The Invention Of The Silicon Chip

Examines the events surrounding the development of the silicon chip, its uses, and its impact on civilization.

This book is the first to give an authoritative and comprehensive account of the invention of Integrated Circuits (ICs) from an insider who had participated and contributed from the beginning of their invention and advancement to the Ultra Large Scale ICs (ULSICs) of today. It reads like a mystery novel to engross the reader, but it is not based on fiction; it gives documented facts of the invention of ICs, analyzes the patents, and highlights additional details and clarifications of their history.

Profiles the history of invention from the first crude stone ax head to the latest achievements in biotechnology, including a biographical dictionary of the individuals responsible for these discoveries.

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.

Throughout the 1950s, engineers were stymied by the problem of how to connect the thousands of circuits that a sophisticated computer would require. The solution finally came from two ingenious young Americans, Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce. Independently, each had hit upon the stunning Monolithic Idea, which became the silicon microchip. The Chip tells the scientific and entrepreneurial adventure story of their discovery and of its growth into a global information industry that transformed -- and continues to transform -- our world.

The triumphs and setbacks of inventor and entrepreneur Robert Noyce are illuminated in a biography that describes his colorful life in context of the evolution of the high-tech industry and the complex interrelationships among technology, business, big money, politics, and culture in Silicon Valley.

Hans Queisser tells the exciting story behind the birth of a new industry and a new knowledge that has resulted not only in a restructuring of science, technology, and industry but also in major rearrangements of political and economic power. Queisser observed at first hand the hectic growth, the triumphs and defeats, during the early days of this new era. His fascinating book provides a unique perspective that readers--even those without technical knowledge--will find extraordinarily informative.