具体描述
This book sets out to explain the development of modern electronic systems and devices from the viewpoint of the semiconductor materials (germanium, silicon, gallium arsenide and many others) which made them possible. It covers the scientific understanding of these materials and its intimate relationship with their technology and many applications. It began with Michael Faraday, took off in a big way with the invention of the transistor at Bell Labs in 1947 and is still burgeoning today. It is a story to match any artistic or engineering achievement of man and this is the first time it has been presented in a style suited to the non-specialist. It is written in a lively, non-mathematical style which brings out the excitement of discovery and the fascinating interplay between the demands of system pull and technological push. It also looks at the nature of some of the personal interactions which helped to shape the modern technological world.
An introductory chapter illustrates just how dependent we are on modern electronic systems and explains the significance of semiconductors in their development. It also provides, in as painless a way as possible, a necessary understanding of semiconductor properties in relation to these applications. The second chapter takes up the historical account and ends with some important results emerging from the Second World War - including its effect on the organisation of scientific research. Chapter three describes the world-shaking discovery of the transistor and some of the early struggles to make it commercially viable, including the marketing of the first transistor radio. In chapter four we meet the integrated circuit which gave shape to much of our modern life in the form of the personal computer (and which gave rise to a famously long-running patent war!). Later chapters cover the application of compound semiconductors to light-emitting devices, such as LEDs and lasers, and light detecting devices such as photocells. We learn how these developments led to the invention of the CD player and DVD recorder, how other materials were applied to the development of sophisticated night vision equipment, fibre optical communications systems, solar photovoltaic panels and flat panel displays. Similarly, microwave techniques essential to our modern day love of mobile phoning are seen to depend on clever materials scientists who, not for the first time, "invented" new semiconductors with just the right properties.
Altogether, it is an amazing story and one which deserves to be more widely known. Read this book and you will be rewarded with a much deeper understanding and appreciation of the technological revolution which shapes so many aspects of our lives.
- A historical account of the development of semiconductor physics, devices and applications from the nineteenth century to the present day
- Coverage of the importance of material quality and it's relation to the physics of the devices
- Presented in a strictly non-mathematical and anecedotal way, to appeal to a wide audience
- Provides the broad sweep of science history
作者简介
目录信息
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这本书带给我一种强烈的历史纵深感，仿佛穿越回了晶体管刚刚诞生的那个充满不确定性的年代。作者对早期贝尔实验室（Bell Labs）和仙童半导体（Fairchild Semiconductor）等先驱者的描绘，充满了对人性、竞争和偶然性的捕捉。读起来完全不像是在阅读一部技术史，更像是一部关于人类雄心与硅的“神话”。我特别关注到其中关于“人才流动”和“知识溢出”的章节，那些从仙童出走的“八叛徒”（Traitorous Eight）如何催生了整个硅谷的文化，这比任何关于CMOS的讨论都要来得有感染力。书中没有使用过于晦涩的行话，使得叙事流畅而引人入胜。它成功地将半导体产业的演变塑造成一个波澜壮阔的史诗，其中充满了天才的碰撞和商业的博弈。对于任何想了解现代科技文明起源的人来说，这都是一本不可或缺的入门读物。
评分我从一个纯粹的硬件工程师的角度来看待这本书，坦白说，它在某些技术深度上略显保守，但其价值恰恰在于弥合了技术人员与政策制定者之间的认知鸿沟。书中的案例研究，比如对早期集成电路制造工艺的描述，虽然是教科书式的回顾，但它成功地将抽象的物理过程，转化为了可感知的历史叙事。我原本以为会看到更多关于尖端光刻技术或量子计算的深度剖析，但作者似乎更专注于“普及化”和“规模化”所带来的结构性变革。这种取向使得该书具有极高的可读性，即使是对半导体行业了解不深的读者，也能抓住核心脉络。它巧妙地阐述了为什么仅仅拥有最好的晶体管并不能保证市场成功，而生态系统的构建、供应链的韧性以及知识产权的布局才是决定性的因素。这提醒我们，技术本身是价值中立的，但其应用的“战场”才是决定其历史地位的关键。
评分从一个热衷于消费电子产品更新换代的普通消费者的角度来看，这本书的价值在于提供了一种“慢下来”的视角。我们习惯于每年更换新手机，享受着越来越快的处理器，但却从未停下来思考这些迭代背后的成本和代价。书中详细描述了集成电路制造过程中所需的水、能源和稀有材料的惊人消耗，这让我对“持续升级”的模式产生了深刻的反思。它成功地将冰冷的半导体器件，转化为具有环境和社会责任的对象。我印象最深的是关于芯片的“生命周期”分析，从摇篮到坟墓，其环境足迹是巨大的。这本书没有提供简单的解决方案，但它强有力地提出了问题：信息革命的速度是否已经超越了地球生态系统的承受能力？它的论述是审慎的，却足以让任何一个关心可持续发展的人感到不安，并促使我们对手中的设备产生更深层次的敬畏与审视。
评分作为一个长期关注信息安全和数据隐私的社会学研究者，我发现这本书提供了一个极具价值的“物质基础”视角。我们通常讨论算法偏见、数据泄露，但很少有人会去追溯这些问题的根源——即硬件层面的限制与设计哲学。书中关于芯片制造的“隐形政治”的讨论，非常敏锐地触及了全球化背景下技术主权的敏感神经。它揭示了从矿石开采到封装测试，这条漫长而复杂的供应链是如何被地缘政治力量深刻影响的。这种自下而上的分析，迫使我重新思考，当我们谈论“数字未来”时，我们究竟是在讨论软件的迭代，还是在讨论少数几个国家对关键制造能力的控制权。文风上，作者保持了一种冷静的客观性，但字里行间流露出的对“技术霸权”的警惕，是极具穿透力的。
评分这部关于半导体技术和信息革命的著作，无疑是一部引人深思的作品。它不仅仅是罗列技术细节，更是深入探讨了芯片如何成为现代社会运行的“神经系统”。作者以一种近乎哲学的视角，审视了硅基生命体如何重塑了我们的工作方式、沟通模式乃至思维结构。我尤其欣赏其中对摩尔定律（Moore’s Law）超越技术范畴的社会影响的分析。它不仅仅是关于晶体管密度的增长，更是对人类创新速度和资源消耗极限的一种隐喻。书中对“后摩尔时代”的讨论尤为精彩，它没有陷入技术悲观主义的泥潭，而是探讨了在物理极限面前，我们如何通过架构创新和新材料来维持进步的动力。这种宏观与微观的结合，使得整本书既有扎实的工程学基础，又不失对未来图景的深刻洞察。阅读过程中，我不断地被提醒，我们今天习以为常的数字生活，其根基是多么脆弱而又精妙的物理学成就。这本书无疑拓宽了我对信息时代来龙去脉的理解。
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