This book takes readers back and forth through time and makes the past accessible to all families, students and the general reader and is an unprecedented collection of a list of events in chronological order and a wealth of informative knowledge about the rise and fall of empires, major scientific breakthroughs, groundbreaking inventions, and monumental moments about everything that has ever happened.

The Handbook includes chapters on all the major industry standards, quick reference tables, helpful appendices, plus a new glossary and list of acronyms. This practical handbook can stand alone or as a companion volume to DeCusatis: Fiber Optic Data Communication: Technological Advances and Trends (February 2002, ISBN: 0-12-207892-6), which was developed in tandem with this book.* Includes emerging technologies such as Infiniband, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and MPLS Optical Switching* Describes leading edge commercial products, including LEAF and MetroCore fibers, dense wavelength multiplexing, and Small Form Factor transceiver packages* Covers all major industry standards, often written by the same people who designed the standards themselves* Includes an expanded listing of references on the World Wide Web, plus hard-to-find references for international, homologation, and type approval requirements* Convenient tables of key optical datacom parameters and glossary with hundreds of definitions and acronyms* Industry buzzwords explained, including SAN, NAS, and MAN networking* Datacom market analysis and future projections from industry leading forecasters

For 100 years, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) has been charged with providing nonpartisan and authoritative research and analysis to inform the legislative debate in Congress. This has involved a wide range of services, such as written reports on issues and the legislative process, consultations with Members and their staff, seminars on policy and procedural matters, and congressional testimony. The Government and Finance Division at CRS took a step back from its intensive day-to-day service to Congress to analyze important trends in the evolution of the institution-its organization and policymaking process-over the last many decades. Changes in the political landscape, technology, and representational norms have required Congress to evolve as the Nation's most democratic national institution of governance. The essays in this print demonstrate that Congress has been a flexible institution that has changed markedly in recent years in response to the social and political environment.