The title refers to a Greek artisan who angered the Gods and escaped with his son using wings made of feathers and wax. His son, Icarus, flew toward the sun, his wings melted and he fell from the sky and was killed.
This episode represents the first time that the inventor of the transporter has been officially established, seen or mentioned.
In a bit of irony, many of the objections to the original transporter, as described by Erickson during one of the initial conversations, came true throughout Star Trek lore (psychosis, copies, etc.). The Enemy Within (1966) and Second Chances (1993) both involve a copy of a person being made by a transporter. Realm Of Fear (1992) establishes that early transporters could in fact cause a rare form of psychosis. Cases of transporter psychosis were reported in the mid 22nd century, though the condition wasn't officially diagnosed until 2209 and was eliminated with the invention of the multiplex patter buffer in 2310.
Long-range transportation appears to be achievable, as a Delta Quadrant species, Sikarians, have a similar technology, as established in Prime Factors (1995). Dominion transporter technology has been shown to be capable of transporting a person over distances of up to three light years as seen in Covenant (1998). In Star Trek, transwarp beaming enables persons to be transported among the planets of a star system (such as from Titan to the Narada, which was orbiting Earth at the time). There were also long-range alien transports in Assignment: Earth (1968) and The Gamesters of Triskelion (1968).
This episode has a resemblance to Jetrel (1995), wherein Ma'Bor Jetrel deceives the crew of the USS Voyager into using their transporter in his attempt to revive the Talaxians who dissolved from the metreon cascade that he created.