Nā Charles Kao, nāna i kite ētahi o ngā āhuatanga ā-tinana o te karāhe i ngā tau 1960, i whakatakoto te turanga mō te whakawhitiwhiti raraunga tere-tere i te ao mōhiohio, ā, e mōhiotia ana ko ia te "matua o te whakawhitiwhiti muka whatu." I mua i te mahi tuatahi a Tākuta Kao, i whakaponohia whānuitia kāore e pai ngā muka karāhe hei kawe mōhiohio nā te nui o te ngaronga tohu i puta mai i te marara o te mārama. I kite a Tākuta Kao mā te āta pure i te karāhe, ka taea te hanga i ngā paihere muka pai ka taea te tuku i te nui o ngā mōhiohio i ngā tawhiti roa me te iti o te whakaiti tohu, ā, ka taea te whakakapi i ngā waea parahi mō te whakawhitiwhiti kōrero. I whakawhiwhia e ia te Tohu Nobel mō te Ahupūngao i te tau 2009 ki te tohunga ahupūngao o Kanata, a Willard S. Boyle (1924-2011) me te kaipūtaiao o Amerika, a George E. Smith (1930-). I mahi tahi rāua, i hangaia he taputapu hono-utu hei huri i ngā mōhiohio whatu hei tohu hiko. Ka taea e ngā muka whatu me ngā taputapu hono-utu te whakawhitiwhiti kōrero whānui e whakawhirinakihia ana e ngā mōhiohio hauora me ngā whakaputanga hiko o ēnei rā, me ngā taputapu whakaahua motuhake i roto i ngā taputapu kanohi me ngā karu hiko.

I whānau mai a Charles Kao i te 4 o Noema, 1933, i Shanghai, Haina. He rōia tōna matua, ā, i whiwhi ia i tana Tohu Paerua mai i Te Whare Wānanga o Michigan i te tau 1925, ā, i muri mai ka noho hei ahorangi i Te Whare Wānanga o Soochow i Shanghai. I a ia e tamariki ana, i ako a Tākuta Kao i ngā tuhinga Hainamana tawhito i te kāinga me tētahi kaiako, ā, i ako hoki ia i te reo Pākehā me te reo Wīwī i tētahi kura o te ao i Shanghai.

I te tau 1948, ka neke a Tākuta Kao me tōna whānau ki Hong Kong. I te tau 1952, ka oti i a Tākuta Kao te kura tuarua i te Kāreti o Hato Hohepa. Kātahi ka haere ia ki Ingarangi ki te whakaoti i ana akoranga paetahi i roto i te hangarau hiko i te Woolwich Polytechnic (ko te Whare Wānanga o Greenwich ināianei). I te tau 1965, i whiwhi a Tākuta Kao i te tohu tākuta i roto i te hangarau hiko mai i te Whare Wānanga o Rānana, ā, i mahi hei miihini i te Standard Telephone and Cable Research Center i Harlow, Ingarangi.

I te tau 1970, i uru atu ia ki te Whare Wānanga Hainamana o Hong Kong hei whakatū i te Tari Hangarau Hiko. I te tau 1974, i neke ia ki Roanoke, Virginia, USA, ki te mahi mā ITT Corporation (kamupene matua o te waea me te taura Standard) hei kaipūtaiao matua, ā, i muri mai hei kaiwhakahaere hangarau. I tēnei wā, he maha ngā patent matua e pā ana ki te muka whatu i tukuna. I te tau 1982, i tohua ia hei kaipūtaiao matua tuatahi o ITT, ā, i neke ki Connecticut, i reira anō hoki ia i mahi ai hei ahorangi tāpiri i te Whare Wānanga o Yale. I te tau 1987, i hoki a Tākuta Kao ki te Whare Wānanga Hainamana o Hong Kong hei perehitini tuarua. I reti ia i te tau 1996, ā, mai i taua wā kua mau ia i ngā tūranga ahorangi manuhiri me ngā tūranga honore.

I te tau 2004, i kitea he mate a Alzheimer i a Tākuta Kao, ā, ka neke atu rāua ko tana wahine, ko may-wan, he kaihōtaka Fortran o mua i tūtaki ia i a ia e ako ana i Rānana i ngā tau 1950, ki California kia tata atu ai ki ā rāua tamariki. I muri i te whakawhiwhinga i a Tākuta Kao ki te Tohu Nobel, i kī tana wahine i roto i tētahi uiuinga ka whakamahia te tohu hei utu i ngā whakapaunga hauora o Tākuta Kao, koinei pea te wā tuatahi i whakamahia ai te Tohu Nobel mō taua kaupapa.

I whakaputaina he tāmatire o Hong Kong hei whakamaumahara i a Tākuta Kao i te tau 2010. Haunga te Tohu Nobel, he maha ngā tohu kua riro i a Tākuta Kao, tae atu ki te Mētara Faraday i te tau 1989, te Mētara Alexander Graham i te tau 1985, te Mētara Marconi i te tau 1985, me ngā tohu honore maha mai i ngā whare wānanga me ngā kāreti huri noa i te ao.