The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley [Hardcover]

Reviewer: Mark Lamendola, Senior IEEE member, IEEE Region 5 Outstanding Member, and recipient of multiple IEEE awards.

This review is a departure from my typical "book report" style, because I have too many things to say about it for that format to work.

Isaac Asimov called the invention of integrated circuit (IC) "the most important moment since man emerged as a life form." If you look at how ICs have changed the world, that's a hard viewpoint to argue against.

I personally own quite a few ICs and you probably do also. They are everywhere. If you own a cell phone, a computer, or an automobile, you own at least several million transistors. Transistors inside ICs have made possible many things that were not even imagined 100 years ago. Think about all of today's communications, conveniences, explorations, exchanges, transportation, information processing, productivity, and advances in medicine. None of this would exist, if not for Dr. Bob Noyce.

It's hard to imagine that the drive, intelligence, and unique personality of one man could have had so much influence on bringing this about. But, it did. The IC changed the macro culture--even our brains are wired differently because of microelectronics (see http://www.mindconnection.com/books/thenewbrain.htm). It also created a micro culture we call Silicon Valley--a major engine for economic and scientific growth. The change brought about by Dr. Noyce was deep and lasting.

This book is the story of that change and of the man behind it. But if Dr. Noyce, who died in 1990, were here today, he would make it clear that every invention depends on the breakthroughs that came before it. So in The Man Behind the Microchip, you read not just about Dr. Noyce, but about the people whom he motivated and inspired.

The Man Behind the Microchip offers at least seven things to the reader:

1. A great story. I like stories where the hero faces tough odds, falls, gets back up, and prevails over one obstacle after another until he finally wins. That was the real story of Bob Noyce. He didn't come from privilege, and he didn't have instant success. He was human, and Berlin portrays him that way. Like all humans, he didn't succeed at everything he tried. Sometimes, his failures were enough to stop any ordinary man. But Dr. Noyce was no ordinary man. And therein lies the story.

2. Inspiration. Have you ever watched somebody do something much more difficult than what you are faced with? Didn't that make you feel like you could tackle your challenge and beat it? "Gosh, if he can do that, then I can do this." Understanding the heights of Dr. Noyce's super-extraordinary accomplishments is enough to inspire anyone to accomplish the extraordinary.

3. History. When we lose our history, we lose our knowledge of who we are. So, the history is important. It deepens both our understanding and our appreciation for the way things are.

4. Good writing. As an American who grew up in the United States, I often wonder if the people who write most of the books for today's market read much or ever got a passing grade in an English class. Language is a social contract that facilitates the exchange of ideas. Unlike many of today's "writers," Leslie Berlin honors that contract. But beyond simply getting the mechanics right, Berlin knows how to turn a phrase and how to convey ideas in a clear and compelling way.

5. Insight. One of the traits we engineers are known for is we don't just lead a horse to water. We tend to dunk its head in the water. We mean well, but the poor horse thinks we're trying to drown it rather than slake its thirst. Not all engineers are this way, of course, and it's not just engineers who do this. Dr. Noyce set a good example for all of us dunkers to follow. By reading how he handled things, I learned something. And it wasn't something trivial.

6. A lesson in humility. It's easy to look at your own accomplishments or credentials, and let your head get big. I remember judging applications for IEEE Senior Membership, in 2003. I was sitting next to Rick Bush, who is a long-time mentor of mine. I am not alone in being in in awe of Rick (there aren't many people who get an "awe" rating from me). But even Rick was bowled over by what we were reading. We were sitting in judgment of people with multiple doctorates, dozens of patents, and work accomplishments that seemed surreal. I put my thumb and forefinger together and told Rick, "I feel this big." He said, "Me, too." Reading about Dr. Noyce (again) brought out that same feeling.

7. A lesson in greatness. Though Noyce's larger than life self--all which was just as Berlin described--humbled me, it also elevated me. Noyce lived a life that said no individual should think he is great on his own, but that every individual can be great by respecting others and bringing out the greatness in them. (Rick does this, too).

While reviewing this book, I exchanged e-mails with Dick Hodgman (not to be confused with Dick Hodgson, who is in the book). Hodgman is another IEEE Senior member whom I hold in awe. He worked at Intel when Noyce was there, and they spoke many times. Dick helped me get some thoughts together for this review.

Form is important, as it dictates readability. Fortunately, this book scored very well on substance and on form. This book actually uses Standard Written English (SWE). This was a refreshing change from the Pidgin English that so many of today's authors slop onto our reading palettes. The care taken in writing this book shows that the author and publisher actually cared about the reader. That's a huge plus.

Warren Buffet, who "does not give endorsements," endorsed this book. After reading it, I can see why.

If you have any interest in history, human drama, or the genesis of Silicon Valley, this book is a must read. I don't say that just because I'm active in the IEEE and Bob Noyce was "one of our own." I say that because you would not be reading this review--or anything else--online if not for Dr. Noyce. Nor would there be an Amazon.com, cell phones, or any of the thousands of other wonderful things that we take for granted today.

Don't you want to know how it all came about? Read this book and find out.

I have read many histories of Silicon Valley including those

that focused on chips, personal computers, venture capitalists

etcetera, but this one is the best. While there is little here

specifically about the rise of personal computers this book

fills in a tremendous amount of the early history of the

development of the chip, while also providing a very revealing

portrait of Robert Noyce. The range of information here is very

great. However, the book is focused on Noyce, its just that it

sheds light on a great number of events that are part of the

Silicon Valley lore.

Leslie Berlin has done a very thorough job here. Robert

Noyce was the subject of her Phd and she has been a visiting

scholar at Stanford while writing this book. The book has a

full set of notes so that the information she is revealing can

be traced back to the sources she has used. She has clearly had

substantial help from Robert Noyce's family as there are a

number of elements of this story that could only come from them.

It appears that she has interviewed a large number of Noyce's

colleagues including people like Gordon Moore, Andy Grove, and

Charlie Sporck and has pretty much gone through almost

everything written by Robert Noyce or about him. There is a list

of about 10 Theses she references and references to each of

Robert Noyce's testimonies before congress. Ms Berlin has even

interviewed the women who had affairs with Robert Noyce.

The small town background of Mr Noyce has been written about

before. However, it is clear that the entire family was very

well educated going back a couple generations. It is revealed

that Bob's older brothers also set a strong pace as they were

salutorian and Valadictorians of their class in high school.

One of Bob's older brothers ended up becoming a professor of

Chemistry at Berkeley. It is clear that Bob was able to have

a fairly normal social life at Grinell while amassing a record

strong enough to gain admission to MITs physics graduate school.

Clearly Noyce's interest in the transistor started early as he

and his Physics professor were beating their way through Bell

technical reports to understand this work. (probably the reports

that were enshrined in Shockley's 1955 book on semiconductors)

As Ms Berlin makes clear, Noyce struggled a little bit

at MIT, having to do some remedial work to fill in holes in

his background. Not surprising since he came from a program

with 2 physics professors. However, apparrently one of his

fellow students, went to one of the faculty members on his

behalf and without telling Noyce to ask them to give him more

financial aid as he considered Noyce one of the two smartest

guys in the physics grad program. (the other is revealed to be

Gell-Mann, not bad company) Clearly the faculty agreed to some

extent as after a year he was given a fellowship. Not bad to

go from struggling to a fellowship in a year in pretty fast

company. Ms Berlin also discusses Noyce's thesis in a bit of

detail and does it in a way that the layman can appreciate how

it fits in. For me it explains why Noyce chose to work under

Nottingham, not widely known, when he could have worked for the

far more widely known Slater. With the typical care she has

brought to this project it is clear that Ms Berlin has had

Physicists examine this thesis and discuss its contents with

her. Noyce was making measurments of surface states. As this

would be pretty relevant to his work related to the planar

process as well as the starting of the first MOS company it was

worth doing.

I found the section on the Shockley Semiconductor lab also

very revealing. It has always been clear that William Shockley

was a better scientist than businessman, however Ms Berlin

reveals many of the disfunctional characteristics of that group

like never before. Shockley's limitations as a people manager

are clearly mapped. I was not aware of a number of things

regarding the breakout of the Fairchild traitors, specifically

that Noyce was the last of this group to become committed and

the difficulty this group had in finding an investor.

The Fairchild era also contains a number of revelations for

me. The evolution of the planar process out of the solution

of a relability problem on the discretes is new to me. It also

becomes much clearer as to which groups had particular expertise

and went to break off and commercialize their ideas separately.

Fairchild as a source of entrepreneurs is legendary, but here

there is more detail that indicated the frustrations that

may have lead to it and the expertise of the players. I knew

that Charlie Sporck had been the manufacturing manager at

Fairchild but I didnt know he had been the Operating manager

for a period or that Fairchild's inability to recruit against

other startups because the NY gang refused to allow stock

options was a problem for them. Essentially Sporck was

Fairchild's Andy Grove. Anybody in the valley has probably

experienced this phenomenon. I'm amazed that Fairchild was

suffering from this in the early 60s.

Similarly there are many revealing insights about the

startup of Intel. In the context it becomes easier to

understand the idea behind the company. I did not know that

Ted Hoff was hired to be the computer architecture guru on the

recommendation of Stanford faculty and the Busicom project that

lead to the early Microprocessor is discussed in more detail

than I've seen before.

In summary this is an outstanding book which is done with

great care and attention to detail by a young historian. The

book reads very easily for both the person who is nontechnical

as well as someone with a tech background. There is plenty here

for all. I think Ms Berlin should get the Pulitzer prize for

biography for this one.

The book has a fascinating subject and is well written. It fully captures and holds your attention. The author is very deft in handling arguments or controversies Noyce was involved in, presenting facts without bias. The book is even-handed and intelligent.

From a literary point of view, I think the book raises the bar in terms of biograpical research. I've read a lot of biographies, and I've never seen one as well documented as this. Almost every sentenced can be traced back to its source. In addition, it has original research. I believe the author is responsible for discovering that Noyce's NDR diode was at least coincident with Esaki's Noble-prize winning work. Overall, an excellent read.

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