
Crystal Fire
The Birth of the Information Age
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Compra ahora por $20.04
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Narrado por:
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Dennis McKee
On December 16, 1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, physicists at Bell Laboratories, jabbed two electrodes into a sliver of germanium half an inch long. The electrical power coming out of that piece of germanium was 100 times stronger than what went in. In that moment the transistor was invented and the Information Age began. Crystal Fire recounts the story of the transistor team at Bell Labs headed up by William Shockley, who shared the Nobel Prize with Bardeen and Brattain. While his colleagues went on to other research, Shockley grew increasingly obsessed with the new gadget. Eventually he formed his own firm, the first semiconductor company in what would become Silicon Valley. Above all, Crystal Fire is a tale of the human factors in technology; the pride and jealousies coupled with scientific and economic aspiration that led to the creation of modern microelectronics and ignited the greatest technological explosion in history.
©1997 Michael Riordan and Lillian Hoddeson (P)1998 Blackstone AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...




















When NJ didn't suck
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A Well Presented History
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Better listen to the voice
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Is there anything you would change about this book?
Good book but here's the deal: reader Dennis McKee sounds exactly like Sam Elliot -- you know the actor with the mustache who was born to play western-cowboy rolls. I could not unlink this audio from Sam Elliot's image in my head. This is a book about the invention of the transistor, but it sounds like ol' Cookie on the cattle drive sitting around the campfire spinning yarns. Mr. McKee would be fine for some things -- maybe a Louis L'Amour book -- but he's not the right guy for a high tech book. This is EXACTLY my kind of book, but it took me 2 years to get though the audio in fits and starts.Would you recommend Crystal Fire to your friends? Why or why not?
Print not audio.How did the narrator detract from the book?
Sounded like Sam Elliot.Could you see Crystal Fire being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
Nah, too boring for TV.Good book; wrong voice actor
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We learn of the men who helped bring us the transistor age. I liked to learn of Bardeen and Brattain. There are two of my heroes. Shockley was a very smart man, but he did not seem to enjoy his life. The book is written in such a way that you see the humanness of the characters. One also sees that it takes more than one person to solve a difficult problem. The genius' perspective is insufficient alone. Many people think a loner can solve any problem. Usually it takes many to actually solve the problem. Here we see the many.
The initial ideas on how the transistor worked were actually in error. Only over time, did the inventors understand what was occurring. They thought they had a surface device, but it was actually a bulk silicon device. Such insight is only gained in books like this.
I read technical papers as well. One learns why the initial papers were focused on the surface and not the bulk silicon. To learn a bit about those authors helps.
Innovation is a team sport. Too many people wonder why the genius cannot solve all problems alone. This book shows this clearly. The good team works. Any missing member hurts. Any lone member cannot solve the problem. It takes a team. The book shows this clearly as well. The loner may have a great idea, but cannot execute it. The team may have a wrong idea, but executes a workable solution.
The main characters are men. The women in the story are pushed a bit to the side, yet their impact is strong for those who will look and understand. There are many lessons to learn in watching people solve problems.
Excellent Transistor History
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Not only is it a good history book, but a good primer in understanding semi conductor mechanisms as because its historical, it also explains the discoveries in depth layer by layer.
After this book you will know the history, but also have a much better understanding of semi conductor physics.
Interesting and not light on the science either!
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This will be a valuable listen if you are interested in the subject and can play the audio at a fast pace.
Great story - Better at rapid playback speed
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A very good book on the history of technology
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For those studying electronics this is a must listen
Phenomenal Transistor Trip
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bad voice narrator for a spanish spoken
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