In spring, it is said, a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love. Likewise, when it comes to sending messages by novel means, men's inclinations seem to turn to thoughts of God. Thus it was with Samuel Morse, when he sent a quotation from the Book of Numbers, "What hath God wrought", by the first electric telegraph from Washington to Baltimore in 1844. And so it was, too, 140 years ago today, that Cyrus West Field transmitted "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace and good will to men " on the first telegraphic cable connection across the north Atlantic.
International cable networks began with the connection of Dover and Calais in 1851. This was closely followed by the opening of a submarine cable from Holyhead to Howth in June 1852, but the real challenge was to join Newfoundland and Kerry, thereby making possible a link between the United States and Britain.
The responsible entrepreneur, Field, was an American financier born in Massachusetts in 1819. He made a fortune in paper distribution, and this allowed him to retire from business at the early age of 33. His imagination was caught by the idea of linking the two continents, and with the help of grants from both governments and his own personal fortune, he was determined to realise this grand ambition.
It took many years, punctuated by many breaks and failures, for the intercontinental dream to reach reality, but this it did with Field's message on August 5th, 1858. Any euphoria, however, was short-lived: the insulation surrounding the new cable was faulty, and the transatlantic link broke down on September 2nd, only 28 days after going into operation.
Field was a ruined man, his personal resources entirely depleted by this heroic failure; he was obliged to end retirement, and return to the world of business to repair his damaged fortunes. But the work went on without him; a new cable was laid, opening in July 1866, and it survived to become the first transatlantic connection destined for practical and commercial viability.
This developing system of rapid communications, apart from all its other benefits, made forecasting the weather a realisable ambition. It is only by analysing existing patterns of temperature and pressure over a wide area that the forecaster can identify weather systems and predict their ultimate arrival, and if this basic information takes too long to reach its destination, forecasts will be "history" even before they are prepared.
But with the advent of the telegraph, observations from distant parts were almost instantaneously available - and now anything seemed possible.