Lightning Beneath the Sea(书名，意为“海底闪电”). By James Tabor. W.W. Norton(美国知名出版社); 336 pages; $31.99 and £24
《海底闪电》。作者：詹姆斯·泰伯。W.W.诺顿出版社；336页；31.99美元，24英镑。
IT HAS BEEN called the Victorian equivalent(对应物，等同物) of the Apollo project(阿波罗计划，美国登月工程). At the time it was compared to Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas, was said to have half undone the Declaration of Independence, and prompted giddy predictions of world peace.(当时，人们将其与哥伦布抵达美洲相比，称其几乎颠覆了《独立宣言》，并引发了狂热的和平预测。) The completion of the first working transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866 showed that a global telecommunications network was possible and marked the dawn of(……的开端，黎明) the modern information age.
它被称为维多利亚时代的阿波罗计划。当时，人们将其与克里斯托弗·哥伦布抵达美洲相提并论，称其几乎颠覆了《独立宣言》，并引发了关于世界和平的狂热预测。1866年，第一条可用的跨大西洋电报电缆的完工表明，全球电信网络是可能的，并标志着现代信息时代的黎明。
This epic(史诗般的，宏大的) tale was retold in the early years of the internet boom, and today a growing awareness of humanity’s reliance on vulnerable(脆弱的，易受伤害的) but unseen submarine data cables has given it renewed relevance. A triumph of Victorian engineering, the Atlantic cable marked the point at which the age of steel and steam began to yield to the modern world in which industrial might depends on the transport and manipulation of weightless data.(作为维多利亚时代工程的胜利，大西洋电缆标志着钢铁和蒸汽时代开始让位于现代世界——在这个世界里，工业实力依赖于无形数据的传输和处理。) In his pacey(节奏快的，明快的) retelling of the story, an adventure yarn(冒险故事，惊险小说) with telegraph cables, James Tabor shows how the technology of one era laid the foundations for the next.
这个史诗般的故事在互联网繁荣初期被重述，而如今，人们日益意识到人类对脆弱却无形的海底数据电缆的依赖，使其重新具有现实意义。作为维多利亚时代工程的胜利，大西洋电缆标志着钢铁和蒸汽时代开始让位于现代世界——在这个世界里，工业实力依赖于无形数据的传输和处理。詹姆斯·泰伯以明快的笔调重述了这个故事，这是一部关于电报电缆的冒险奇谭，展示了某一时代的技术如何为下一个时代奠定基础。
