Synopses & Reviews
Our world todayfrom the phone in your pocket to the car that you drive, the allure of social media to the strategy of the Pentagonhas been shaped irrevocably by the technology of silicon transistors. Year after year, for half a century, these tiny switches have enabled ever-more startling capabilities. Their incredible proliferation has altered the course of human history as dramatically as any political or social revolution. At the heart of it all has been one quiet Californian: Gordon Moore.
At Fairchild Semiconductor, his seminal Silicon Valley startup, Moorea young chemist turned electronics entrepreneurhad the defining insight: silicon transistors, and microchips made of them, could make electronics profoundly cheap and immensely powerful. Microchips could double in power, then redouble again in clockwork fashion. History has borne out this insight, which we now call Moores Law”, and Moore himself, having recognized it, worked endlessly to realize his vision. With Moores technological leadership at Fairchild and then at his second start-up, the Intel Corporation, the law has held for fifty years. The result is profound: from the days of enormous, clunky computers of limited capability to our new era, in which computers are placed everywhere from inside of our bodies to the surface of Mars.
Moore led nothing short of a revolution. In Moores Law, Arnold Thackray, David C. Brock, and Rachel Jones give the authoritative account of Gordon Moores life and his role in the development both of Silicon Valley and the transformative technologies developed there. Told by a team of writers with unparalleled access to Moore, his family, and his contemporaries, this is the human story of man and a career that have had almost superhuman effects. The history of twentieth-century technology is littered with overblown revolutions.” Moores Law is essential reading for anyone seeking to learn what a real revolution looks like.
Review
[An] admiring, richly detailed book.... [T]echies will be delighted with its full treatment of an important figure often overshadowed by such luminaries as Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison.”
Kirkus Reviews
Finally, Gordon Moore gets the biography he deserves! One of the foremost pioneers of the digital revolution, he is a visionary, engineer, and revered leader. His 'law' defined and guided the growth of computing power, and his business acumen helped to create Silicon Valley. This is an inspiring and instructive tale of how brilliance and leadership can coexist with humility and decency in a truly extraordinary person.”
Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs
Moore's Law is not only a definitive biography of a legendary figure in computing, but a fascinating account of the forces that triggeredand sustainthe digital revolution that has changed life for all of us.”
Steven Levy, author of Hackers and In the Plex
"Gordon Moores story is one of disruptive innovation on the grandest scale, practiced by a brilliant technologist. Now at last we have the book that tells the story. Moores Law offers a compelling, absorbing account of Silicon Valley, and its role in human progress."
Clayton Christensen, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and author of The Innovators Dilemma
If you think you know Moores Law, prepare to be enlightened. If you think you know Gordon Moore, prepare to be enthralled. And if all of this is new to you, prepare for the ride of your life. This is the definitive story of the central theorem of the digital age, the man behind it, and its ongoing impact on us all.”
John Hollar, President and CEO, Computer History Museum
With care and color, Moores Law tells us how Gordon Moore, at the center of the IT revolution, applied his knowledge and insight in a quiet and effective way. When Gordon talked, everyone listened.”
George P. Shultz, former U. S. Secretary of State and Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University
A remarkable book about a remarkable man, told with great style and refreshing candor.”
Carver Mead, the Gordon and Betty Moore Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Applied Science, Caltech and winner of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Arnold Thackray and his co-authors integrate business history with the history of science and technology with great success, rendering this biography of Silicon Valleys most important revolutionary a captivating and deeply illuminating read. Moores Law is also a signal contribution to the study of California history, showing how the social and cultural circumstances of the Bay Area enabled Gordon Moores creativity.”
David A. Hollinger, Preston Hotchkis Professor of History, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley
"I can remember when a transistor radio had one transistor in itand now a giveaway bottle opener containing 8 billion of them is sitting on my desk. Gordon Moore and a small circle of accomplices, inseparable from the California landscape in which their story took form, were at the center of the most radical transformation in the history of technology. This is a definitive chronicle: authoritative, detailed, and well told."
George Dyson, author of Turing's Cathedral and Darwin Among the Machines
Almost everyone knows Moores Law. Almost no one knows the Moore behind this law. Finally a book describing the quiet, unassuming technology godfather of Silicon Valley. A great read about a great man whose work truly changed the world.”
Craig R. Barrett, Former CEO and Chairman, Intel Corporation
This marvelous and well-written book about Gordon Moore captures his seminal role not only in Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel Corp, but also in the saga of Silicon Valley. The authors tell how Intel was managed into one of the great successes of all time. Gordon Moore in his quiet, non-threatening, and brainy manner created an atmosphere in which new ideas flourished and growth was encouraged. Moore's Law, his remarkable insight, has proved prescient. Woven into this story is the modest and loving relationship between Gordon and Betty, his wife of 65 years.”
Arthur Rock, Co-Founder of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Davis and Rock and original investor of Fairchild Semiconductor
A remarkable insight into the man who did so much to make Silicon Valley.”
David Morgenthaler, founder of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Morgenthaler Ventures
Synopsis
A chemist and founder of Intel, Gordon Moore played a major role in revolutionizing technology and shaping the growth and reach of Silicon Valley. The story of the man -- an inventor and businessman whose influence on the world is at least as great as Thomas Edisons, Henry Fords, or Bill Gateshas never before been told. Under Moores leadership, Intel became the worlds leading semiconductor supplier; the innovative technology he helped to develop is present in everything from computers to traffic lights, phones to medical equipmentindeed, his seminal work on transistors has driven computing from the era of clunky calculators the size of football fields to the era of Siri, and has enabled us to go everywhere from the Moon to the Matrix. The progress of that revolution is captured in Moores Law, his observation that computing power has doubled roughly every two years for the past half-century. The result is threefold: computing has become cheap, powerful, and ubiquitous. Gordon Moore, as an engineer and CEO of Intel, was both prophet and prime mover of the ensuing Information Age.
In Moore's Law, Arnold Thackray sheds light on Gordon Moore, gives context to the technologies and world of high-tech power he helped to develop, and provides a clear and accessible introduction to the history and science of the silicon transistor, the technological building block that has transformed commercial business, defense strategies, and the everyday lives of individuals around the globe.
Synopsis
From your desk to your pocket, in the pharmacy and in the stock market, the technology of silicon transistors touches everyone, everywhere. We owe their proliferation to Gordon Moore. His visionary drive has enabled a revolution, bringing us from clunky computers the size of football fields to the era of Siri, and enabling us to go everywhere from the moon to
The Matrix and beyond.
The revolution is captured in Moores Law, his determination that transistor production would double and redouble over the decades, at ever shrinking cost. Computing has become cheap, powerful, and ubiquitous. Gordon Moore, a pioneer in creating Silicon Valley through his five decades at Fairchild and Intel, is both prophet and prime mover of the Information Age.
Moores Law portrays the emergence of Silicon Valley and the transformative technologies Moore developed there, telling the story of a man whose insight and assiduity has accelerated commerce, knowledge and human progress.
Synopsis
Your world todayfrom your desk to your pocket, in the pharmacy and in the stock markethas been irrevocably shaped by the technology of silicon transistors. They touch everyone, everywhereincreasingly so with each passing year. We owe their proliferation to a quiet Californian named Gordon Moore.
While working at Fairchild Semiconductor, his seminal start-up, Moore made the defining observation of our age: that the processing power of silicon microchips can be made to double and redouble continuously, at ever lower cost. That observation, codified as Moores Law, was momentous enough, but what was even more important was the visionary drive with which he pushed his law” into the future. Thanks to Moores work at Fairchild and then at Intel, his second start-up, the law has held for over fifty years. The result has been a true revolution, bringing us from clunky computers of enormous size and limited capability to the era of the near-omniscient Siri, enabling us to go everywhere from the moon to The Matrix and beyond.
History is full of revolutionary bombast, whether from Hitler, Mao, or Stalin, and so too is the world of technology. Few are those of whom it can be said that their work changed not simply a product or a company, but the daily realities of all our lives. Gordon Moore, the pioneer in creating Silicon Valley through his five decades at Fairchild and Intel, truly did; he is both prophet and prime mover of the Information Age. Moores Law gives the authoritative account of his life and the emergence of Silicon Valley, and of the transformative technologies he developed there. This is the human story of a man whose insight and assiduity has accelerated commerce, knowledge and human progress. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand our times, as well as for those who seek to truly change them.
About the Author
Arnold Thackray is a historian and the President of the Chemical Heritage Foundation with a Ph.D. from Cambridge, and the author of many books about the history of science and technology.
David Brock is a recognized authority on electronics and the author of Understanding Moores Law and Makers of the Microchip (with Christophe Lecuyer).
Rachel Jones is a London journalist and business writer specializing in writing about technology and entrepreneurship.
Table of Contents
Prelude
1. The Moores of Pescadero
2. The Chemistry of Romance
3. Chemical Apprentice
4. Science, Shockley, and Silicon
5. Launch
6. Emerging Realities
7. The Invention of Intel
8. The Real Revolution
9. The Great Cost-Reduction Machine
10. Revolution, Sturm und Drang
11. Onward and Outward
Coda