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Technical problemsThere are two problems confronting telephone-cableengineers at the present time. One is to increase thefrequency bandwidth which can be transmitted over along transoceanic cable. The object is to provide cheaplyfor a large number of telephone circuits on routes of high

traffic density, and ultimately for the transmission oftelevision. That is the longer-term problem of the NorthAtlantic in particular. The other is to reduce the costof telephone-cable communication on routes where thenumber of circuits required is comparatively small andthe distances are very long.CANTAT will be the first instance of the use of asingle cable to provide both-way communication fortelephone, telex, etc. over a long transoceanic route. Todo so, instead of having separate cables for the twodirections of transmission, means doubling the maximumfrequency that has to be transmitted, more repeaters,and the inclusion in each repeater of directional filte rs

to separate the two directions of transmission.All this adds to the technical complexity and sizeof the repeaters. Their stowing away on shipboardand subsequent launching bring greater mechanicaldifficulties. These difficulties have been made easier bythe British development of light-weight armourlesscable for deep-sea work and of modified cable-layingmachinery. Together these reduce the risk to the cableof laying large, rigid, steel repeater housings in deepwater.The cost of the 'round-the-world' cable system hasbeen estimated on the assumption that both-way cableswill be used, as for CANTAT. The use of twin cables, asfor TAT in 1956, would be prohibitively expensive forthe long distances of most intra-Commonwealth routes.Two cable diameters have been considered, lin. and

0-8in. With repeaters spaced approximately 28 nauticalmiles apart, these cables would provide, respectively,80 and 48 circuits using the special (3kc/s) channelequipment mentioned in the Foreword on p. 581.Even so, the engineering of the system will presentmany technical problems. For example, the length of thelink between Canada and Fanning Island (the nearestBritish territory in the Pacific) is just over 3400 nauticalmileshalf as long again as across the North Atlantic.It will therefore be useful to have the experience fromthe United Kingdom-Canada cable at an early stage inthe enterprise.The general benefit

During recent years there have been rapid advancesin the design of submerged repeaters and submarinecoaxial cables. Further advances may be expected, butthese are unlikely to make a very considerable differenceto the cost of a system of given traffic capacity. The costof the 'round-the-world' system has been estimated at88 million, including 13 million already expended orcommitted in respect of intra-Commonwealth circuits inTAT or CANTAT.The Assistant Postmaster General, in closing theLondon Conference, used these words: 'The Common-wealth is a social, political and commercial organization,commanding, it is true, many machines, but it is basedon the spirit of the men behind those machines. Whenwe have completed the design sketched out on the maphanging on the wall of your conference room , the cableswill be used for peaceful and useful developments, forthe general benefit of ordinary men and women all overthe world'. That is the hope of everyone associated withthe project.

TECHNOLOGICAL HUMANISMFrom PROF. D. G. TUCKER,* D.SC, MEMBERIT is to be hoped that the publication of Sir Eric Ashby'slecture in the September Journal (p. 478) will help electricalengineers to appreciate the importance of broadening theengineer's education an d will encourage those responsible fortechnological education to 'do something about it'.But the implication that nothing is being done at presentis quite unjustified. Sir Eric states ' . . . some English technicalcolleges have introduced an element of the humanities intotheir courses'.! It was clear, however, from the Easter 1958conference at Cambridge% that many technical colleges have Dr. Tuckier is Professor of Electrical Engineering in the University ofBirminghamt Italics due to the present writert 'Liberal Studies in Technical Education', Board of Extra-Mural Studies,University of CambridgeNOVEMBER I 9 5 8

introduced a great deal of the humanities into theircourses.Sir Eric also says '. . . universities in Britain are not yetpersuaded that the humanities are an essential ingredient inhigher technological education. Many universities do indeedarrange opportunities for students to broaden their intereststhrough voluntary attendance at lectures on art and musicand the like. This is admirable, but it is a very different thingfrom recognizing certain humanistic studies as an integralpart of a technologist's formal higher education.' For years,however, the Electrical Engineering Department of theUniversity of Birmingham have made humanistic studies anintegral part of the electrical engineer's education.* For thepast two years, indeed, courses totalling about 72 hours ofscheduled class time have been provided, and success in the* D . G. TUCKER: 'Broader Education in a Technological Departm ent ', UniversitiesQuarterly, November 1958

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(continued)various examinations on these courses has been an essentialpart in the award of a degree.The difficulty of finding time in the time-table for suchcourses is usually greatly exaggerated. The important thingin technological education is to educate the technologist. Agreat deal of the conventional technological courses has nogreat educational value and is unlikely to be used by theengineer in his later career. If he should want it later he oughtto be able to learn it for himself; or he could attend a suitablepostgraduate course, of which an encouraging number arenow available. Thus a dispassionate review of syllabuses willreadily show where room for broader education can befound.

Should broader education be provided for the university asa whole, or separately in each department? There seems tobe need for effort at both levels. Open lectures on a widerange of topics are provided in all universities, but it is at thedepartmental level that efforts in broader education can bemade to have the greatest effect.In a large university, students inevitably attach theirloyalty to their department, and therefore their departmentalstaff are in the strongest position to influence the students intheir thoughts and plans. Thus in any broader educationcourses it is essential for the departmental staff to take alarge share in the teaching and discussion. If these courseswere left entirely to specialists from other departments orfrom outside the university, the students might be forgivenfor d oubting their relevance to the life of an engineer.

The courses in the Electrical Engineering Department atBirmingham follow remarkably closely the pattern recom-mended by Sir Eric. Informal discussion groups deal withsuch topics as the use of English (covering the students' owncomposition, speaking, and dramatic reading) and theinfluence of the industrial revolution on literature, societyand institutions.Formal lecture courses are given on design in engineering(to emphasize the breadth of interest in the engineer's lifeand the wide considerations of design) and on governmentand management in relation to the technologist (coveringtechnologists in management, government research and itsinfluence on industry, and innovation in small firms).In the final undergraduate year, a comprehensive course*of about 44 lectures is given on the historical, sociological,economic and scientific background of technology, and onengineering production problems. In these courses as a whole,the Department's own staff provide about one-third of all theinstruction, the remainder being provided by other depart-ments in the Faculties of Science, Arts, and Commerce, andby outside speakers.These courses are examined by means of vacation essays{in which a surprisingly high standard is reached by manystudents) and formal examinations. Some informal butprepared discussion meetings are organized by the studentswithout help from the staff, and the standard reached is quitegood. Im promp tu discussions are, however, usually very po or.The courses are still experimental, and efforts are being madeto improve them in many ways. D. A. Bell, 'Birmingham's Backgrou nd', Technology, August 1958, p. 166