The Man behind the Microchip: Robert Noyee and the Invention of Silicon Valley

Citation

(2006), "The Man behind the Microchip: Robert Noyee and the Invention of Silicon Valley", Kybernetes, Vol. 35 No. 3/4. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.2006.06735cae.001

The Man behind the Microchip: Robert Noyee and the Invention of Silicon Valley

Lesle BerlinOxford University Press2005ISBN 0-19-516343-5440 pp.$30

Keywords: Cybernetics, Microchip, Systems

One of the great disappointments of the new technological age is that those who benefit from technology are not interested, in the main, in how it all came about. This book provides us with the opportunity of reading about one of the "greats", his associates and the way in which he contributed to the development of the computer systems of today.

He has been described by one reviewer as "The Thomas Edison and Henry Ford of Silicon Valley". The man is Robert Noyce, who was an inventor and an entrepreneur. There are some glowing reports of this book which is described as "a vivid narrative" and "a book in which the author captures the man and the way in which Silicon Valley was created". There is no doubt the author has produced a fascinating portrait of Robert Noyce as a man and his interaction with technology, business, politics and even culture all of which helped to define Silicon Valley. The book not only introduces Noyce's friends and close associates but also benefits from a series of interviews with well known modern US business players-More details of the text are given at the Oxford University UK Press web site: www.oup.com