How did Charles K. Kao prove optical fibers could work?
It is a matter of purity and precision. The central idea was that existing glass fibers had too much inherent loss, like impurities absorbing or scattering the light. We needed to understand the materials science involved. Through careful analysis and collaboration, we theorized that if the glass could be made extraordinarily pure, the loss could be reduced to acceptable levels, perhaps as low as 20 decibels per kilometer. This was a theoretical target, but the underlying principle was sound. Science is about asking the right questions, and we asked how to make the glass transparent enough. This led to the development of low-loss fibers, making light-guided communication a reality.
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