I spent many weekends in the library doing my history reading, and a good book to read was an important part of my Saturday "relaxation".

Now, it's the centrepiece of what the title of a 2011 book about Valley history dubbed the Greatest Creation of Wealth in the history of the Planet.

"His insight was that if you could get rid of the impurities, you could transmit light over many kilometers," says Jeff Scheck, who authored a history of fiber optics in 1999.