June 7, 2022

001: Glory Enough for Everyone

001: Glory Enough for Everyone

In the wake of World War II, Bell Labs was committed to solving one of the most pressing technological problems of the day: how to control an electrical current without the clumsy, expensive, and fragile vacuum tubes then in use. Sparing no expense to...

In the wake of World War II, Bell Labs was committed to solving one of the most pressing technological problems of the day: how to control an electrical current without the clumsy, expensive, and fragile vacuum tubes then in use.

Sparing no expense to find a solution, Bell assembled a brilliant all-star scientific team to tackle the problem.

In this episode, we meet the brilliant minds, personalities and egos of the team behind one of the most important innovations of the Twentieth Century, the transistor. 

And we also watch as personal jealousies, professional paranoia and and an overwhelming clashing of egos leads to the downfall of “one of the greatest research groups ever put together on a problem”… and ultimately sends one man westward to seek his fortune as the Moses of Silicon Valley.