Promotional Information

A fascinating account of a critical period in the evolution of microelectronics. The author clearly documents the cost of not invented here attitudes, and the importance of close coupling between R & D, manufacturing, and marketing in fast-changing fields. -- D. A. Hodges, University of California at Berkeley I thought I knew all of the players and history until I read To the Digital Age. It's a fascinating and illuminating book. -- T.J. Rodgers, CEO, Cypress Semiconductor To the Digital Age is an elegant narrative about IBM's, Intel's, and Fairchild's involvement with metal oxide semiconductor development. The story is tightly told using contemporary literature and the results of interviews done by the author. -- Arthur L. Norberg, director of the Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota Ross Bassett gives the reader true insight into how complex and difficult it is to create a major technological change. He does justice to the many false starts and hesitant beginnings, and to the small army of scientists and engineers, scattered throughout many organizations,who created this revolution. -- John Armstrong, National Academy of Engineering and former VP and Director of Research at IBM

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. How a Bad Idea Became Good (to Some): The Emergence of the MOS Transistor, 1945-1963
2. Back from the Frontier: IBM Research and the Formation of the LSI Program, 1951-1965
3. Development at Research: The Research Phase of IBM's MOS Program, 1963-1967
4. MOS in a Bipolar Company: Fairchild and the MOS Transistor, 1963-1968
5. It Takes an Industry: The MOS Community
6. The End of Research: Intel and the MOS Transistor, 1968-1975
7. IBM: MOS and the Visible Hand, 1967-1975
8. The Logic of MOS: Intel and the Microprocessor, 1968-1975
Conclusion/ Epilogue
Appendix 1: Organizational Charts
Appendix 2: Sources for Tables
Notes
Essay on Sources
Index

About the Author

Ross Knox Bassett is an associate professor of history at North Carolina State University.

Reviews

An excellent book... Presents the definitive history of how the transistor was transformed from an analog into a truly digital device. IEEE Spectrum Bassett's book is an exciting, fast-moving, and entertaining look at the early days of the MOS device development, bringing to light the remarkable interplay of people and companies that made it a dominant electronic technology. SSCS Quarterly Bassett's account of the development of MOS has important implications for understanding the relationships among science, commerce, new product development, and research and development. Enterprise and Society