Microchip: An idea, its genesis, and the revolution it created
By, Zygmont, Jeffrey
Publisher: Perseus Pub.
Class No.: 621.3815 ZYG
Accession No.: 018276
Year: 2003
Pages: 245 p.

Of the week: 19th Jan. to 24th Jan. 2009

This fascinating story begins with the ambitious (and later Nobel - prize winning) Jack Kilby, on his way to a new and more promising job at Texas Instruments. Knowing that circuits had to be smaller, faster, and cheaper in order to manage more complex calculations, Kilby came up with a brilliant idea: to integrate all the circuit's parts inside a solid chip, thereby paving the way for more miniature electronics. Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the same idea occurred almost simultaneously to Bob Noyce, later to become famous as a founder of Intel. The ensuring patent battle unleashed a competitive, cut throat race to develop next-generation chips, as companies realized that to stay afloat, they had to set the pace of innovation. Stragglers wouldn't survive.