Overview
- Presents a new look at the life of Nobel laureate William B. Shockley
- Introduces never-before-published personal correspondence and private writings
- Written by one of the last remaining scholars to have known Shockley both personally and professionally
Part of the book series: Springer Biographies (SPRINGERBIOGS)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (16 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Back Matter
Keywords
- Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory
- Junction Transistor
- Origin of Silicon Valley
- Transistor Effect
- Nobel Prize in Physics
- Bell Telephone Laboratories
- Fairchild Semiconductor
- History of Semiconductor Engineering
- Broken Genius
- Traitorous Eight
- Heritability of Intelligence
- Genetic Basis of Intelligence
- Bell Telephone Laboratories
- Frederick Seitz
About this book
This book takes a fresh look at the work, thoughts, and life of 1956 Nobel Prize winner William B. Shockley. It reconstructs Shockley’s upbringing, his patriotic achievements during World War II, his contribution to semiconductor physics – culminating with the epoch-making invention of the transistor – and his views on the social issues of his time.
The author’s unparalleled access to Shockley’s personal documents provides insight into a colorful, yet controversial, man, and also sheds light on the attitudes of other prominent scientists of that era. Shockley was not only an outstanding scientist in his own right but also a fiercely independent thinker in perpetual search of the truth. His contributions to the field known today as microelectronics are enormous and unmatched. This book explores the critical facets of Shockley’s life, replete with never-before-published photos and excerpts from his private correspondence and personal notebooks.
The book also delves into Shockley’s views on genetics and human intelligence. It tells the story of a man beset by an unrelenting rationality, slandered by the popular media, and ultimately alienated by his peers. It discusses his controversial, although sometimes prescient, ideas regarding human genetics, putting these into the context of modern research findings.
Today, William Shockley is perhaps just as enigmatic as his work and accomplishments. The author presents a convincing argument that Shockley still has much to say about the issues of our age, and many of his ideas deserve evaluation in the public forum.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Dr. Bo Lojek started his professional career of almost sixty years in the semiconductor industry in 1964 as a rubylith draftsman. He has designed or co-designed 25 bipolar and MOS manufacturing processes and holds over 100 patents. He is the author of the 2007 Springer book History of Semiconductor Engineering. He is one of the last scientific individualists, destined to die out in an age of teamwork and wireless collectivization.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: William Shockley: The Will to Think
Authors: Bo Lojek
Series Title: Springer Biographies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65958-5
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-65957-8Published: 27 May 2021
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-65960-8Published: 28 May 2022
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-65958-5Published: 26 May 2021
Series ISSN: 2365-0613
Series E-ISSN: 2365-0621
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 224
Number of Illustrations: 101 b/w illustrations, 60 illustrations in colour
Topics: History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics, Semiconductors, Electrical Engineering, Evolutionary Biology, Genetics and Genomics, History of Science