FOOLOWING THE PATHS OF GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS

Qaiss Aakif
Com2303
Dr. Ibahrine
Chapter 1



FOLLOWING THE HISTORICAL PATHS OF GLOBAL COMMUNICATOP


I. GEOGRAPHICAL SPACE : A BARRIER TO COMMUNICATION

a. For at least 3000 years human kind have sought to communicate across long distance

b. Courier systems were created and used by ancient China and Egypt physical space is no

longer an insurmountable obstacle to human interaction in global communication

c. Geography of space has become geography of experience ( Wark, 1994 )

d. The broader concepts of communication was introduced is 1979 by medieval historians

e. Communication strategies were used in the past to gain advantages in warfare and trade

II. GEOGRAPHY AND THE MYTHYCAL WORLD

a. Ancient people regarded the world through awe and wonder
b. Most people knew life only as they saw it within a few square miles
c. Myths surfaced in many places during the Middle Ages concerning the exploits of the

Christian King Prester John
d. These mythical ideas among ancient cultures were symbolic and expressed in many arts

such as science or language .

III. ANCIENT ENCOUNTER OF SOCIETIES AND CULTURES

a. The early Greek viewed the remote islands to their west as the horizon of the known

world
b. Muslim and Greek philosopher and mathematicians , far from beliefs and mythical

cultures , started to see the World as measurable , even suggesting the use of coordinates

to divide geographical space

IV. GLOBAL EXPLORERS : MIGRANTS HOLY PEOPLE , MERCHANTS

a. Migration was a way of life for many group of people such as pre-agrarian societies in

Europe
b. The development of technologies pushed some nomadic groups to settle on fertile land and

became sedentary
c. Arab ships, by the 9th century, started to make regular trip from Persian Gulf to China

V. MAPMAKERS IN THE MEDIEVAL WOLRD

a. It was an integral part of communication history
b. Maps were closely guarded by European royalty as state secret
c. Maps served many purposes such as maritime navigation, religious pilgrimage, and

military and administrative uses

VI. INVENTORS : SIGNALS AND SEMAPHORES

a. The earliest known communication use of simple signals over distance employed fires or

beacons
b. The Greeks developed a more elaborate torch signal system
c. The roman developed a visual signal using reflected sunlight

VII. THE PRINTING PRESS, LITERACY AND THE KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION.

a. The clerics in the early Middle Age were among the few literate people
b. The circulation of religious and diplomatic correspondence was an ancient practice
c. Printer press appeared in Asia as early as the 8th century
d. John Gutenberg’s develop the printing press system in Germany

VIII. SCIENTITS AND INTERNATIONAL NETWOKRS

a. The use of electric telegraph in 1844 was a break-through in the longstanding dilemma

over the development of two-way information exchange ( Hugill, 1999)
b. The development of railroad and telegraph , towns and cities were brought together within

a nation

IX. THE INTERNATIONAL ELECTRIC REVOLUTION

a. The scientific innovation of the 19th century launched the world on a path to electrification

of industry and commerce
b. The telephone , discovered by Alexander Graham Bell, was a great innovation for many

states and societies