The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation

During its fifty odd years of existence, Bell Labs was the most productive scientific laboratory on the planet. It won seven Nobel Prizes, contributed innumerable practical ideas underlying our modern way of life and, whether by accident or design, also managed to make some spectacular basic scientific discoveries that expanded our understanding of the universe. How did it possibly accomplish all this? In this authoritative and intensely engaging book, Jon Gertner tells us exactly how. Gertner's book about this great American institution excels in three ways. Firstly, it describes in detail the genesis of what was then an unlikely research institution. Until then most communication related work was considered to be squarely within the domain of engineering. Bell Labs arose from a need to improve communications technology pioneered by its parent organization AT&T. But the real stroke of genius was to realize the value that basic scientists - mainly physicists and chemists - could bring to this endeavor along with engineers. This was largely the vision of two men - Frank Jewett and Mervin Kelly. Jewett who was the first president of Bell Labs had the foresight to recruit promising young physicists who were proteges of his friend Robert Millikan, a Nobel Prize winning physicist and president of Caltech. Kelly in turn was Millikan's student and was probably the most important person in the history of the laboratory. It was Kelly who hired the first brilliant breed of physicists and engineers including William Shockley, Walter Brittain, Jim Fisk and Charles Townes and who would set the agenda for future famous discoveries. During World War II Bell gained a reputation for taking on challenging military projects like radar; at the end of the war it handled almost a thousand of these. The war made the benefits of supporting basic science clear. It was Kelly again who realized that the future of innovation lay in electronics. To this end he moved Bell from its initial location in New York City to an expansive wooded field in New Jersey near Murray Hill and recruited even more brilliant physicists, chemists and engineers. This added further fuel to the fire of innovation started in the 1930s, and from then on the laboratory never looked back. Secondly, Gertner gives a terrific account of the people who populated the buildings in Murray Hill and their discoveries which immortalized the laboratory. Kelly instituted a policy of hiring only the best minds, and it did not matter whether these were drawn from industry, academia or the government. In some cases he would go to great lengths to snare a particularly valuable scientist, offering lucrative financial incentives along with unprecedented freedom to explore ideas. This led to a string of extraordinary discoveries which Gertner describes in rich and accessible detail. One feature of the book that stands out is Gertner's efforts in describing the actual science instead of skimming over it; for instance he pays due attention to the revolution in materials chemistry that was necessary for designing semiconductor devices. The sheer number of important things Bell scientists discovered or invented beggars belief; even a limited but diverse sampling includes the first transatlantic cable, transistors, UNIX, C++, photovoltaic cells, error-corrected communication, charged-coupled devices and statistical process control that now forms the basis of the six-sigma movement. The scientists were a fascinating, diverse lot and Gertner brings a novelist's eye in describing them. There was Bill Shockley, the undoubtedly brilliant, troubled, irascible physicist whose sin of competing against his subordinates led to his alienation at the lab. Gertner provides a fast-paced account of those heady days in 1947 when John Bardeen, Brittain and Shockley invented the transistor, the truly world-changing invention that is Bell Labs's greatest claim to fame. Then there was Claude Shannon, the quiet, eccentric genius who rode his unicycle around the halls and invented information theory which essentially underlies the entire modern digital world. Described also are Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, whose work with an antenna that was part of the first communications satellite - also built by Bell - led to momentous evidence supporting the Big Bang. The influence of the laboratory was so formative that even the people who left Bell Labs later went on to greatness; several of these such as future energy secretary Steven Chu joined elite academic institutions and won Nobel Prizes (Bardeen won two). It's quite clear that the cast of characters that passed through the institution will probably never again be concentrated in one place. But perhaps the most valuable part of the book deals not with the great scientific personalities or their discoveries but with the reasons that made Bell tick. When Kelly moved the lab to Murray Hill, he designed its physical space in ways that would have deep repercussions for productive thought and invention. Most crucially, he interspersed the basic and applied scientists together without any separation. That way even the purest of mathematicians was forced to interact with and learn from the most hands-on engineer. This led to an exceptional cross-fertilization of ideas, an early precursor of what we call multidisciplinary research. Labs and offices were divided by soundproof steel partitions that could be moved to expand and rearrange working spaces. The labs were all lined along a very long, seven-hundred foot corridor where everybody worked with their doors open. This physical layout ensured that when a scientist or engineer walked to the cafeteria, he or she would "pick up ideas like a magnet picks up iron filings". Other rules only fed the idea factory. For instance you were not supposed to turn away a subordinate if he came to ask you for advice. This led to the greenest of recruits learning at the feet of masters like Bardeen or Shannon. Most importantly, you were free to pursue any idea or research project that you wanted, free to ask anyone for advice, free to be led where the evidence pointed. Of course this extraordinary freedom was made possible by the immense profits generated by the monopolistic AT&T, but the heart of the matter is that Bell's founders recognized the importance of focusing on long-term goals rather than short-term profits. They did this by gathering bright minds under one roof and giving them the freedom and time to pursue their ideas. And as history makes clear, this policy led not only to fundamental discoveries but to practical inventions greatly benefiting humanity. Perhaps some of today's profitable companies like Google can lift a page from AT&T and channel more of their profits into basic, broadly defined, curiosity-driven research. Gertner's highly readable book leaves us with a key message. As America struggles to stay competitive in science and technology, Bell Labs still provides the best example of what productive industrial research can accomplish. There are many lessons that modern organizations can learn from it. One interesting lesson arising from the cohabitation of research and manufacturing under the same roof is that it might not be healthy beyond a point to isolate one from the other, a caveat that bears directly on current offshoring policies. It is important to have people involved in all aspects of R&D talking to each other. But the greatest message of all from the story of this remarkable institution is simple and should not be lost in this era of short-term profits, layoffs and declining investment in fundamental research: the best way to generate ideas still is to hire the best minds, put them all in one place and give them the freedom, time and money to explore, think and innovate. You will be surprised how much long-term benefit you get from that policy. As they say, mighty trees from little acorns grow, and it's imperative to nurture those little seeds.

Where would we be without Bell Labs. Stuck in the 1940s with dodgy valves, that's where. I knew of some of the innovations that came from Bell Labs but this book introduces you to many, many more. It explains the relationship between Bell Labs, AT&T and Western Electric and their struggles with the government and competition. Jon Gertner writes with a concise, easy style and this book flows along. He doesn't go into technical detail but explains the consequences of the invention and innovation very well. Given the breadth of Bell Labs' achievements a comprehensive history would be a massive undertaking. Gertner concentrates on some of the principal characters who helped create our modern world. The "Young Turks" such as William Brattain, Bill Shockley, John Pierce and others are described in flowing detail. Their quirks and their genius come to life in this book which adds humanity to the science. I might have preferred to read a bit more about John Tukey (who is mentioned a number of times) and I'm sure other readers will have their own favourites. To cover every significant "genius" who worked at Bell Labs in 60 years would also be impossible. The last chapter discusses why an organization like Bell Labs can't exist any more. This is probably the weakest chapter but the conclusions reached are valid. I would have liked to read more about how Bell Labs secured all its funding from the Bell system and how that ties into its decline and why it is unlikely to be reproduced. My caveat however comes at the end of a wonderful, character-filled book which lovingly details just why we owe our modern life to this marvellous organization. Highly recommended reading for those interested in the history of science and innovation and for those who like another view of genius that doesn't mention R.P. Feynman.

Excellent documentation about what this phenomenal company was, from it’s beginnings to the decline. It details some of the key inventions and discoveries while also focusing on the structure, the environment, the buildings that encouraged innovation as well as freedom of thought and experimentation. A must read for those that were fortunate to have been a part of it as well as those curious about how such great results that the world is benefiting from were achieved.

Anyone interested in science and technology can hardly be ignorant of Bell Labs. Discoveries like the structure of the transistor and the presence of universal background radiation are key moments in 20th century progress. Still, the stories behind these leaps forward are often less well-known than they deserve to be. Fortunately, Mr. Gertner has written an excellent book to fill in the gaps and tell so much more. Born in the 1920's to solve specific problems for the phone company, it is easy to forget how important an aspect that was to most of the scientists at Bell Labs. In its early years these men developed solutions for sending long distance phone calls across the country and, eventually, around the world. The cables, amplifiers, and vacuum tubes they developed were meant not only to improve phone service but also last for decades without breaking down. Their incredible push for quality control would influence corporations around the world. Ultimately more important, however, was the processes put in place to allow the best scientists freedom to discover. Everything from trolling colleges for the best graduates to designing laboratory spaces to encourage collaboration to giving opportunities for scientists to follow their own interests would lead an incredible series of steps forward: the aforementioned transistor and radio telescope as well as solar panels, satellites, lasers, cellular phone structure, computer technology and more. (There were failures as well, of course; notably, the Picturephone, where the marketing failures would presage AT&T's struggles when it was no longer a monopoly.) The story is inherently fascinating, but Mr. Gertner deserves a lot of credit for making a very readable book. The best aspect is how he tells the story through its people and places. A number of small-town boys like Mervin Kelly and the great minds to follow--Bill Shockley, Walter Brattain, Claude Shannon, for example--get plenty of attention from Gertner. Their interactions and personalities are the driving force behind the discoveries. He also describes the legendary sites like the West Street building, Murray Hill, and Holmdel and how they contributed to the success of those who worked there. Somehow, the work done at Bell Labs is simultaneously among the best/worst known pieces of scientific history. Perhaps because their work was done under the auspices of a corporation it has been somewhat passed over. Mr. Gertner has done a real service by bringing this important slice of history to public attention.

Jon Gertner, a former writer for the New York Times Magazine and an editor at Fast Magazine, explores the history of Bell labs from the 1920’s to the 1980’s in his first and only book, The Idea Factory. He answers the most important question of the century, “What causes innovation?” The book is a detailed and fascinating account of the years of discovery at Bell Labs and the milestones in the history of technology that were accomplished. Through these years of innovation, fourteen Bell Labs’ researchers won seven Nobel prizes for some astonishing achievements in the field of science and technology. Bell Labs, AT&T’s research branch, had the most brilliant minds in America as employees. Gertner takes us through the journey of innovation caused collectively by those creative minds. The book is not just a history of Bell Labs. It defines the process of exploring, inventing, and innovating. It emphasizes the hard work necessary to accomplish great change. Gertner defines all of the characters in a very colorful and engaging manner. The book concentrates on the leadership and top scientists at Bell Labs rather than the thousands of physicists, chemists, and engineers working for them. Frank Jewett, the first president of Bell Labs, had a vision to hire the most brilliant men. He convinced men like Marvin Kelly to join to lab, who contributed greatly to the development of Bell Labs’ innovative culture. Kelly, in turn, recruited and engaged with some the best minds in United States. Men like Mervin Kelly, Bill Shockley, Walter Brittain, Charles Townes, and Claude Shannon dedicated their lives to the research and invention of impactful technology. Gertner provides a detailed bibliography on each of the men and their impact on many of the consumer innovations and technology used today. Gertner dives thoroughly into the working environment at Bell Labs. The office dynamics, men with self-interests, collaborative guidance, and open door policy all contributed to the organization’s culture. Today’s innovators can learn a great deal from the history of Bell Labs’ culture. One very important aspect of the culture was the freedom that researchers were given to pursue their own interests. Creativity was more important than financial gain. Many management lessons can be learned by organizations today seeking to innovate. Profit is more difficult to achieve without creative, motivated people working to drive success. Even through times of pressure, such as during World War II, the scientists and engineers at Bell Labs were capable of yielding great results. They accepted very challenging military projects such as Radar technology and achieved success despite their constraints. Bell Labs was nothing without its people. They had a much larger impact on society than even the monopoly of AT&T. With these people came a competitive culture. One invention, the transistor, was one of the most important and famous that can be accredited to Bell Labs. William Bradford Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Houser Brattain won a Nobel Prize in physics for the invention. Most believe that Bardeen and Brattain actually discovered the transistor and Shockley merely invented the better version of it. However, an accurate account of the finding was never made clear. In The Idea Factory, Gertner dives in to uncover this mystery, as well as the many other developments that occurred during the golden ages of Bell Labs.

Overall, The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation reads more like a narrative documenting the rise and fall of Bell Labs, which I assume was the author's intention, than a study of how the work at Bell Labs was a part of a larger revolution in the twentieth century. Gertner's focus is on the "heroes" who are in many histories of technology, information systems and communications. I would have liked a more systemic approach, Topics include how the design of the Murray Hill campus aided interdisciplinary exchange, the laying of the transatlantic cable, Echo and Telstart, etc. The chapters are centered around personalities, much along the lines Gertner outlined in his opening sentence, where he wrote: "This is a book about the origins of modern communication as seen through the adventures of several men who spent their careers working at Bell Labs" (p. 1). the focus centered around a few especially significant people who thrived within Bell Labs (e.g., Claude Shannon, Jim Fisk, Melvin Kelly, William Baker, John Pierce, William Shockley). I must admit that it seemed strange to me that, although A. Michael Noll and Max Matthews were interviewed by Gertner, the book doesn't convey the convergence of art, science and technology at the Lab. Some of what is missing is evident on Noll's Bell Labs page where he notes: "There were often interesting diversions from daily research. When the acoustic failings of Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Center were acknowledged, Bell Telephone Laboratories was asked to investigate. My boss Manfred Schroder was a physicist with a strong knowledge of acoustics and headed our team . . . There was a steady flow of interesting visitors to the Labs. Roy Disney came by to see our early work in computer animation--but saw no relevance then to his company! We invited Leopold Stokowski to visit to hear our work in computer music. Max Mathews had many composers and musicians who visited to learn of his research into electronic music. Bela Julesz and I exhibited our computer-generated patterns at the Howard Wise Gallery in New York City in 1965--the first exhibit of digital art in the US." I bought the book because of I was hoping to learn more about the side of Bell Labs that informed the art, science, and technology projects that are so much a part of our world today. It was a good read but I was disappointed that the history was so narrowly focused.

***** Book Review by Joe Powell September 28, 2012 The book "The Idea Factory" by Jon Gertner is one of the best books I have read in a long time. (I heard Gertner speak at Chautauqua Institution in July of 2012.) Gertner successfully weaves the stories of the often "unique" personalities of the inventors and their sparks of genius into a cohesive story about 20th century AT+T and our country's military and industrial complex rise to the most powerful nation in history. Post World War I and II America were truly the golden ages of American Innovation in education, business and in science. This is the good news. Unfortunately, Gertner also chronicles the bad news of AT+T -- its rise and fall of the AT+T monopoly. The book also foretells more bad news -- another terrible trend in American business in the late 20th century. As Gertner intimates, to a great extent the rise and the fall of AT+T mirrors the rise and fall of many other formerly great American businesses after WWII -- GM, Chrysler, Firestone, BF Goodrich, Goodyear Aerospace, and countless others. Post war USA and most of the western world had the world by tail with a virtual world market monopoly to develop its native born innovations. American business culture of the 20th century used to honor (invest in) new discoveries and new inventions from its great ideas, then invest more necessary capital to not only discover and invent more wondrous and novel things but to develop them and manufacture these ideas into "both better and cheaper" products for our betterment of all. Our piles of money in the military and industrial complex invested again and again for more development and then to market these better/cheaper products to a hungry world. The key difference from mid-20th century US business practice and our current, 21st century business thinking is that we no longer keep the technology our trade secret, for multiple rounds of development. After a few harvests of fruit for the country of origin, at the first opportunity to make a buck or two, the intellectual property is "licensed" (or more accurately -- given away for a fraction of the development costs) to make this quarter's profit numbers look great and create short-term shareholder value.... with big bucks for the CEO and other top management bean counters that "made it all happen." Albeit it gets rid of the risk of development and marketing of our innovations, but it also trades the short-term profits for the multi-generational long-term gains. Why do you think AT+T was the "widows and orphans" stock for a hundred years? Are you listening Boeing? The next generation of Chinese airplanes will probably be as good as your "next generation" of innovative carbon fiber, steam-electric powered turbine jets if you sell your technology and do not invest in our future. Thank you Mr. Gertner. Can't wait for your next book. And thank you inventors -- can't wait for your next innovations!

Creating innovations by getting organized Review of Gertner's The idea factory by Paul F. Ross Jon Gertner presents a history of American Telephone and Telegraph's Bell Labs in his The idea factory (2012) using the methods common to journalism and the writing of history ... identify a topic, read _____________________________________________________________________________________ Gertner, Jon The idea factory: Bell Labs and the great age of American innovation 2012, The Penguin Press, New York NY, vii + 422 pages _____________________________________________________________________________________ publications bearing on the work, interview participants, choose a point of view, write clearly in forming a reader-capturing story line. He comes to the task with experience as writer and editor with the New York Times Magazine and the magazine Fast Company. "On January 1, 1925, AT&T officially created Bell Telephone Laboratories as a stand-alone company, to be housed in its West Street offices, which would be expanded from 400,000 to 600,000 square feet" Gertner writes (p 31). Property in Murray Hill, New Jersey, was purchased and Jewett, president of Bell Labs at that time, announced in July 1930 that Bell Labs would build a research facility there. But the Great Depression postponed those building plans and research went on in the West Street laboratories in Manhattan throughout WWII. Murray Hill's first laboratory opened in 1942. Farmland at Holmdel, New Jersey was purchased in 1929, its farm buildings being used for some early research on silicon and germanium. Holmdel became the Labs' central facility for experimentation with large antennas and satellite communications. Its Black Box (its buildings in their most recent elaboration) designed by Saarinen was opened in 1961. However the story of these facilities was not the story of Bell Labs. The story of the research done at Bell Labs, and only a part of that research, is the heart of Gertner's story. Gertner believes that Bell Labs was an idea factory and that Mervin Kelly was the leader whose ideas about how an industrial laboratory should operate, along with AT&T's cash-providing monopoly, enabled Bell Labs to produce innovations as Kelly intended and as Gertner says it operated. Kelly's ideas, implemented in the form of Bell Labs, produced ... the transistor (Shockley, Bardeen, Brattain), insight into the meaning of information and its coding thus enabling digital expression of information of all kinds (Shannon), satellite communications (Kompfner, Pierce), the maser (Townes), the picture phone (Molnar), the silicon transistor (Kilby at Texas Instruments and Noyce at Fairchild ... an innovation accomplished elsewhere), laser theory (Townes, Schawlow), the laser (Maiman, Hughes Aircraft ... another innovation accomplished elsewhere), the theory of fiber optics and high-bandwidth information transmission (Kao, IT&T in England ... an innovation accomplished elsewhere), glass with minimum losses in light transmission (Corning Glass ... another innovation implemented elsewhere). Discussing Bell Labs and the transistor's invention with an engineer currently involved in the manufacture of integrated circuits and the quality control of that manufacturing process, he turned to Wikipedia, looked up "transistor," and got a very different list of names and timeline from that reported by Bell Labs enthusiast Gertner ... not that Wikipedia has the respect as an information source as did the now moribund Encyclopedia Britannica. I was reminded again by this read that history is as seen through the eyes of the historian ... and it is nothing more than that. An "objective and insightful account of events that are related to each other" ? Sometimes, but not this time. Gertner attributes the decline of Bell Labs to the U.S. government's breakup of the AT&T monopoly with 1984 as a key date, the time the breakup was implemented. Gertner concludes his history with an accounting for people and organizations as they departed Bell Labs. Whether the ideas put forward by Mervin Kelly and the manner-of-operation-followed-at-Bell-Labs produce the best possible environment for producing new ideas (innovation) is uncertain from the point of view of this reader. As a behavioral scientist, I would like to see a study of at least 100 inventions (innovations) around the world with many variables carefully described (measured) as they relate to each invention, the innovations being drawn from many aspects of human affairs (certainly from many sciences), the analysis looking for the interrelationships among all the variables, and by this means test Kelly's faith about the conditions that produce new ideas. Gertner is convincing in telling us that Kelly's around-the-world advocacy for the Bell Labs model kept Bell Labs going in the AT&T organization itself and influenced the organization of laboratories around the world. People organized their affairs following Kelly's model. He was a persuasive salesman. But does that produce "idea factories" ? I'm skeptical. There were many aspects of the organizational climate at Bell Labs that did promote idea generation and risk taking. But I'm not convinced to the degree that Gertner is convinced. Not incidentally, I recall with pleasure and nostalgia a visit I made to Bell Labs in Murray Hill NJ in the late 1950s. Sputnik had recently been launched. Science in the U.S. was being challenged. My guide was a good friend and undergraduate college classmate, a member of Bell Labs scientific staff ... as it has turned out ... for his career. Among other things, we visited the fascinating anechoic chamber, walking on its wire grid "floor," completely surrounded by large foam stalactites and stalagmites (and darkness if the lights were turned out), experiencing silence of a kind one can experience no other place. It was a laboratory space in which equipment was tested. Gertner's account is fine story telling, in its own way, but it is plain Hell to try to use as an orderly account of Bell Labs history and even a partial list of that lab's accomplishments. Chapter titles provide no guide to the story line. The chapter sequence is a soft outline of the Lab's timeline. It is impossible to use the index to look up the history of events like the development of the laboratory space at West Street or Murray Hill or Holmdel. It's impossible to find a list of the limited number of key innovations that Gertner describes in his history. Gertner is an admirer of his interviewees ... and there are many advantages to that stance for a writer. Gertner's account is fine reading for those who enjoy relaxing in warm nostalgia related to Bell Labs, it may be a source of useful information for future historians of innovations in the communications sciences, but, as it stands, it's more entertainment than competent analysis or history. Read it having been advised of its virtues and its flaws. Bellevue, Washington 18 June 2012 References Gertner, Jon The idea factory: Bell Labs and the great age of American innovation 2012, The Penguin Press, New York NY Copyright (c) 2012 by Paul F. Ross All rights reserved.

I love this book. It gives a vivid picture of how fundamental research has been done at Bell Labs until 1970 or so. The stories, the people, the discoveries add up really well and you dive into this forgotten time. There is also a lot to learn. Bell Labs not only did the technology behind telephone poles in the 1920s in the US. Rather, over decades, they invented things like the vacuum tube, transistors, solar, deep sea cables, semi-conductors, communication satellites, lasers, cellular mobile and more. Wow. The book concludes with a respectful view on how it ended. The people (several of whom got Nobel Prizes) passed away, and the long lasting monopoly (protected by the US government) finally collapsed. Today there is Alcatel Lucent as the closest what still exists from back then, but is not the same. My favorite quote about innovation: "Better, or cheaper, or both". A great read.

This book is really well researched and written and an extremely engaging way. It is a pleasure to read. A story of Bell Labs focusing on key personalities and Technologies

21世紀のデジタル革命をハードウェアや情報理論の根幹を作りあげたベル研の評伝。圧巻は第7章の情報主義（Informationist）で、シャノンの理論どのように造られ、登場したのか。シャノンと同世代で全米科学財団（NSF）の初代総裁に収まるヴァンネヴァー・ブッシュがボストンからDCのカーネギー研究所に移る時代に、彼らはボストン、ニューヨーク、DCと東海岸での交流の背景にはマンハッタン計画が関係したいたことなど、実に興味深い新しい科学分野の創設と開拓に関るエピソードを詳述しており、大変興味深い。情報主義者という訳語は正確ではないが、現在のアメリカでは医学分野の情報専門家をインフォメーショニストと呼んでいる。 全体として21世紀の情報革命の意義とその実像は、20世紀前半の実に地味な基礎科学研究を企業ベースで着実に研究し、仕上げた民間のイノヴェーション（技術革新）が基盤にあることを本書は思い知らせている。 書名のアイディア・ファクトリー、思想工場と訳するとちょっと味気ないが、原語はエンジニアの夢を実現する過程を描かせる。現実に稼動する姿こそ正夢の工場だ、本書の内容に相応しい書名である。

Telling the story of one the most important innovation laboratories of all the times, this book tells the story of the main masterpiece in the history of telecommunications and electronics: transistor, information theory, satellite communications, solar cells, microwaves links and waveguides, optic fibers, cellular networks, etc. Clearly written the book shows those breakthroughs through the eyes, the mind and the heart of their fathers and their personal lives: Shannon, Shockley, Pierce, Friis, and many others.

Excellent book for such an amazing lab ! The history of the lab is so dense that every chapter should be a book by itself... (i ll check the bibliography to see if other books exist) So at the end a bit disapointed because not deep enough But still the book does exist, and thats great !