The passing of an unsung hero
The passing of an unsung hero
(OP)
Monday the 20th of June marked the passing of Jack St. Clair Kilby, the Electrical Engineer who launched our modern age by inventing the silicon semiconductor "chip" in 1958. He was a new-hire engineer at Texas Instruments and everyone else went on vacation except him because he had no time built up. So he had the research lab all to himself for 2 weeks and came up with this monolithic subtrate that could act as a switch. He said he did it fast because he knew that they would put him back in a corner when the tenured engineers returned from vacation!
He died in Dallas Texas at the ripe old age of 81. He received the Nobel Prize for physics in 2000, yet the general public is largely unaware of who he was or what he did. IMHO, he should be lauded with the likes of Edison and Herny Ford for changing the way the world works, but alas, it didn't happen in his own time. I for one am turning all my electronic devices off or a moment of "silicon silence" in his honor.
Having started my education at the end of the Slide Rule Era, I was also greatly appreciative of his most successful commercial invention, the electronic calculator in 1965. By the time I hit college, I was able (although barely) to buy one of the first Texas Instuments scientific calculators, thus freeing myself from the fetters of the Slide Rule in my shirt pocket. That transformed my image from "nerd" to "cool engineer with great toys" in the eyes of the fairer sex. This allowed me to eventually procreate, a fate I had previously deemed unattainable as long as I had to carry around that stupid slide rule. As my daughter is about to enter college hersef for Bio-Mechanical Engineering, it makes me ponder the power of this one man's inventions.
Thank You Jack.
He died in Dallas Texas at the ripe old age of 81. He received the Nobel Prize for physics in 2000, yet the general public is largely unaware of who he was or what he did. IMHO, he should be lauded with the likes of Edison and Herny Ford for changing the way the world works, but alas, it didn't happen in his own time. I for one am turning all my electronic devices off or a moment of "silicon silence" in his honor.
Having started my education at the end of the Slide Rule Era, I was also greatly appreciative of his most successful commercial invention, the electronic calculator in 1965. By the time I hit college, I was able (although barely) to buy one of the first Texas Instuments scientific calculators, thus freeing myself from the fetters of the Slide Rule in my shirt pocket. That transformed my image from "nerd" to "cool engineer with great toys" in the eyes of the fairer sex. This allowed me to eventually procreate, a fate I had previously deemed unattainable as long as I had to carry around that stupid slide rule. As my daughter is about to enter college hersef for Bio-Mechanical Engineering, it makes me ponder the power of this one man's inventions.
Thank You Jack.
"Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more."
Nikola Tesla





RE: The passing of an unsung hero
Remember reading about his device (a flip-flop, I think it was) in Radio-Electronics. I couldn't even understand what he had done at that time. And when the national design school here launched a competition where the participants were supposed to design an electronic calculator that could be held IN ONE HAND! I just laughed - everyone knew that it would be impossible.
Times have certainly changed. And Jack Kilby started it. OK, Bardeen, Brattain and Schockley did the foundation work. They also got the Nobel Prize.
Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
Raise a glass to Jack next time you have the chance. What a lot of people don't realize is the he did not gain lots of wealth from his invention, and he was the type to go out of his way to share the credit. He was the one man in the trenches who had that creative spark that started it all. Others got wealth and fame in part because he shared the credit. A truly great man has passed away.
Timelord
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
Since the company would not buy it for me, I got to pick the days I chose to bring it to work with me, and normally left it home when there was a lot of number crunching to do, much to my boss's chagrin.
It had a 10 step programmable function, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
Boy, have we come a long way, baby.
RIP, Jack.
rmw
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
Quite a guy.
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
The ability to passive the exposed junction surface eliminated the junction leakage currents that limited performance in bipolar transistors and allowed for the development of MOS transistors.
As with many technological advances, a multitude of unsung heroes slogged through the trenches to develop the state of the art, one brick at a time.
TTFN
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
Edison's first light bulb filament was a pre-burned piece of string if I recall correctly, and yes, lots of advancements in illumination technology have been brought about by countless brilliant engineers. Still, we revere Edison for his initial accomplishment by giving him credit for having the right idea.
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
One man alone cant achieve it all but he can sure as heck point the way forward.
Rugged
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
News:
http:/
Although not as well known as Einstein or Edison, Jack Kilby's accomplishments aren't exactly 'unsung' either.
Here are some other related links:
http
ht
http://www.kilby.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kilby
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
My bellweather for using the term "unsung" is my circle of friends and family, none of which are engineers (well, my brother is an ME, but he got rich a long time ago by going into management, so he no longer counts).
Every one of them could identify Edison, Ford, even Eli Whitney (yet they have no idea he did), but none of them even knew there was a "single person" responsible for one of the greatest leaps in the advancement of a technology that has so quickly become integral to our daily lives. In other words, yes his death was noted in some techy circles, but the vast majority of people who take advantage of his accomplishments every day are unaware that he even existed. The same can be said of Nikola Tesla as well, although in my circle I have made a point of educating everyone to the point of nausea about him! Now I guess I'll need to give them something new to ponder.
"Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more."
Nikola Tesla
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
And in virtually all mainstream media outlets as well.
Just 2 examples (CNN and BBC):
http
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4118874.stm
Have a look at the list of Honors and Awards listed on this page:
http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/kilbyctr/kilby.shtml
Some extracted highlights:
David Sarnoff Award, IEEE
National Medal of Science
National Inventors' Hall of Fame
Medal of Honor, IEEE
Engineering and Science Hall of Fame
National Medal of Technology
Nobel Prize in Physics
I understand your point and it is perfectly valid. Perhaps if he had played the guitar well then more people in the general public would have heard of him.
But he would have had no reason to complain about lack of recognition. With the added bonus of not being constantly pestered for autographs...
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
Ain't THAT the truth!
OK, you win.
Would that I could edit my thread title. I also have received flak from 2 friends who read this site about my use of the term "hero", because he didn't dive on a hand grenade or pull kids from a burning bus. I don't know, I give up. He was a personal hero to me as a wannabe inventor, and I thought he didn't get the coverage that others get for lesser accomplishments, but I also think he wanted it that way, so that's OK.
I guess I'm still that nerd with the slide rule in his pocket, just dressed better!
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
Kilby is more of a hero than any basketball player, football player, what ever sports player whatever actor who’s in vogue now. This guy and his ilk changed the world we live in "PERIOD".
My definition of hero is not the most popular person. It’s a person who made a change in the course and events of our lives without our realization.
Anyone that can change the outcome of a game because of their physical prowess, that person, which does that, is an MVP no more no less. Yet we honor them to the pinnacle.
Plaaesse...Gag me.
Who would you parade with the following people?
Edison, Tesla, Kilby, Shockley, Armstrong, Yeager my mind boggles. Who? Tom Cruse, Crowe, De Nero, too many more to list, are mere Flash in the pans; except for Tommy Lee Jones(
I really do feel the loss of this man for some reason, maybe that reason is simply that he made my life simpler.
Thank you, Jack St. Clair Kilby.
Best Regards
pennpoint
RE: The passing of an unsung hero
Nice work and well written.
Thanks for kicking it off jraef