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The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation

Jon Gertner

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  • Patrick CollisonRecommended
    Collison explicitly recommends all the materials on his Labs page and calls this the definitive Bell Labs book. His reading edition is not identified.
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Summary

Jon Gertner follows Bell Labs from the 1920s through the 1980s as AT&T’s research and development organization. The history traces inventions including the transistor, laser, digital communications and cellular telephony through the people and setting behind them.

Its account connects technical work with the management of a research institution. Scientists and leaders such as Mervin Kelly, William Shockley and Claude Shannon appear within a long effort to turn research into consequential technology.

  • SourceChecked publisher or author source · Book Description: AT&T research organization, inventions and management of innovation; author and 2013 paperback ISBN

Why read it Our view

Study how an industrial research organization supported technical work, and how management choices shaped invention over time.