The Idea Factory
by Jon Gertner
Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
- Percentage of approved critics who have given this book a positive review.
Critic Rating
63%
Critic Reviews: 17
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- User rating from iDreamBooks & iTunes
Reader Rating
82%
Reader Ratings: 123
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Synopsis
A sweeping, atmospheric history of Bell Labs that highlights its unparalleled role as an incubator of innovation and birthplace of the century's most influential technologiesBell Laboratories, which thrived from the 1920s to the 1980s, was the most innovative and productive institution of the twentieth century. Long before America's brightest scientific minds began migrating west to Silicon Valley, they flocked to this sylvan campus in the New Jersey suburbs... more
About Jon Gertner
Published: March 15, 2012 by Penguin Press
Genre: Business & Economics, History. Non-fiction. 432 pages
Critic Reviews for The Idea Factory : Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
Add Critic Review- All Critics: 17
- Positive: 12
- Negative: 5
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The New York Times | 6 Apr 2012
Gertner draws smart insights from the successes at Bell Labs, but he does not do quite as well drawing lessons from its lapses and failures
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NJ.com | 19 Mar 2012
Thus, "Idea Factory" connects on all levels about a company that based its existence on connectivity.
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Los Angeles Times | 25 Mar 2012
Although Gertner does not overlook Bell Labs' failures, he might well have extracted some lessons from what may be AT&T's worst technological oversight: The company not only declined to participate in a project by the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency, or ARPA, to develop a data network known as ARPAnet, but actively interfered with the effort by claiming that data transmissions would foul its phone lines.
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Business Week | 22 Mar 2012
At its core, the book asks: Can we build an American Idea Factory for the 21st century?
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Slate | 31 Mar 2012
As Gertner may attest, it’s hard scaring up clear living minds from the vacuum-tube generation, and the research behind The Idea Factory is astonishing, drawing from interviews as well as collections and declassified material.
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The Verge | 21 Mar 2012
Obviously Bell Labs had a rich vein of talent, but Gertner's history takes care to explain how the organization developed that talent.
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Wired | 4 Apr 2012
The Idea Factory also noticeably lacks strong female figures; when women appear, they tend to be the devoted wives of the Bell Labs men.
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The Curious Wavefunction | 21 Mar 2012
Gertner's book about this great American institution excels in three ways.
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The New York Times | 19 Mar 2012
Mr. Gertner’s portraits of Kelly and the cadre of talented scientists who worked at Bell Labs are animated by a journalistic ability to make their discoveries and inventions utterly comprehensible — indeed, thrilling — to the lay reader.
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Kirkus Reviews | 15 Mar 2012
Packed with anecdotes and trivia and written in clear and compelling prose, this story of a cutting-edge and astonishingly robust intellectual era—and one not without its controversies and treachery—is immensely enjoyable.
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The Wall Street Journal | 16 Mar 2012
Like many before him, he exaggerates the numerator of Bell Labs while ignoring the denominator.
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Seattle Times | 23 Mar 2012
Gertner has done a remarkable job in re-creating this era.
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Ted Lehmann's Bluegrass, Books, and Brainstorms | 13 Apr 2012
Through profiles of key Bell Lab scientists and leaders, Gertner builds a picture of the work and character of Bell Labs while keeping his story human and highly readable.
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PC Mag | 4 Apr 2012
His interest is clearly in the communications industry and the lab itself, so it's a bit disappointing to find only passing mention of Bell Labs' crucial computer science innovations in the late 60s and early 70s, such as Unix and C.
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The New York Times | 6 Apr 2012
Gertner draws smart insights from the successes at Bell Labs...
Full ReviewThe Idea Factory : Bell Labs ... -
The New York Times | 19 Mar 2012
Mr. Gertner’s portraits of Kelly and the cadre of talented scientists who worked at Bell Labs are animated by a journalistic ability to make their discoveries and inventions utterly comprehensible — indeed, thrilling — to the lay reader.
Full ReviewThe Idea Factory : Bell Labs ... -
The Wall Street Journal | 17 Mar 2012
...Mr. Gertner's book offers fascinating evidence for those seeking to understand how a society should best invest its research resources.
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