Detailed outline: Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication

Jihad Faroukhi
International Communication
Dr. Ibahrine
Detailed Outline

Chapter 1: Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication


1. Geographical Space: A Barrier to Communicate.
i. For a long time ago people using lighting signals fires on the tops of mountains, sending messages in reflected sunlight off polished metal shields.
ii. The concept of communication was introduced for the first time in 1979 by medieval historians.
iii. The “age of discovery” saw explorers travelling the edge of the known world mapping their paths for others to follow.
iv. Communication strategies and devices of many varieties were used to get advantage in warfare and trade.
2. Geography and the Mythical World.
i. Foreign lands were believed to be the bizarre and frightening places where gymnosophists contemplated the sun all day standing in the hot rays first on one leg and then on the other.
ii. The Product of fear and imagination, these mythical ideas among ancient cultures were richly symbolic and were accompanied by expression in art, science, language and ritual.
3. Ancient Encounters of societies and cultures.
i. Greek and Arab Philosopher and mathematicians sought to rise above mythical beliefs and to construct rational models for knowledge, and they saw the world as measurable and they suggested the use of coordinates to divide geographical space.
ii. The early Greeks regarded the remote islands to their west as the horizon of the known world.
iii. Alexander the Great stretched the geographical boundaries of the European worldview even farter.
4. Global explorers: Migrants, holy People, Merchants.
i. For ancient pre-agrarian societies in Europe, migration was a way of life.
ii. Changing climate conditions and food supplies required a nomadic life before 2000BCE.
iii. Except for trade caravans and emissaries on state business with armed escorts, travel was considered hazardous and difficult.
iv. After the fall of the Greek and Roman Empires knowledge and curiosity about China and India ebbed among Europeans.

5. Map Makers and the Medival World.

i. Mapping was an integral part of Communication history.
ii. Maps were considered to be valuable keys to unlocking unknown worlds.
iii. Maps served many purposes in ancient times, including maritime navigations, religious pilgrimages and military and administrative uses.

6. Inventors: Signals and Semaphores.

i. A time line tracking the emergence of information technologies
shows a bewildering array of conceptual and material inventions.
ii. Most information technologies were solutions to tangible and I mm immediate problems.
iii. The earliest known communication use of a simple signal ys tem system over distances employed fires or beacons.
iv. Rliability and speed of delivery through the medieval postal system were remarkably good.

7. The Printing Press: Literacy and the Knowledge Explosion.

i. The social consequences of the printing press were far-reaching, eventually encouraging the practice of reading among common people and the reformation of medieval European institutions, religious, and governments.

ii. The postal service was an innovation patterned after older courier and messenger system.

8. Scientists and international Networks.
i. Technological innovations in travel and the changing role of international science in the mid 19th century brought far reaching changes in relations between nations.
ii. The introduction of the first user-friendly electric telegraph was a break-through in the longstanding dilemma over development of the two way information exchange.
9. The International electric Revolution.
i. The Scientific innovations of the 19th century launched the world on a path to electrification of industry and commerce.

ii.The telephone was a communication innovation that was adopted and managed differently in each nation.

ii.Lee De Forest who is remembered as the “father of radio” made significant advancement in the clarity of sound with his triode vacuum tube, making the transmission of sound possible.