Book Review: The Mighty Micro — The Impact of the Computer Revolution

Revolution in Miniature: ERNEST BRAUN and STUART MacDONALD (Cambridge University Press, 1980,231 pp., £4.50) The authors of this book, subtitled The History and Impact ofSemiconductor Electronics, are to be congratulated on their book, which is so aptly described by its subtitle. The text provides an account of how the main inventions relating to semiconductor technology came about and pointers as to future trends based upon the technology. The account is stiffened by a wide variety offactual tables and enlivened by quotations from leading semiconductor figures. For a reviewer in an academic institution, it is pleasurable to see Ph.D. thesis material quoted in support of the various arguments advanced. The book is attractive in other ways too. The front cover shows a page of the New York Times for Thursday July 1st 1948.An insignificant news item reports the first demonstration of the transistor at the Bell Labs. The present writer clearly recalls attending the first lecture on the transistor held in Manchester during the academic session 1952--3 when representatives from the Bell Labs spoke to an uncomprehending audience of local radio and T.V. enthusiasts. It is interesting to speculate on why four years elapsed before the transistor crossed the Atlantic. The authors provide some of the answers for situations such as this one. While the text is non-technical, the technologist has much to learn from its pages. He will be reassured to see his often-voiced criticisms of industry discussed in a systematic way. This will be the case if he is in North America endeavouring to maintain his status in the competitive world of Silicon Valley, or in Britain, and upset about company undercapitalisation and personal promotion prospects. Managers too can learn from the examples discussed in the text. With the continuing debate and uncertainty about the establishment of a separate UK presence in semiconductor manufacture, civil servants and policy-makers generally could learn a lot from this unpretentious volume. The final sections of the book deal with the future in the light of the semiconductor revolution so far. Here many of the predictions bear an uncanny resemblance to those of Christopher Evans with his Mighty Micro, also reviewed in this issue of the Journal. On reflection, however, it should come as no surprise that this should be so both books take an historical viewpoint of the same subject area, examine the present, and look to the future. For the semiconductor practitioner, however, this account by Braun and MacDonald is likely to have greater impact than the book by Christopher Evans. This is in spite of the fact that the latter has much to offer. M. G. HARTLEY, Digital Processes Group, Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, UMIST.