Rating: 
Summary: Science as Thriller
Review: Who would have thought a book about the invention of the transistor could be so compelling? And yet here it is. The authors tell two parallel stories, one about the inventors, and one about the developments in physics that led to, and followed from, the invention of the transistor. The interplay between pure science and technology has seldom been explained as well.I'd put this book alongside "The Invention That Changed The World" as the two best popular histories of science an technology of the decade.
Rating: 
Summary: Crystal Fire
Review: With a clearer explanation of the basic forces behind semi-conductivity and less history of quantum physics, this book would rate a '10.' As it stands, the authors seem to assume at least B.S. level competence in physical chemsistry in their readers and dwell ponderously on a century of scientific history that is but vaguely related to the central topic: invention of the transistor and its spawning of the chip industry. Better to have extended the story forward to Grove (instead of stalling in the 1960s) than wending backward to Bohr, but then what would the authors do for a sequel? Still, a compelling read and recommended, especially if you brush up on your sub-atomic particle physics and keep the periodic table close-at-hand. Best of all is the book's concluding sentence: "For as fire illuminates, we must always remember, it also consumes." So it does--and if this story hooks you, it will consume 285 pages of bathroom time.
Rating:
Summary: Crystal Fire
Review: With a clearer explanation of the basic forces behind semi-conductivity and less history of quantum physics, this book would rate a '10.' As it stands, the authors seem to assume at least B.S. level competence in physical chemsistry in their readers and dwell ponderously on a century of scientific history that is but vaguely related to the central topic: invention of the transistor and its spawning of the chip industry. Better to have extended the story forward to Grove (instead of stalling in the 1960s) than wending backward to Bohr, but then what would the authors do for a sequel? Still, a compelling read and recommended, especially if you brush up on your sub-atomic particle physics and keep the periodic table close-at-hand. Best of all is the book's concluding sentence: "For as fire illuminates, we must always remember, it also consumes." So it does--and if this story hooks you, it will consume 285 pages of bathroom time.
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