The metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor is the fundamental element of digital electronics. The tens of millions of transistors in the home of a typical Americanin personal computers, automobiles, appliances, and toysare almost all MOS transistors. To the Digital Age: Research Labs, Start-up Companies, and the Rise of MOS Technology is the first book devoted to the history of the MOS transistor, which overthrew the previously dominant bipolar transistor and made digital electronics ubiquitous. Combining technological with corporate history, To the Digital Age examines the breakthroughs of individual innovators as well as the research and development power (and problems) of companies such as IBM, Intel, and Fairchild. Bassett discusses how the MOS transistor was invented but spurned at Bell Labs, and then how, in the early 1960s, spurred on by the possibilities of integrated circuits, RCA, Fairchild, and IBM all launched substantial MOS RandD programs. The development of the MOS transistor involved an industry-wide effort, and Bassett emphasizes how communication among researchers from different firms played a critical role in advancing the new technology. Bassett sheds substantial new light on the development of the integrated circuit, Moore's Law, the success of Silicon Valley start-ups as compared to vertically integrated East Coast firms, the development of the microprocessor, and IBM's multi-billion-dollar losses in the early 1990s. To the Digital Age offers a captivating account of the intricate RandD process behind a technological device that transformed modern society.
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. How a Bad Idea Became Good (to Some): The Emergence of the MOS Transistor, 1945-19632. Back from the Frontier: IBM Research and the Formation of the LSI Program, 1951-19653. Development at Research: The Research Phase of IBM's MOS Program, 1963-19674. MOS in a Bipolar Company: Fairchild and the MOS Transistor, 1963-19685. It Takes an Industry: The MOS Community6. The End of Research: Intel and the MOS Transistor, 1968-19757. IBM: MOS and the Visible Hand, 1967-19758. The Logic of MOS: Intel and the Microprocessor, 1968-1975Conclusion/ EpilogueAppendix 1: Organizational ChartsAppendix 2: Sources for TablesNotesEssay on SourcesIndex
""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.""
