Conquering the Electron

Conquering the Electron offers readers a true and engaging history of the world of electronics, beginning with the discoveries of static electricity and magnetism and ending with the creation of the smartphone and the iPad. This book shows the interconnection of each advance to the next on the long journey to our modern-day technologies. Exploring the combination of genius, infighting, and luck that powered the creation of today's electronic age, Conquering the Electron debunks the hero worship so often plaguing the stories of great advances.
Want to know how AT&T’s Bell Labs developed semiconductor technology—and how its leading scientists almost came to blows in the process? Want to understand how radio and television work—and why RCA drove their inventors to financial ruin and early graves? Conquering the Electron offers these stories and more, presenting each revolutionary technological advance right alongside blow-by-blow personal battles that all too often took place.

By Derek Cheung and Eric Brach

Part I: Age of Electromagnetism1 The Knowledge Foundation The Beginning Scientific Method The Magic of Static Electricity The Battery Linking Electricity and Magnetism Faraday, the Grand Master Maxwell, the Peerless Genius 2 The Telegraph Messages Sent by Electric Current Annihilating the Time-Space Barrier Wire Across the Atlantic Intellectual Property Disputes Morse Code Impact 3 The Telephone Voices Carried Over Wire Building the Telephone Business Patent Battle of the Century Sound of Music 4 Wireless Telegraphy Hertz and the Electromagnetic WavesMarconi and the WirelessCrossing the Ocean Blue5 Lighting and ElectrificationElectrical Lighting SystemsGenerators and MotorsThe AC-DC War Impact of ElectrificationEdison, Tesla, and SiemensOne Hundred Years of ElectromagnetismPart II: Age of Vacuum Electronics6 Current Flow in a VacuumCathode RaysThe Electron ExposedThe Puzzle of Penetrative LightThe Legacy of Vacuum Electronics7 Controlling the Flow of ElectronsThe Edison EffectThe Vacuum DiodeThe Magical Third ElectrodeVoices Across the Continent8 RadioChristmas Eve, 1904Core Radio TechnologyRCA and SarnoffArmstrong’s Tragedy9 TelevisionTransmitting Video through the AirA Farm Boy from Utah and a Russian ÉmigréThe Intellectual Property Battle10 RadarClairvoyanceHunting the SubmarineThe Most Valuable LuggageRadio NavigationThe Microwave World11 ComputerThe Calculating MachineENIACFoundation of Computer ArchitectureFramework for the FuturePart III: Age of Solid-State Electronics 12 The SemiconductorBell LabsKelly’s ForesightThe Unpredictable Semiconductor13 The Birth of the TransistorThe Flamboyant GeniusConceptualizing a Solid-State TriodeForging a Better SemiconductorDiscovery of the p-n JunctionRoadblocksThe Great BreakthroughThe Roll-Out . . . . . . And the FightShockley’s Last LaughThe Zeal of Teal and the Élan of PfannResolution14 Launching the Electronics Industry Sharing TechnologyNew PlayersThe Debut of SiliconThe Transistor RadioJapanese PioneersThe Transistor Era Begins15 The Dawn of Silicon ValleyWall Street Journal or Physical Review?Shockley and the Traitorous EightThe Birth of Venture CapitalThe Changing of the Guard16 The Integrated Circuit and the ChipKilby and the First Integrated CircuitHoerni and the Planar Process Noyce and the ChipFairchild and the Silicon Valley Phenomenon17 Chip Technology BlossomsThe Early Market for ChipsMoore’s LawMemory ChipsMicroprocessor—ENIAC on a chipThe Personal Computer UnleashedUbiquitous Silicon18 Evolution of the Electronics IndustryCompetitors from AsiaComputer-Aided DesignThe Foundries of TaiwanNoyce, Moore, and GroveTurning Silicon Into Gold19 LEDs, Fiber Optics, and Liquid Crystal DisplaysLuminescent SemiconductorsSemiconductor LasersFiber Optic CommunicationsLiquid Crystal Displays20 The Information Age and BeyondPutting It All Together The Information RevolutionGlobalizationLooking AheadAppendix I: Further Reading Appendix II: Summary of Key “Conquerors of the Electron”