The Idea Factory

Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation

By: Jon Gertner

Narrated by: Chris Sorensen

Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

In The Idea Factory, New York Times Magazine writer Jon Gertner reveals 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, 1200 of whom held PhDs and 13 of whom won Nobel Prizes. Thriving in a work environment that embraced new ideas, Bell Labs scientists introduced concepts that still propel many of today’s most exciting technologies.

©2012 Jon Gertner (P)2012 Recorded Books, LLC

Fascinating look at innovation and history of science

Really cool to hear how bell labs was responsible for so many advances. Good narration. The writer’s style includes really long sentences that sometimes are difficult to parse even when performed by the competent narrator. But the underlying history being told is too fascinating for that to matter.

A must listen/read for today's innovators

If you are interested in how to make your own organization more innovative, this book should help you to "innovate" your own ideas on the methods to deploy.

Great reconstruction of Bell Labs rise & fall

This book focuses on the heyday of Bell Labs and does a good job telling the story of some of the key innovations that happened there & the people behind the scenes. The slow narration does detract from the audiobook, but it's not noticeable at 2.5-3x speed.

I learned so much

I'm a creative technologist. I know the basis of technology history. this filled in so many gaps and connected so many dots for me. I definitely recommend it. I think it could be an excellent TV series. it's a very compelling read.

A Good Listen

A very interesting listen that has just enough detail, but it is not technical. I was very interested in the early scientists and this touched each of the critical people with sufficient detail.

A great "biography" of Bell Labs

Bell Labs played a hugely significant role in shaping our world today, a role which is surprising unknown. Gertner takes a biographer's approach to recounting Bell Labs' history. Most of the story focuses on the influential people, their personalities, their idiosyncrasies, their experiences, and how they shaped the most significant discoveries, inventions, policies, and events of Bell Labs. I think the story is probably most likely to be enjoyed by those with strong science and engineering interests.

Gertner clearly conducted deep and meticulous research to write the book. This "biographer's" approach has a humanizing effect on Bell Labs by reminding the reader (listener) that behind this mammoth, influential institution were real people. However, as can often be the case for in-depth biographies, there are some dull moments when you get lost in the details at the expense of the story line.

Some of the AT&T and Bell Labs policies, decisions, and approaches are controversial and one can make arguments regarding their merits or faults. As a "biographer," Gertner generally doesn't comment much on these types of ethical issues. He seems to lay out the facts, details, and people, and then let the reader come to his/her conclusions.

Other listeners have commented on the narrator. I tend to listen at 2X or 3X, so I can't really comment on his pauses. At accelerated speeds, he was fine.

Overall, I enjoyed Idea Factory and recommend it for better understanding the important people and events around Bell Labs.

Sciencistory!

It's a good read. A combination of science and history. I wish I had this background when I learned about these theories in courses or textbooks. The conclusion is strong and educating.
What could be better: The storyline, it covers several years and different technologies. It has an episodic nature that could be formed either around technologies or characters from Bell Labs or guest stars such as Edison or Moore. In some sections, it's hard to follow the lines or remember the characters. Part of this issue is due to a major shortcoming in the audiobook: Chapters are no in synch with the book chapters; there are several more than the book and with no title.
I wish there were figures and drawings for the concepts although I did a search for several.
It sees the world from Bell Lab "fanboys" or leaders. While I agree they contributed to several technologies, they were not the inventor in several cases.
It touches a little bit of how corporate culture was in Bell Labs but cautiously.

Great story -- horrible pauses

If I was going to (pause) (pause) (pause) write my review (pause) (pause) in the fashion that the reader (pause) (pause) (pause) read this book (pause) (pause) it would probably read something like this sentence.

As you can tell I'm really annoyed by this reader and his constant pausing, particularly in the first half of the book. It's extremely annoying since the guy can read well and has a pleasant voice but the pacing with all the pauses is frustrating. Either he reader got better or I got used to it since by the end of the book I didn't notice it much, but that was 10+ hours before I felt that way.

With that out of the way the book itself is excellent, with the exception of the authors comments at the end of the book -- he should stick with telling other peoples story. I don't really have much to add about the content of the book, it's exactly what it says it is and that's a great thing.

If you have the faintest interest in the subject and can get past the reader constantly pausing (and probably doubling the length of the audio) then you'll enjoy this book.

Great book for all those involved in science

Inspiring
Motivational
A great book for understanding the origins of the technology world in which we are involved. The final chapters are very useful to understand how the present scientific world has changed because of culture, politics and law. the book leaves you with many ideas about how to excel in your endeavors. The book highlights the importance of focusing on a mission and enjoying the ride.
It is longer than other science related audiobooks. Some chapters feel slow, but their content is absolutely necessary to understand the book.
This book is absolutely worth it.

Great Ideas and How they changed our lives.

Where does The Idea Factory rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Right up there with some of the others. Not the top of the list but interesting just the same.

What does Chris Sorensen bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Some of the text was pretty technical and probably would have been hard to understand if I read it. Chris made it clear to even the most non technical person.

Any additional comments?

Takes you through the invention of the telephone to cell phones. Explores the lives of the men that brought ideas to life. Makes you understand how important these devices are what they meant to the world. Listening was probably better than reading it. I would have found the technical side boring. Having it read allowed me to understand and enjoy the book.