City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics

THE QUEST FOR REMOTE VIEWING 45
Point, and the importance of Rocky Point faded as other RCA ventures grew
much faster.
The use of light-guiding rods continued to spread slowly. In the 1930s,
DuPont invented the transparent plastic called Lucite in America and Perspex
in England, and the durable, lightweight material replaced quartz. Dentists
used lamps with curved Lucite rods to illuminate mouths; doctors used Lucite
tongue depressors. Yet the idea of imaging through bundles of thin fibers was
stillborn. While Hansell conceived of the idea at RCA, the company did nothing
with it. In that sense, Jenkins was right in saying no ‘‘great pioneer
invention’’ could come from a giant corporation. RCA—and perhaps Hansell
himself—never saw the potential of fiber optics, and wandered away, leaving
its development to others.