About the book
From the 1920s until its end in the 1980s, Bell Labs served as the research and development arm of AT&T and produced inventions from the transistor to the laser. Jon Gertner tells its history through a small group of men who spent their careers there, among them Mervin Kelly, Claude Shannon, John Pierce, Bill Baker and William Shockley, whose task was to build the future of communications. He looks at where science, business and society met inside the lab, and draws out lessons on hiring and nurturing young talent, leading difficult employees, attacking stubborn problems and turning a discovery into a product, then making it better, cheaper or both.
Mark Zuckerberg picked it for his A Year of Books series, saying he wanted to understand what kinds of people, questions and environments produce innovation.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Mark Zuckerberg (CEO/Facebook)
My next book for A Year of Books is The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation.
I'm very interested in what causes innovation -- what kinds of people, questions and environments. This book explores that question by looking at Bell Labs, which was one of the most innovative labs in history.
As an aside, I loved The Three-Body Problem and highly recommend it. If you're interested in Chinese history, virtual reality and science fiction -- I'm three for three! -- then you'll enjoy this book. I'm going to try to fit in the sequel before the end of the year as well.
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