Microchip World

From Transistors to Microchip – By Ettore Accenti

Book Review by Richa Mittal

If a semiconductor expert is asked a question like “What’s inside his iPhone?”, the answer cannot be short and simple.  The author has answered this question in simple words without excluding the important details. The journey of semiconductors is given in an interesting form of story right from the birth of transistor to the present state of Moore’s law. The book establishes a good foundation for anyone who is interested in semiconductor technology.

The book starts by describing the newly founded interest of the author into making radio receivers at home. With the efforts to develop one at home, and then continue to improve it, author continued learning about the new technological advances. Author being a semiconductor publisher has mentioned his experiences of meeting and working with the founders of the leading semiconductor companies today. Since it starts from the beginning and basics, the story is easy to follow for anyone who is new to semiconductors and curious to know how technology works.

For a professional, this book provides an interesting narration of important events in the industry with snapshots from old journals. As an add-on, the book will refresh your knowledge of semiconductor physics if you have been away from it for a while.

Conclusion:

The book is definitely a good read for young professionals who are curious to know a little bit about how technology unfolded. I think it is best resource for students who have just come across the lessons on  “Semiconductor Physics” in schools. It is a window to what VLSI industry looks like. If you have never studied semiconductor physics, this book will give you a good basic idea, but feel free to skip the technical details.

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Note: This is not a promotional post. This is an effort to gather and share more information about VLSI and semiconductors.