Polymers and Communications: A History of Polymers at Bell Laboratories

Polymers have played a critical role in the development of the telecommunications industry, making the American telephone network the envy of the world. Polymers were used in practically every part of the network to fuel the Bell Systems expansion during the first half of this century, making our dream of Universal Service a reality. Many of the technological advances were built on a foundation of discoveries at Bell Labs. These stemmed from a long-standing commitment to obtaining a fundamental understanding of the polymers we needed to create the robust, affordable components on which the communications network is based. This talk will discuss some of the contributions Bell Labs has made in polymer science and technology, ranging from the use of polymeric materials in the earliest telephone cables to fundamental studies of the polymers needed for the optical communications networks in use today.