As much as we might wish otherwise, our world is built upon the genius of a few. We play, of course, a key role in actualizing their vision by mining their materials, building their factories, paying their salaries and adopting their products, but ultimately we are merely the audience for sublime imaginations, guinea pigs upon whom brilliance can be given form and purpose. the pride of some may be wounded by this stark reality, but it cannot be ducked. Every device we use, not to mention the traditions and habits they produce, is a manifestation of intellectual might and first-rate vision the likes of which we can only dream of. So let us revel in that genius; let us marvel at it. For such transformative times are rare and priceless, few moreso than the episode captured here, so well, by Mr. Gernter.
The research and development arm of the telecom monopoly that dominated the United States for the first half of the 20th century, Bell Labs transformed our world. From the vacuum tube to the transistor, from the video phone to the transcontinental cabling that would one day make the Internet a reality, this collection of quasi-corporate scientists, operating on a sleepy campus in suburban New Jersey, was responsible for a series of inventions and innovations that catalyzed the technological revolution, providing critical momentum for our hopes of becoming a post-industrial civilization. Though operational for decades prior, its most productive period came in the feverish times after World War II when the United States was awake to the possibilities of technology and their liberating power. From 1947 to 1962, Bell Labs laid down the basics for the personal computer and sent the first American satellites into space, all in the furtherance of a single, organizing mission, the creation of a system that would connect every human on Earth and allow them to communicate whenever and however they desired.
From these revolutionary technologies to the geniuses and the eccentrics who envisioned and birthed them, Mr. Gernter returns us to the limitless promise of the 1940s and the 1950s. He tours Bell Labs, its architecture and its workspaces, its corporate structure and its core mission, in order to capture the essence of this special time while attempting to excavate and identify the key factors -- money, minds, monopolies and mentalities -- that spur innovation. For without it, our civilization stagnates, its problems left to fester and grow in the face of feckless opposition.
The Idea Factory is a masterfully thorough history of the origin of our modern, technological world. In clear, linear prose, Mr. Gernter gives equal attention to all the critical aspects of Bell Labs and its story, its structure, its results, and the many personalities that made it legendary. From its early years to its inevitable death, the author enchants us with the excitement and the energy that filled its halls without ignoring the uglier truths propagated by its scientists and its masters. In this, Mr. Gernter manages, here, that rare and wonderful feat of journalism, to infect his readers with his enthusiasm and his awe without sacrificing his objectivity, an admirable balance perhaps helped by the five decades between now and the heyday of this remarkable place.
But beyond a piece of elegant history, Mr. Gernter convinces us, here, of a deeper truth, that our world hinges on pivotal periods in time, that our customs, our tools, even our toy are defined by these periods, and that, but for quirks of fate, all that we know might have a very different shape. The possibilities for humanity and the planet that birthed it are endless so long as we remember that anything is possible so long as we ignore dogmas and doubters, leaving our minds open to every potentiality, every idea. For to do any less is not only to deprive ourselves of our best future, but to forget the lessons of these men at this time.
A captivating subject... (5/5 Stars)
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