Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the idea factory. In the years that followed, perhaps more than anyone else, he crafted and refined the research model that would define bell labs. How bell labs created the future in the idea factory. Part of the essential yeast of bell labs was president mervin kelly s radical insistence on mixing top scientists critical understanding of basic processes with cut and fit experimentation. I learned this from jon gertners the idea factory, a fascinating account of bell labs age of innovation. The central figure in that tale is mervin kelly, who envisioned an. Arthur ashkin invented optical tweezers that grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells with their laser beam fingers. Bell labs and the great age of american innovation by jon gertner 2012, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay. Beginning his career with bell labs in 1972, oshea spent almost 30 years in the development, manufacturing, marketing and sales of information systems. Shockley was inspired by a talk given by the bell labs research director, mervin kelly, who wanted to find a way to invent electronic switches and amplifiers that could replace the relay switches. Weaving together the scientific research, product development and marketing along with the intriguing and gifted personalities who were involved over the decades, the author has done an excellent job of bringing the highlights, the excitement, the breakthroughs and. At its heart this is a story about the life and work of a small group of brilliant and eccentric men mervin kelly, bill shockley, claude shannon, john pierce, and bill bakerwho spent their careers at bell labs. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the.
One type of innovation creates a handful of jobs and modest revenues. The book covers bell labs seminal work on multiplexing, information theory, transistors, lasers, fiber optics, communications satellites, the cosmic microwave background, and mobile phone networks, among other things. The book could equally well be subtitled the invention of the modern world. Jon gertners new york times oped provides more details from his book. Unfortunately, this book cant be printed from the openbook. A study of bell labs offers a number of lessons about how our. At bell labs, the man most responsible for the culture of creativity was mervin kelly. Kelly thought the purpose of bell labs was to turn new science into new things that made a difference. With headquarters located in murray hill, new jersey, the company operates several laboratories in the united states and. This was largely the vision of two men frank jewett and mervin kelly. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Opinion innovation and the bell labs miracle the new. How an idea from bell labs is improving office design today. By tracing the history of bell labs through the biographies of several of its founding thinkers, including mervin kelly, bill shockley and claude shannon, gertner reveals the complicated humanity at work behind the scenes and provides unprecedented insight on some of historys most important scientific and technological advances.
Whether the 21st century will produce another bell labs remains to be seen. The idea factory, by jon gertner the new york times. Dave tompkins, who explored bell labs via the history of the vocoder in the fascinating book how to wreck a nice beach, writes in slate. The idea factory bell labs and the great age of american innovation. Kelly, fisk, and baker were presidents of the labs, and served as stewards during the institutions golden age.
He was avidly pursuing graduate work in the discipline at the university of michigan, intent on an academic career, when bell labs research director mervin kelly happened to visit in 1936. If you need to print pages from this book, we recommend downloading it as a pdf. In 1948, bell labs began offering a series of unaccredited but highly challenging courses for employees known as the communications development training program, or cdt. From its beginnings in the 1920s until its demise in the 1980s, bell labsofficially, the research. In 1950, he traveled around europe, delivering a presentation that explained to. The idea factory navy general library program downloadable. The people helping to make it happen including mervin kelly, jim fisk, william shockley, claude shannon, john pierce, and william baker. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. How bell labs missed the microchip full page reload. Nov 30, 2019 that the story is about bell labs, and even more specifically about life at the labs between the late 1930s and the mid1970s, isnt a coincidence. Mar 23, 2012 in fact, the bell lab facilities in murray hill, n. Mervin joe kelly february 14, 1895 princeton, missouri march 18, 1971 was an american physicist and engineer, and president of bell labs from 1951 to. Labs a number of scientific exemplars the guy who wrote the book, as.
Pick up the key ideas in the book with this quick summary. At its heart this is a story about the life and work of a small group of brilliant and eccentric menmervin kelly, bill shockley, claude shannon, john pierce. Upon receiving the idea factory, i raided the index for. Bell labs and the great age of american innovation kindle edition by gertner, jon. In 1951 he was named director of the labs, and his work was pivotal in changing the communications industry. Long before jack dorsey and steve jobs reflected on the keys to innovation, mervin kelly, one of the early architects of bell labs, weighed in on the subject. Mervin kelly even created branches of bell labs at the phone companys factories so that the theoreticians and scientists could be closely involved with the manufacturing workers. The program was informally knownmuch to mervin kelly s discomfortas kelly college, because thats what it was.
All these men knew one another, and some were extremely close. The idea factory is a fascinating look at the lives of some of the key men who shaped bell labs and created its greatest inventions. Mervin kelly, for example, was one of the most gifted physics students at the university of. But the real stroke of genius was to realize the value that basic scientists mainly physicists and chemists could bring to this endeavor along with engineers. Phd physical chemistry degree from harvard university in cambridge, massachusetts, usa, and a bachelor of science computer science and chemistry joint degree from kings college in london, uk. However, almost as many fruitful interactions described in the book can be traced to architectural features. Not everything bell labs did was a resounding success, though. Kelly was employed at bell labs, rising from researcher to chairman of the board. When the building opened in 1941, its design reflected the ideas of mervin kelly, bell labs director of research. Twas the biggest, and arguably the best, laboratory for new ideas in the world.
May 29, 2012 key bell labs managers mervin kelly, john baker, and john pierce may not be well remembered now, but they were regarded as towering presences in their time, just as compelling if not nearly as well compensated as our current internet heroes. His parents were joseph fenimore and mary etta evans kelly. In the idea factory, jon gertner traces the origins of some of the twentieth centurys most important inventions and delivers a riveting and heretofore untold chapter of american history. Jon gertner this work highlights achievements of bell labs as a leading innovator, exploring the role of its highly educated employees in developing new technologies while considering the qualities of companies. With the exception of mervin kelly, the eldest of the group, they were sometimes considered members of a band of bell labs revolutionaries known as the young turks. Opinion innovation and the bell labs miracle the new york times. Bell labs and the great age of american innovation ebook written by jon gertner. He kept the store books for his father and had a newspaper. And at its heart this is a story about a small group of brilliant and eccentric men including mervin kelly, bill shockley, claude shannon, john pierce, and bill baker who spent their careers at bell labs. The idea factory bell labs and the great age of american innovation by jon gertner. Bill oshea was the tenth president of bell labs, and lucent technologies chief technology officer.
Today, when the drive to invent has become a mantra, bell labs offers us a. In jon gertners deep dive into bell labs history, the idea factory, a lot of time is spent detailing the nearprescient pairings of experts made by research director mervin kelly and other influential managers. That the story is about bell labs, and even more specifically about life at the labs between the late 1930s and the mid1970s, isnt a coincidence. In its heyday, bell labs boasted nearly 15,000 employees, 1,200 of whom held phds and of whom won nobel prizes. At its heart this is a story about the life and work of a small group of brilliant and eccentric menmervin kelly, bill shockley, claude shannon, john pierce, and bill bakerwho spent their careers at bell labs. At its heart this is a story about the life and work of a small group of brilliant and eccentric men mervin kelly, bill shockley, claude shannon, john pierce.
This innovative laboratory, established in the 1920s, was the source of dozens, if not hundreds, of technological innovations, effectively ushering in our modern digital age. Bell labs project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. Bell labs functioned in a world not ours, he quotes john pierce as saying near the end of the book. The scale of bell labs impact is truly incredible and this book does a good job of explaining the history of the institution and what factors contributed to its remarkable output. Why bell labs was a hotbed of innovation that led to many. Opinion innovation and the bell labs miracle the new york. Apr 08, 2012 mervin kelly even created branches of bell labs at the phone companys factories so that the theoreticians and scientists could be closely involved with the manufacturing workers. I hopped onto more than half a dozen planes to actually pay a visit to potential employers all over the country during th. Mervin joe kelly february 14, 1895 princeton, missouri march 18, 1971 was an american physicist and engineer, and president of bell labs from 1951 to 1959. Upon earning his phd in physics at the university of chicago, mervin kelly began his bell system career in 1917 working with vacuum tube technology. Bell labs and the great age of american innovation jon. He is the editor and lead author of the book the future x network.
Mervin kelly, for example, was one of the most gifted physics students at the university of chicago before coming to bell labs. From transistors to telstar, idea factory traces bell labs. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the idea factory. In the idea factory, jon gertner paints bell labs astutely. Bell labs and the great age of american innovation. Bell labs and the great age of american innovation paperback february 26, 20. Today, when the drive to invent has become a mantra, bell labs offers us a way to enrich our understanding of the challenges and. Probably the best example of that in history is the bell labs research center in murray hill, new jersey. In this fascinating book, the author recounts the amazing story of bell labs from its creation in 1925 to its present state. Kelly and his colleagues at bell labs repeatedly sought, creates millions of jobs and a. Mervin kelly as bell s research director, and later its president, mervin kelly was the driving force that steered bell labs into solid state physics. Part of the essential yeast of bell labs was president mervin kellys radical insistence on mixing top scientists critical.
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