Author: Michael Riordan
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 9780393041248
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 384
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Book Description
It's hard to imagine any device more crucial to modern life than the microchip and the transistor from which it sprang. Every waking hour of every day people benefit from its use in cellular phones, computers, radios, TVs, and ATMs. This eloquent retelling of the story behind the invention of the transistor recounts how pride and jealousy coupled with scientific aspirations ignited the greatest technological explosion in history. Photos & drawings.
Author: Daniel Brook
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393078124
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 481
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Book Description
A pioneering exploration of four cities where East meets West and past becomes future: St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Dubai.
Author: T.R. Reid
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0307432033
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 322
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Book Description
Barely fifty years ago a computer was a gargantuan, vastly expensive thing that only a handful of scientists had ever seen. The world’s brightest engineers were stymied in their quest to make these machines small and affordable until the solution finally came from two ingenious young Americans. Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce hit upon the stunning discovery that would make possible the silicon microchip, a work that would ultimately earn Kilby the Nobel Prize for physics in 2000. In this completely revised and updated edition of The Chip, T.R. Reid tells the gripping adventure story of their invention and of its growth into a global information industry. This is the story of how the digital age began.
Author: Joel N. Shurkin
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 0230552293
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 316
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Book Description
When William Shockley invented the transistor, the world was changed forever and he was awarded the Nobel Prize. But today Shockley is often remembered only for his incendiary campaigning about race, intelligence, and genetics. His dubious research led him to donate to the Nobel Prize sperm bank and preach his inflammatory ideas widely, making shocking pronouncements on the uselessness of remedial education and the sterilization of individuals with IQs below 100. Ultimately his crusade destroyed his reputation and saw him vilified on national television, yet he died proclaiming his work on race as his greatest accomplishment. Now, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Joel N. Shurkin offers the first biography of this contradictory and controversial man. With unique access to the private Shockley archives, Shurkin gives an unflinching account of how such promise ended in such ignominy.
Author: Vicki Daitch
Publisher: Joseph Henry Press
ISBN: 0309084083
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 489
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Book Description
What is genius? Define it. Now think of scientists who embody the concept of genius. Does the name John Bardeen spring to mind? Indeed, have you ever heard of him? Like so much in modern life, immediate name recognition often rests on a cult of personality. We know Einstein, for example, not just for his tremendous contributions to science, but also because he was a character, who loved to mug for the camera. And our continuing fascination with Richard Feynman is not exclusively based on his body of work; it is in large measure tied to his flamboyant nature and offbeat sense of humor. These men, and their outsize personalities, have come to erroneously symbolize the true nature of genius and creativity. We picture them born brilliant, instantly larger than life. But is that an accurate picture of genius? What of others who are equal in stature to these icons of science, but whom history has awarded only a nod because they did not readily engage the public? Could a person qualify as a bona fide genius if he was a regular Joe? The answer may rest in the story of John Bardeen. John Bardeen was the first person to have been awarded two Nobel Prizes in the same field. He shared one with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the transistor. But it was the charismatic Shockley who garnered all the attention, primarily for his Hollywood ways and notorious views on race and intelligence. Bardeen's second Nobel Prize was awarded for the development of a theory of superconductivity, a feat that had eluded the best efforts of leading theorists-including Albert Einstein, Neils Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and Richard Feynman. Arguably, Bardeen's work changed the world in more ways than that of any other scientific genius of his time. Yet while every school child knows of Einstein, few people have heard of John Bardeen. Why is this the case? Perhaps because Bardeen differs radically from the popular stereotype of genius. He was a modest, mumbling Midwesterner, an ordinary person who worked hard and had a knack for physics and mathematics. He liked to picnic with his family, collaborate quietly with colleagues, or play a round of golf. None of that was newsworthy, so the media, and consequently the public, ignored him. John Bardeen simply fits a new profile of genius. Through an exploration of his science as well as his life, a fresh and thoroughly engaging portrait of genius and the nature of creativity emerges. This perspective will have readers looking anew at what it truly means to be a genius.
Author: Christophe Lecuyer
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262014246
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 327
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Book Description
The first years of the company that developed the microchip and created the model for a successful Silicon Valley start-up. In the first three and a half years of its existence, Fairchild Semiconductor developed, produced, and marketed the device that would become the fundamental building block of the digital world: the microchip. Founded in 1957 by eight former employees of the Schockley Semiconductor Laboratory, Fairchild created the model for a successful Silicon Valley start-up: intense activity with a common goal, close collaboration, and a quick path to the market (Fairchild's first device hit the market just ten months after the company's founding). Fairchild Semiconductor was one of the first companies financed by venture capital, and its success inspired the establishment of venture capital firms in the San Francisco Bay area. These firms would finance the explosive growth of Silicon Valley over the next several decades. This history of the early years of Fairchild Semiconductor examines the technological, business, and social dynamics behind its innovative products. The centerpiece of the book is a collection of documents, reproduced in facsimile, including the company's first prospectus; ideas, sketches, and plans for the company's products; and a notebook kept by cofounder Jay Last that records problems, schedules, and tasks discussed at weekly meetings. A historical overview, interpretive essays, and an introduction to semiconductor technology in the period accompany these primary documents.
Author: Craig Canine
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226092652
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 320
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Book Description
"An important book, rich with history and stories. it brings our most essential industry -- farming -- into new perspective. Reading it made me want to get out a crop". -- Bobbie Ann Mason Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
Author: Bo Lojek
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540342583
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 394
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Book Description
This book provides a unique account of the history of integrated circuit, the microelectronics industry and the people involved in the development of transistor and integrated circuit. In this richly illustrated account the author argues that the group of inventors was much larger than originally thought. This is a personal recollection providing the first comprehensive behind-the-scenes account of the history of the integrated circuit.
Author: Michael Riordan
Publisher: W H Freeman & Company
ISBN: 9780716721574
Category : Cosmology.
Languages : en
Pages : 277
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Book Description
Explores recent research into dark matter and its impact on the composition of the universe and the motions of galaxies, and describes efforts to determine what dark matter might be
Author: Michael Riordan
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 1324074841
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 370
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Book Description
"Without the invention of the transistor, I'm quite sure that the PC would not exist as we know it today."—Bill Gates On December 16, 1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, physicists at Bell Laboratories, jabbed two electrodes into a sliver of germanium. The power flowing from the germanium far exceeded what went in; in that moment the transistor was invented and the Information Age was born. No other devices have been as crucial to modern life as the transistor and the microchip it spawned, but the story of the science and personalities that made these inventions possible has not been fully told until now. Crystal Fire fills this gap and carries the story forward. William Shockley, Bell Labs' team leader and co-recipient of the Nobel Prize with Brattain and Bardeen for the discovery, grew obsessed with the transistor and went on to become the father of Silicon Valley. Here is a deeply human story about the process of invention — including the competition and economic aspirations involved — all part of the greatest technological explosion in history. The intriguing history of the transistor — its inventors, physics, and stunning impact on society and the economy — unfolds here in a richly told tale."—Science News "Thoroughly accessible to lay readers as well as the techno-savvy. . . . [A] fine book."—Publishers Weekly
