Book excerpt: The invention of the laser in 1960 provided mankind with a unique source of light, which is highly directional, spectrally pure and extremely bright. The development of such a unique source of light ushered in a large number of applications in many diverse areas such as communications, medicine, defence, etc. Besides, lasers have found numerous commercial uses and the number of such applications is still rising. Today, light wave communication using hair-thin optical fibers of glass has truly revolutionised communication and has been primarily responsible for the Internet explosion. Salient Features " An introductory, easy-to-understand and purely non-mathematical text "Covers state-of-the-art developments in the field of fiber optics - fiber amplifiers, dispersion compensation and non-linear effects "Discusses basics of lasers with emphasis on special properties and applications "Adopts an application-oriented approach applications explained with interesting illustrations "Provides examples and comparisons from day-to-day experience, wherever feasible, to make readers understand by correlation of known facts The book is designed to serve as a popular reference on fiber optics and lasers. It will not only interest general readers and students, but will also serve as a useful reference to working professionals in the field of lasers and fiber-optic communication system.