Crystal Fire

December 30, 1996
Today, with technology and hype hopelessly intertwined, it is worth noting that the transistor's official debut by Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1948 received scant notice. The technology that would change the world was relegated to page 46 of the New York Times in the "News of Radio" column, for example. Such detail, far from cluttering this chronicle of scientific quests, elevates a potentially dry treatise on industrial research methodology to absorbing proportions. Riordan (Shadow of Creation) and Hoddeson (a teacher at the University of Illinois) expertly integrate science with the personal histories and larger social issues that ushered in the age of the semiconductor. This is the story of the motivations and failures of the men who inched forward in the arduous years-long pursuit of a solid-state technology that would replace vacuum tubes and pave the way for everything from transistor radios to laptops. The ever-ambitious team leader William Shockley eventually shared the acclaim--and Nobel Prize--with two team members, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, but he never achieved the personal fortune he craved. His own semiconductor firm, based in a sleepy community outside of San Francisco, was far from the financial or technological success he envisioned. The region would, however, eventually grow into Silicon Valley. Thoroughly accessible to lay readers as well as to the techno-savvy, this fine book vivifies the office politics, professional rivalries and dedication exhibited by the researchers whose work literally--and virtually--transformed the planet. Photos and illustrations not seen by PW. First serial to IEEE Spectrum; second serial to Scientific American.

CRYSTAL FIRE focuses on the development of the transistor and its impact on society (telephones, radios and computers). Riordan and Hoddeson trace the development of the transistor from the mid-1800's with Bell and Edison to the revolutionary advances of scientists at Bell Labs in the 1940's. McKee relentlessly reads the minutiae of the scientific notebooks and experiments. McKee is so interested in what he's reading, you can hear him fussing ceaselessly with the pages of the book throughout the nine tapes. In addition, the volume changes, sometimes within the same paragraph, making it sound as though there is a second reader. Regardless of the distractions, this book of "history in the making" fascinates. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

September 15, 1999
Hoddeson, a leading scholar on the history of solid state physics, has teamed up with Stanford University physicist Riordan to give us a history of the invention of the transistor--the basic building block of the Information Age. The book includes insight into the theorists and engineers at Bell Labs, Fairchild Semiconductor, and Texas Instruments--the egos and petty office politics that accompanied the invention. The only problem with this definitive history is that the average listener may find it too technical. However, it's an ideal recording for college-level science students or those who want to know how the greatest technological revolution in history occurred; this is the story of Silicon Valley. Ably narrated by Dennis McKee, this is recommended to university and other libraries with a high-tech-oriented clientele.--James Dudley, Westhampton Beach, NY

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