The idea factory : Bell Labs and the great age of American innovation / Jon Gertner.
| Author/creator |
Gertner, Jon |
| Format | Book and Print |
| Publication Info | New York : Penguin Press, 2012. |
| Description | 422 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm |
| Subject(s) |
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| Contents | Wicked problems -- Oil drops -- West to East -- System -- War -- Solid state -- House of magic -- The informationist -- Man and machines -- Formula -- Silicon -- Empire -- An instigator -- On Crawford Hill -- Futures, real and imagined -- Mistakes -- Competition -- Apart -- Afterlives -- Inheritance -- Echoes. |
| Abstract | This work highlights achievements of Bell Labs as a leading innovator, exploring the role of its highly educated employees in developing new technologies while considering the qualities of companies where innovation and development are most successful. The author shows how Bell Labs served as an incubator for scientific innovation from the 1920s through the 1980s. In its heyday, Bell Labs boasted nearly 15,000 employees, 1,200 of whom held PhDs and 13 of whom won Nobel Prizes. And at its heart this is a story about a small group of brilliant and eccentric men including Mervin Kelly, Bill Shockley, Claude Shannon, John Pierce, and Bill Baker who spent their careers at Bell Labs. Thriving in a work environment that embraced new ideas, Bell Labs scientists introduced concepts that still propel many of today's most exciting technologies. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (p. [409]-412) and index. |
| LCCN | 2011040207 |
| ISBN | 9781594203282 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 1594203288 (hardcover) |
Available Items
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions | |
| Joyner | General Stacks | TK5102.3.U6 G47 2012 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |