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The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation Audiobook
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(4.00) - 506 listener ratings
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In The Idea Factory, New York Times Magazine writer Jon Gertner reveals how Bell Labs served as an incubator for scientific innovation from the 1920s through the 1980s. In its heyday, Bell Labs boasted nearly 15,000 employees, 1,200 of whom held PhDs and 13 of whom won Nobel Prizes. Thriving in a work environment that embraced new ideas, Bell Labs scientists introduced concepts that still propel many of today's most exciting technologies.
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"An insightful and almost loving history of Bell Labs, the people who worked there and the amazing innovations that came out of there. The book is also an analysis of the process of innovation and the contrast of the Bell Labs model (housed in a regulated monopoly with plenty of money, plenty of time and no competition) and the Silicon Valley model (businesses coming and going, engineers transferring from business to business, ruthless competition). Bell Labs gave us basic research; Silicon Valley gives us great products based on existing research. Bell Labs looked at innovation as encompassing research, development/manufacturing and the creation of a new market with the overriding desire to make things better and cheaper. For a look at what was a great American asset and to learn about innovation, this book is highly recommended."
— David (5 out of 5 stars)
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“Riveting…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. And they showcase, too, his novelistic sense of character and intuitive understanding of the odd ways in which clashing or compatible personalities can combine to foster intensely creative collaborations.”
— New York Times -
“One of the best innovation-focused books I’ve read: It’s a wide-ranging, detailed, and deeply fascinating look at the New Jersey lab which has been churning out useful discoveries since the early 1900s.”
— Boston Globe -
“Filled with colorful characters and inspiring lessons…The Idea Factory explores one of the most critical issues of our time: What causes innovation?”
— New York Times Book Review -
“Compelling…Gertner’s book offers fascinating evidence for those seeking to understand how a society should best invest its research resources.”
— Wall Street Journal -
“The men of Bell Labs…are brought to life by Jon Gertner in The Idea Factory, his wonderful history of the most influential corporate-research lab the world has seen…Mr Gertner does a super job of making complex science intelligible to the lay reader. He frequently evokes a sense of awe at how this army of scientists made a reality of what even for them was often unthinkable.”
— Economist
The Idea Factory Listener Reviews
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" Found this to be only slightly insightful. The book possibly tried to cover too much so was unable to attribute a significant level of detail any given area of the history in question. "
— Sam, 2/19/2014 -
" A great book about a unique place in American history. Also, a warning for the future, as in "how do we pay for pure research going forward in this world of the almighty dollar?" "
— Sandy, 2/1/2014 -
" This is a wonderful book, not only reporting on the amazing accomplishments of the people at Bell Labs (the transistor, laser, fiber optics, cell phone technology, information theory, etc.) but also discussing the nature of innovation and the conditions necessary to foster it. In some sense the achievements of Bell Labs created a new environment which undermined the very foundation of its success--the Bell System monopoly. However, from the late 1930s to the early 1970s, the technological center of the American economy was in New Jersey and our world continues to benefit from the work of Bell Labs. "
— Steve, 1/21/2014 -
" I'm a huge nerd, so this was a four-star read for me. But, I could see how others might not find it as engaging. Made me appreciate all the smart folks out there who do work that I couldn't possibly comprehend, but that is hugely important to everyday life. "
— Jason, 1/18/2014 -
" A must read for techies. I was just blown away by all of the stuff Bell Labs was responsible for and look forward to touring their site in NJ. "
— Kamran, 12/29/2013 -
" engrossing history of the lab that spawned myriad inventions to birth the communication age "
— Bruce, 11/19/2013 -
" Need to remember your college physics to totally understand the scientific references-- or just skip the references (which would be the majority of the book). "
— Howdoc, 11/4/2013 -
" I spent most of my career as a physicist working at the Kodak Research Laboratories. So for me this was a terrific book. "
— Thomas, 9/23/2013 -
" I liked learning about inventing new technologies, but it rambled too much. Lost interest and stopped reading. "
— Debbie, 8/10/2013 -
" A little dense with the technical talk. I honestly found it quite tough to keep up with the wide cast of characters (even the main ones!) But to a non-engineer, non-physicist like myself, it was a glimpse into a world I'd have never seen otherwise. Definitely worth the read, for the curious. "
— Dixon, 7/28/2013 -
" What started out as more of a story about technology ended up a story about people -- a surprisingly moving one, at that. Highly recommended. "
— Todd, 7/8/2013 -
" Fascinating history of the Bell Labs, and just how much of our current technology came out of the fundamental research done at Bell Labs. "
— Derek, 4/1/2013 -
" A bit dry but interesting. Especially liked the idea of how mixing scientists and engineers together allowed ideas to be born and move forward in unique ways. But some of these folks seemed toxic to me. Gives some meaning to the saying " mad scientist ". "
— Jeanne, 2/17/2013 -
" Would like to know what the modern day result of this history has lead us to. In terms of ideal company structure and ecosystem. "
— Aaron, 12/8/2012 -
" Worked with some of the Labs people while @ Lucent. Knew much of the history but a great account of the institutional contribution. Sad to see it fade along with other former US. centers of innovation and excellence. "
— Paul, 8/13/2012
About Jon Gertner
Jon Gertner is a journalist and historian whose stories on science, technology, and nature have appeared in a host of national magazines. Since 2003 he has worked mainly as a feature writer for the New York Times Magazine. His first book, The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation, was a New York Times bestseller. He is a frequent lecturer on technology and science history.
About Chris Sorensen
Chris Sorenson has worked extensively as an actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He studied at the Rutgers Professional Actor Training Program and is an original member of the Present Company, producers of FringeNYC. The Thin Air Theatre Company of Colorado considers him their playwright-at-large and have produced ten of his plays over the past eleven years. His screenplays The Roswell Project and Classic Rock are both currently in production, and his horror script Suckerville is currently in development. He has received three AudioFile Earphones Awards, and his recording of Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix was selected by AudioFile as one of the Best Audiobooks of 2010.