1.) Defend the thesis: "The transistor is the most important invention of the 20th century."
2.) Consider John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley as a collaborative scientific team. What was their division of labor? How did the team work? What were the teamís strengths and weaknesses? What lessons do you draw from their story about the nature of successful (and unsuccessful) scientific collaborations?
3.) Which was more important in the invention of the transistor: visionary conceptualization, theoretical knowledge, or hands-on know-how?
4.) Shockleyís relationship with Bell Labs illustrates an issue we have seen already and will see again: the relationship between the individual innovator and the institution that supports his/her innovations. In what ways was Bell Labs responsible for the invention of the transistor? In what ways did it hinder its development? Who rightfully owned the transistor once it was developed? Evaluate Bell Labsí handling of transistor development? Evaluate Shockleyís handling of the same thing? What lessons do you draw from the history of the transistor about the relationship between inventors and institutions in the development and exploitation of new technologies? What comparisons can you develop for answering this question.
5.) What were the first applications of the transistor? What was the social impact of the technology? Why were computer makers slow to adopt the new transistors?
6.) Defend the thesis: "The portable transistor radio and not the electronic computer was the first machine of the information age."
7.) Why were the Japanese ahead of the Americans at times in the exploitation of the new transistors? What do these Japanese successes teach us about the nature of the American electronics industry in the 1950s and 1960s?
8.) Evaluate the following thesis: "Fred Terman deserves credit for the establishment of Shockley Semiconductor in Palo Alto."
9.) The film introduces you to the history of Shockley Semiconductor and to the famous secession by the "Traitorous Eight" which formed Fairchild Semiconductor. This story is one of the most important in the history of Silicon Valley and we will encounter it again in other readings and films. How does this film narrate the story? If this is the founding story of Silicon Valley, then what is the key to the valleyís history?
10.) How were the transistor, the integrated circuit (IC), and the microprocessor ("The Chip") related? In explaining the evolution of one into the other which factors catalyzed change and innovation and which retarded it?
11.) Use the foundation of the semiconductor industry
after 1956 to answer the following question: "Which was more important
in the development of Silicon Valley: scientific innovation, federal government
spending, or the forces of free-market capitalism?"