Ten Books On The History of Semiconductors
Eight recommendations and two books to treat with caution
I’ve seen a few posts in recent weeks asking for recommendations for books to read on the history of semiconductors. So, I thought it would be helpful to set out my own personal favourites along with a couple that I would treat with caution.
I each case the book is either ‘in print’ or there is a copy or two available to borrow from the Internet Archive.
I’ll start with my top recommendation, which won’t come as a surprise, and then go in roughly chronological order.
If you only read one book on the history of semiconductors then it should be …
Chip War
by Chris Miller (2022)
The first book on the list won’t be a surprise. I’ve recommended Chris Miller’s Chip Wars before. It deservedly won the FT business book of the year in 2022.
It’s wide in scope, and takes the story right from the start of the development of the transistor to the present day. It doesn’t include a lot of technical detail but that means it’s highly readable for a wide audience. Highly recommended.
The Idea Factory
By John Gertner (2012)
John Gertner’s book tells the story of Bell Labs from its founding, through its glory years and onto its decline under the ownership of Lucent. It covers the invention of the transistor, in some detail, along with the other key technologies that emerged from Bell Labs.
Its focus is firmly on the people and the organisation rather than the technology itself. But, in trying to document what made Bell Labs work, and doing so in a way that is highly readable, the book makes an important contribution to technology history.
The Makers of The Microchip
By Christophe Lécuyer and David Brock (2022)
Silicon Valley really started at Fairchild Semiconductor. Lécuyer and Brock’s wonderful book tells the story of Fairchild through a combination of documents - patent notebooks, images of devices, extracts from trade journals, and so on.
The events themselves are fascinating and important. Seeing the documentation produced by the Fairchild engineers at the time shows you invention happening in real time. You finish the book with a real sense of what it must have been like to be working on the development of the silicon integrated circuit. The level of effort, the trial and error and the persistence required to make it work all leave a lasting impression.
The Man Behind the Microchip
by Leslie Berlin (2005)
There have been several good books about the founders of Intel. ‘The Intel Trinity’ by Michael Malone, for example, is a fine book that draws together the contributions of Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore and Andy Grove.
My favourite, though, is Leslie Berlin’s biography of Robert Noyce. In part, this is because Noyce is such a pivotal figure, as the inventor of the Silicon Integrated Circuit and the driving force behind the founding of Intel. It’s also, though, simply because he is, for me, the most interesting personality of the three.
Clever and charismatic. A successful scientist and a businessman. A visionary and someone who was deeply practical. Berlin does a fine job of capturing all the aspects of Noyce’s remarkable talents. It’s both engrossing and inspiring.
Internet Archive Link
We’ll stay with Intel for the next recommendation, which may be a little controversial!
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