstanding book! I was amazed at how quickly the developers went from crossing rivers to proposing crossing the oceans, the high number of failures of cables often within hours of commissioning them, and the relentless pursuit of success. It demonstrates how the financiers knew the ROI on a successful cable would be tremendous and justify all the failed attempts. The transoceanic cables led to all sorts of new information coding schemes, new materials invented, new ship technologies to lay cables and ships to find, raise and repair cables from the ocean floor (with no deep-sea submersible vehicles available!), new materials. Like all big successful projects, it spawned lots of new technologies and societal changes.
