The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American InnovationThe definitive history of America’s greatest incubator of innovation and the birthplace of some of the 20th century’s most influential technologies “Filled with colorful characters and inspiring lessons . . . The Idea Factory explores one of the most critical issues of our time: What causes innovation?” —Walter Isaacson, The New York Times Book Review “Compelling . . . Gertner's book offers fascinating evidence for those seeking to understand how a society should best invest its research resources.” —The Wall Street Journal From its beginnings in the 1920s until its demise in the 1980s, Bell Labs-officially, the research and development wing of AT&T-was the biggest, and arguably the best, laboratory for new ideas in the world. From the transistor to the laser, from digital communications to cellular telephony, it's hard to find an aspect of modern life that hasn't been touched by Bell Labs. In The Idea Factory, Jon Gertner traces the origins of some of the twentieth century's most important inventions and delivers a riveting and heretofore untold chapter of American history. At its heart this is a story about the life and work of a small group of brilliant and eccentric men-Mervin Kelly, Bill Shockley, Claude Shannon, John Pierce, and Bill Baker-who spent their careers at Bell Labs. Today, when the drive to invent has become a mantra, Bell Labs offers us a way to enrich our understanding of the challenges and solutions to technological innovation. Here, after all, was where the foundational ideas on the management of innovation were born. |
Contents
Three SYSTEM | |
Four | |
Five SOLID STATE | |
Six HOUSE OF MAGIC | |
Seven THE INFORMATIONIST | |
Thirteen ON CRAWFORD HILL | |
Fourteen FUTURES REAL AND IMAGINED | |
Fifteen MISTAKES | |
Sixteen COMPETITION | |
Seventeen APART | |
Eighteen AFTERLIVES | |
Nineteen INHERITANCE | |
Twenty ECHOES | |
Eight MAN AND MACHINE | |
Nine FORMULA | |
Ten SILICON | |
Eleven EMPIRE | |
Twelve AN INSTIGATOR | |
Endnotes and Amplifications | |
Sources | |
Other editions - View all
The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation Jon Gertner Limited preview - 2013 |
The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation Jon Gertner No preview available - 2012 |
The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation Jon Gertner No preview available - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
American antenna AT&T archives author interview Bardeen began Bell Laboratories Bell Laboratories Record Bell Labs Bell System Bell Telephone Bill Baker Bill Shockley Bown Buckley building cable called Caltech career cellular circuit Claude Shannon colleagues communications company’s complex created crystal Davisson decades device early Echo electronic Elmendorf fiber Frank Jewett Frenkiel germanium Holmdel ideas IEEE industrial innovation invention Jakes Jersey Jim Fisk John Bardeen John Pierce Kelly’s Labs executives laser later Lillian Hoddeson machine memo Mervin Kelly microwave Millikan mobile Morton move Murray Hill oral history patent phone company physicist physics Picturephone Pierce’s president problem radar radio recalls Rudi Kompfner satellite scientific scientists seemed semiconductor Shockley’s signals silicon solid-state switching Tanenbaum technical things transistor transmission vacuum tube Walter Brattain waves West Street Western Electric What’s William Shockley wires wrote York