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HO

History of computing and semiconductors

Technology

This niche holds histories of the computer, the transistor and the chip industry, from Bell Labs, ARPA and Xerox PARC to IBM, Intel, Nvidia and the making of Silicon Valley.

Books 52Experts 3Recommenders 26

Start here

  1. The Soul of a New MachineTracy Kidder, 1981
  2. Dealers of LightningMichael A. Hiltzik, 1999
  3. HackersSteven Levy, 1984
  4. The ChipT. R. Reid, 1984
  5. Fumbling the futureDouglas K. Smith, Robert C. Alexander, 1988
The Soul of a New MachineThe Soul of a New Machine
T1 The Soul of a New Machine
Tracy Kidder · 1981
Open LibraryGoodreads

A Data General team races to design a 32-bit minicomputer in about a year.

“Must-read for anyone in a product development or a startup environment.” — Mohnish Pabrai

Source: Mohnish's Bookshelf — Books on Sales & Marketing, entry 73

Recommended by: Mohnish Pabrai, Patrick Collison, Brad Feld and 3 others

Dealers of LightningDealers of Lightning
T1 Dealers of Lightning
Michael A. Hiltzik · 1999
Open LibraryGoodreads

How Xerox PARC built the first personal computer and laser printer, and lost them.

Recommended by: Austen Allred, Patrick Collison, Sam Altman

HackersHackers
T2 Hackers
Steven Levy · 1984
Open LibraryGoodreads

Three generations of hackers, from MIT's AI Lab to the Homebrew club and game makers.

Recommended by: Austen Allred, Ev Williams, Marc Andreessen and 3 others

The ChipThe Chip
T2 The Chip
T. R. Reid · 1984
Open LibraryGoodreads

How Kilby and Noyce each invented the integrated circuit in 1958 and 1959.

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

Fumbling the futureFumbling the future
T2 Fumbling the future
Douglas K. Smith, Robert C. Alexander · 1988
Open LibraryGoodreads

How Xerox invented the personal computer and then ignored it.

Insanely GreatInsanely Great
T2 Insanely Great
Steven Levy · 1994
Open LibraryGoodreads

How the Macintosh was made and launched in 1984.

Where Wizards Stay Up LateWhere Wizards Stay Up Late
T2 Where Wizards Stay Up Late
Katie Hafner, Matthew Lyon · 1996
Open LibraryGoodreads

How Licklider and Pentagon-funded engineers built the network behind the internet.

Recommended by: Patrick Collison, Chris Dixon

Crystal FireCrystal Fire
T2 Crystal Fire
Michael Riordan, Lillian Hoddeson · 1997
Open LibraryGoodreads

How the Bell Labs team of Shockley, Bardeen and Brattain invented the transistor.

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

The Dream MachineThe Dream Machine
T2 The Dream Machine
M. Mitchell Waldrop · 2001
Open LibraryGoodreads

J.C.R. Licklider's vision of computers that serve individuals, and how it came true.

Recommended by: Marc Andreessen, Patrick Collison

The Man Behind the MicrochipThe Man Behind the Microchip
T2 The Man Behind the Microchip
Leslie Berlin · 2005
Open LibraryGoodreads

Robert Noyce, Fairchild Semiconductor and the founding of Intel.

Recommended by: Jim Collins, Mohnish Pabrai and 2 others

The InnovatorsThe Innovators
T2 The Innovators
Walter Isaacson · 2014
Open LibraryGoodreads

Computing as a run of collaborations, from Ada Lovelace and Babbage to Google.

Recommended by: Mohnish Pabrai, Bill Gates, Chris Fussell and 2 others

The Intel TrinityThe Intel Trinity
T2 The Intel Trinity
Michael S. Malone · 2014
Open LibraryGoodreads

Intel's history through Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore and Andy Grove.

Recommended by: Mohnish Pabrai, Keith Rabois

A Mind at PlayA Mind at Play
T2 A Mind at Play
Jimmy Soni, Rob Goodman · 2017
Open LibraryGoodreads

The life of Claude Shannon, whose information theory underlies the digital age.

Recommended by: Bryan Johnson, Jim O'Shaughnessy and 1 other

Chip WarChip War
T2 Chip War
Chris Miller · 2022
Open LibraryGoodreads

How chips became the key to economic and military power, made in a few chokepoints.

Recommended by: Andrew Wilkinson

Nvidia Way
T2 Nvidia Way
Tae Kim · 2024
Open LibraryGoodreads

Nvidia from its 1993 founding to the AI boom, from interviews with Jensen Huang.

Tools for ThoughtTools for Thought
T3 Tools for Thought
Howard Rheingold · 1985
Open LibraryGoodreads

The idea of personal computing and the people who pursued it, up to PARC.

MicrocosmMicrocosm
T3 Microcosm
George Gilder · 1989
Open LibraryGoodreads

Portraits of the scientists, engineers and founders behind new technology.

Big bluesBig blues
T3 Big blues
Paul Carroll · 1993
Open LibraryGoodreads

How IBM lost control of the PC industry to Microsoft, Intel and the clone makers.

Building IBM: Shaping an Industry and Its TeBuilding IBM: Shaping an Industry and Its Technology
T3 Building IBM: Shaping an Industry and Its Technology
Emerson W. Pugh · 1995
Open LibraryGoodreads

IBM's technical and organisational history up to the System/360 computers.

The SupermenThe Supermen
T3 The Supermen
Charles J. Murray · 1997
Open LibraryGoodreads

Seymour Cray and the supercomputer business he built and lost

Recommended by: Sam Altman

Silicon ShieldSilicon Shield
T3 Silicon Shield
Craig Addison · 2001
Open LibraryGoodreads

The argument that Taiwan's chip industry protects it from Chinese attack.

Broken GeniusBroken Genius
T3 Broken Genius
Joel N. Shurkin · 2006
Open LibraryGoodreads

Shockley and the accidental seeding of Silicon Valley.

Recommended by: Bill Gates

Chips and ChangeChips and Change
T3 Chips and Change
Clair Brown, Greg Linden · 2009
Open LibraryGoodreads

How the chip industry moved to contract manufacturing, and what changed with it.

Moore's LawMoore's Law
T3 Moore's Law
Arnold Thackray, David C. Brock, Rachel Jones · 2015
Open LibraryGoodreads

The life of Intel founder Gordon Moore and the forecast named after him.

Valley of Genius
T3 Valley of Genius
Adam Fisher · 2018
Open LibraryGoodreads

Oral history; Thiel and the PayPal cohort speak in their own words.

Computers and the World of the FutureComputers and the World of the Future
T4 Computers and the World of the Future
Martin Greenberger · 1962
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

Libraries of the FutureLibraries of the Future
T4 Libraries of the Future
J. C. R. Licklider · 1965
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

Computer LibComputer Lib
T4 Computer Lib
Ted Nelson · 1974
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

The Big ScoreThe Big Score
T4 The Big Score
Michael S. Malone · 1985
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

From Satori to Silicon Valley: San FranciscoFrom Satori to Silicon Valley: San Francisco and the American Counterculture
T4 From Satori to Silicon Valley: San Francisco and the American Counterculture
Roszak, Theodore · 1986
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

Blue MagicBlue Magic
T4 Blue Magic
James Chposky, Ted Leonsis · 1988
Open LibraryGoodreads

How the IBM PC was built outside the normal organisation.

Regional AdvantageRegional Advantage
T4 Regional Advantage
AnnaLee Saxenian · 1994
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison, Kevin Kelly

Out of their Minds: The Lives and DiscoverieOut of their Minds: The Lives and Discoveries of 15 Great Computer Scientists
T4 Out of their Minds: The Lives and Discoveries of 15 Great Computer Scientists
Dennis Elliott Shasha · 1995
Open LibraryGoodreads

Profiles of 15 leading computer scientists, eight of them Turing Award winners.

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

The Closed World: Computers and the PoliticsThe Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America (Inside Technology)
T4 The Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America (Inside Technology)
Paul N. Edwards · 1996
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

Bootstrapping: Douglas Engelbart, CoevolutioBootstrapping: Douglas Engelbart, Coevolution, and the Origins of Personal Computing
T4 Bootstrapping: Douglas Engelbart, Coevolution, and the Origins of Personal Computing
Thierry Bardini · 2000
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

Go ToGo To
T4 Go To
Steve Lohr · 2001
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison, Keith Rabois

Revolution in the ValleyRevolution in the Valley
T4 Revolution in the Valley
Andy Hertzfeld · 2004
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Keith Rabois, Patrick Collison

Making Silicon ValleyMaking Silicon Valley
T4 Making Silicon Valley
Christophe Lecuyer · 2005
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

What the Dormouse SaidWhat the Dormouse Said
T4 What the Dormouse Said
John Markoff · 2005
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison, Bret Victor, Kevin Kelly

From Counterculture to CybercultureFrom Counterculture to Cyberculture
T4 From Counterculture to Cyberculture
Fred Turner · 2006
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

The InformationThe Information
T4 The Information
James Gleick · 2011
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Marc Andreessen, Mark Zuckerberg and 2 others

The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great AgThe Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
T4 The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
Jon Gertner · 2012
Open LibraryGoodreads

How Bell Labs turned research into the transistor, the laser and information theory.

Recommended by: Mohnish Pabrai, Mark Zuckerberg and 2 others

Turing's CathedralTuring's Cathedral
T4 Turing's Cathedral
George Dyson · 2012
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Stewart Brand

Memory Machines: The Evolution of Hypertext
T4 Memory Machines: The Evolution of Hypertext (Anthem Scholarship in the Digital Age)
Belinda Barnet · 2013
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

How the Internet Became Commercial: InnovatiHow the Internet Became Commercial: Innovation, Privatization, and the Birth of a New Network (The Kauffman Foundation Series on Innovation and Entrepreneurship)
T4 How the Internet Became Commercial: Innovation, Privatization, and the Birth of a New Network (The Kauffman Foundation Series on Innovation and Entrepreneurship)
Shane M. Greenstein · 2015
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

How Not to Network a Nation: The Uneasy HistHow Not to Network a Nation: The Uneasy History of the Soviet Internet (Information Policy)
T4 How Not to Network a Nation: The Uneasy History of the Soviet Internet (Information Policy)
Benjamin Peters · 2016
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

Dawn of the New EverythingDawn of the New Everything
T4 Dawn of the New Everything
Jaron Lanier · 2017
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Satya Nadella

TroublemakersTroublemakers
T4 Troublemakers
Leslie Berlin · 2017
Open LibraryGoodreads

Recommended by: Aileen Lee, Austen Allred, Keith Rabois and 1 other

A Decade of Research: Xerox Palo Alto Resear
T4 A Decade of Research: Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 1970-1980
Giuliana Ed Lavendel
Goodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

Engines of Logic: Mathematicians and the OriEngines of Logic: Mathematicians and the Origin of the Computer
T4 Engines of Logic: Mathematicians and the Origin of the Computer
Goodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

PARC: The Second Decade 1980-1990
T4 PARC: The Second Decade 1980-1990
Goodreads

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

PossiplexPossiplex
T4 Possiplex
Goodreads

A computer pioneer's autobiography: his life in computing and fight for civilisation.

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

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