ABSTRACT
There are many excellent books on physics, maths and applied maths, suitable for all levels, and it is not the intention to reproduce large tracts of maths and physics here. There are certain fundamen tals however that are necessary to adequately understand the process of selecting, designing, procuring, installing and testing a cable system. Some of these basic elements, such as decibels, occur over and over again in this particular subject of cable engineering, and it is topics such as these that will be explored in this chapter to give the reader a sufficient foundation of knowledge to make best use of the remaining chapters.
