Crystal Fire: The Birth of the Information Age (Sloan Technology Series) by Michael Riordan (PDF)

Description

Focuses on the human factors behind the invention of the twentieth century’s defining artifact, the transistor, highlighting the pride, jealousy, and scientific ambitions of the Bell Labs team who spawned the epoch-making technology.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From Library Journal In rich detail, Riordan (The Hunting of the Quark, LJ 1/88) and Hoddeson (history, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) unfurl the development of the transistor (whose 50th anniversary will be December 1997) and the lives of its three principal discoverers?John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley. Of course, redoubtable scientific achievement is rarely engendered by a small cadre over just a few years, and one of the salient features of this book is its parallel exposition of the progress of the physics of the electron dating to the late 19th century, led by a host of well-known pioneers?Bohr, Heisenberg, and so many others. Standing on the shoulders of these giants while harvesting the fruits of their own astonishing research, the triumvirate of the transistor created the device that has revolutionized life today, making possible television, computers, and other electronic devices. Crystal Fire strives for the fast-paced feel that the subject deserves but often succumbs to pedestrian and cliche-ridden writing. Overall, however, this is a fine work, rounded out by an extensive bibliography and inexhaustible endnoes. Recommended for general collections.-?Robert C. Ballou, AtlantaCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist The solid-state amplifier, whose coinage as “transistor” is one of many intriguing stories the authors include in this history of the device’s invention, merits comparison to the wheel, if only by the criterion that every person relies on both every day. The mother of invention was the vacuum tube, bulky, electricity hungry, and breakable, and physicists at Bell Labs furrowed their brows to come up with something more reliable. The solution involved the interaction between electric fields and solid materials of varying electrical conductivity, in which lies the engaging tale involving serendipity, professional competition, and theoretical breakthroughs culminating in the moment of Eureka in late 1947. The three principals who received the Nobel Prize for the transistor were not the best-oiled machine in history, and their biographies, which the authors intertwine with the technical developments, demonstrate the action of scientific ambition and hope for future riches in the creation of revolutionary inventions. The authorial team, a physicist and a historian, combine their strengths to present an accessible work worth most libraries’ attention. Gilbert Taylor From Kirkus Reviews This attempt to dramatize the events leading up to and following the invention of the transistor is mired down in scientific detail. Riordan (The Hunting of the Quark, 1987, etc.) and Hoddeson (History/Univ. of Illinois) attempt to flesh out the labors of the three Bell Laboratories scientists involved in the research (William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain) by placing their invention in the Modernist, relativist tradition descending from Einstein. The coauthors do a fine job of making understandable to the lay reader just what a transistor does: It takes the energy that goes into it and magnifies it hundreds or thousands of times before transmitting it. However, both historically and narratively, the transistor’s inventors are overshadowed by events of the era, which included WW II and the Korean War (even when they were awarded the Nobel Prize for their invention in 1956, their fame swiftly faded because of events in Hungary and the Middle East). When, finally, near the end of the book, we get a glimpse of the true personalities of the trio, they are nearly impossible to like: Shockley espoused racist views based on notions of a link between heredity, race, and intelligence; and a misanthropic Brattain is quoted as saying in 1980, “The only regret I have about the transistor is its use for rock and roll music. . . . I still have my rifle and sometimes when I hear that noise, I think I could shoot them all.” Some final comments about the place of the transistor in the eventual development of the microchip and the computer are thought-provoking. But lacking human interest, Crystal Fire is likely to appeal only to scientists and tech-heads. (photos and drawings, not seen) — Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Review 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 About the Author Michael Riordan has written several popular books on science and technology. He lives in Santa Cruz, California. Lillian Hoddeson teaches at the University of Illinois and lives in Urbana. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Provides too many unnecessary details in an attempt to make it sound like a novel- if you want to keep your reader’s attention, get to the point!Reading this as a required supplement to my PHYS 1010 class.

⭐In the ’50s I tried to understand transistor theory but just couldn’t get it. This book helped me to see the simple fact that text and teachers of the era didn’t get it either. Finally, in the ’60s at Fairchild R&D I did indeed get it, and a whole lot more. Not all that long before I joined Fairchild, the company had started shipping the world’s first commercially available integrated circuits. From those days on up until reading this book there were still a lot of questions gnawing at me, detailed questions not only on the origin of the transistor and learnings associated with it but on how Shockley’s name somehow miraculously started appearing with those of Brattain and Bardeen on its invention.This book, Crystal Fire, answered my questions and a lot of other questions that I should have been asking. But if you read this book, be sure to fill in some of the gaps by searching out on the web a follow-up paper also written by this book’s author, Michael Riorden, “The Silicon Dioxide Solution”. In this paper the role of Jean Hoerni of the traitorous eight is finally made clear. His name doesn’t often come up prominently in discussion of integrated circuit history, but without his invention of the planar process while at Fairchild, Fairchild would more than likely not even be mentioned today in IC history discussion.So .. Crystal Fire.. Who’d have thought the authors of a book this interesting from a, “people who were involved” perspective, could also explain, so clearly in near layman’s terms, solid state physics principles and knowledge progression from the early years on up through invention of the transistor – and beyond. It takes a good degree of topic knowledge to bring the complex to a level that is understandable to those who are not involved in the complex, while at the same time writing a truly good read.

⭐I didn’t know that things we take for granted today actually had such a messy start. I enjoyed the detailed account on how Bardeen and Brattain literally stumbled upon the discovery of the contact point device. And it was the first time that I learned even the great Bardeen didn’t anticipate the weird transistor effect resulting from minority carriers, although the significance of the discovery was never lost to the two inventors. Unlike other great discoveries with physics, the transistor was never a result of seemingly beautiful theory or clear-cut mathematical deduction. This was the real practical world when science meets technology and the book really shows the pragmatism demonstrated by the principle inventors and the wonderful ear they created. Also informative to me is the background account around the time of invention.

⭐The authors described the complex interplay of personalities involved in the process of creating the transistor. The inventors (William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain) worked together the following ways:1. Bardeen was a deep thinker, and seldom spoke. Whenever he did say something, EVERYONE LISTENED.2. Brattain was a very “hands on” person and he was resourceful about creating experiments that would further develop Bardeen’s concepts.3. Shockley was the visionary, who understood the vast commercial potential for the transistor.I enjoyed visualizing the juxtaposition of these personalities with those from another book: “The Man Behind the Microchip”, by Leslie Berlin. In this case the major personalities were: Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove. Like Shockley, Noyce was a visionary, but they had polar opposite personalities. Shockley took credit for every one else’s work whereas Noyce always gave others the full recognition they deserved. Everyone hated Shockley and everyone loved Noyce.Other books that tell similar stories, for different time frames are:1. “The Invention That Changed the World”, by Robert Buderi2. “The Idea Factory”, by Jon Gertner

⭐I can’t believe I missed this book.Now over 20 years old it is _the_ best account about the invention of the transistor and the three main individuals responsible for it – Bardeen, Brattain and Shockley. But it also covers all the other players involved in turning a lab curiosity into a commercially viable product. Invaluable book for anyone interested in the origin of the semiconductor industry.Read it alongside the other three books that are trilogy of the early semiconductor business:

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⭐Book is interesting if you are very into physics

⭐The legend of Silicon Valley has long lived in the lore of techies everywhere. However, we are into the 4th generation since William Shockley setup camp in Palo Alto–so there are many who may not have heard the tale.If you can answer the following:1. Why did William Shockley (late of Bell Labs in New Jersey) choose Palo Alto as the site of his semiconductor venture?2. What were the names of the traitorous eight?3. What is the genealogy of spin-off’s from Shockley Semiconductor?4. Why did Bell Labs attorneys insist on omitting Shockley as a co-inventor on the original transistor patents?Then you probably don’t need to read this book. Otherwise, you might find it interesting.

⭐I originally read Dark Sun as part of personal interest/stufy, and always wondered what other Sloan Technology Series books would be like – probably boring and stuffy. I finally succumbed and WOW! This book is identical – you know the end but it’s so engaging, so insightful and beautifully written.I am now on a quest to read oll of the books in the series to broaden my education and enjoy the brilliance of the writing.

⭐I found this book to be eminently readable. I think it’s too expensive in the UK, but there isn’t really much else available on this subject, though the bare bones are there for free on the internet. This book gives you details that you probably won’t find elsewhere.

⭐Not everyone is judged by history as being a nice person. Newton is testament to that! There is a story in this book of someone who could have been the richest person in the world if it wasn’t for the very personality that made it possible for him to be part of a innovative endeavor that has changed the world and helped to make the future. The history of science and technology is often overlooked which is a pity.

⭐A great book that brings home the trials and tribulations of being an inventor… Just because you thought of it, made it and presented it, you won’t always be credited for it.

⭐First class account. Everyone with a technology turn of mind should have one

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