Fibre‐optic sensing: past reflections and future prospects

This chapter reflects upon the past and on the achievements that fibre sensors have made over the past half-century. It explains the simple observation that market presence of fibre-optic sensing is modest at best. The chapter illustrates the essentials of a photonic system. Photonics as a discipline is most certainly arousing strategic interest with targeted research and development programmes emerging in both the United States and the European Union. The microstructured fibres, also known as photonic crystal fibres, dramatically increased the variety of geometries and optical responses available to fibre-based sensing. These fibres have arrays of wavelength-scale air holes in their transverse cross section, which extend along the full fibre length and define the waveguide properties. Fibre-optic sensing will continue to provide not only exciting research opportunities but also intriguing (and profitable) application niches in the future

The North Court of the Erechtheion and the Ritual of the Plynteria

The north side of the uncanonical Temple of Athena Polias at Athens, conventionally called the Erechtheion, included a small paved court with banks of steps on the east and on the north against the Acropolis wall. The details of construction indicate that both the marble paving and the steps were built as part of the Erechtheion. This small, secluded North Court is a likely venue for the solemn ceremonies of the Plynteria and the Kallynteria, in which the ancient olive-wood statue of Athena Polias was taken out of the temple, bathed, and adorned. The unroofed, tightly integrated North Court reinforces the status of the Erechtheion as an innovative architectural composition