Table of Contents

The Communications Revolution. A Matter of Scale. Innumerable Biographies: A Brief History of the Field. Widget Deconstruction #1: Smartphone. Semiconductors: Lite! Widget Deconstruction #2: USB Flash Drive. Bricks and Mortar: Micro/Nanoelectronics Fabrication. Transistors: Lite! From Transistors to Circuits to Systems. Microtools and Toys: MEMS, NEMS, and BioMEMS. Widget Deconstruction #3: GPS. Let There Be Light: The Bright World of Photonics. The Future of Electronics. The Nanoworld: Fact and Fiction. Societal Impact. Appendices.

About the Author

John D. Cressler earned his BS from Georgia Tech in 1984 and his PhD from Columbia University in 1990. From 1984 to 1992, he was on the research staff at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, and from 1992 to 2002 he served on the faculty at Auburn University. An IEEE fellow, he joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in 2002, and is currently Schlumberger Chair Professor in Electronics in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Cressler has published a number of nonfiction and historical fiction books. Together with his students, he has published more than 700 scientific papers. He has received the 2010 Class of 1940 W. Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher Award (Georgia Tech’s top teaching award), 2011 IEEE Leon Kirchmayer Graduate Teaching Award (the IEEE’s top graduate teaching award), and Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor Award (the highest honor Georgia Tech bestows on its faculty).

Reviews

"Silicon Earth tells one of the most compelling stories of our time; how the sand on the beach, a common plaything for children, is the building block for the advanced technological hardware that enriches our daily lives. Dr. John Cressler chronicles the advancements of the transistor from its humble beginnings to modern day, where it is arguably the single most important device in modern society. This text is filled with exciting and relevant examples of everyday technology and delves into their inner workings. The book is written more as a novel than a textbook and is engaging to the reader to learn not only about where we’ve been technologically, but also about where we might go."
—Joel Andrews, Ph.D., Garmin InternationalPraise for the Previous Edition"In this unique book, Cressler, … displaying his immense and diverse knowledge, demystifies the overwhelming concepts of microelectronics. … Summing up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals; general readers."
—M.S. Roden, emeritus, California State University, Los Angeles, USA, from CHOICE, February 2010"… provides a concise, easy-to-follow, step-by-step discussion of the evolutionary history of silicon-based electronics, microelectromechanical structures (MEMS), and nanotechnology, as well as their impact on our lives. … This book is a comprehensive yet thrilling and invigorating, simple-to-read text that is well on its way to becoming a classic. … The book reduces highly abstract, technical, and mathematical topics foundational to the frontiers of silicon into a thrilling tale of pioneering history with very simple mathematics in an easy-to-understand and readable style. Graphically decorated with pictures and stories from the greatest science fiction movies (e.g., Terminator and Fantastic Voyage), the book helps the reader visualize the fundamental principles of electrical engineering and nanotechnology."
—Mohammad Mojarradi and Benjamin Blalock, from IEEE Nanotechnology Magazine, September 2010

"Silicon Earth tells one of the most compelling stories of our time; how the sand on the beach, a common plaything for children, is the building block for the advanced technological hardware that enriches our daily lives. Dr. John Cressler chronicles the advancements of the transistor from its humble beginnings to modern day, where it is arguably the single most important device in modern society. This text is filled with exciting and relevant examples of everyday technology and delves into their inner workings. The book is written more as a novel than a textbook and is engaging to the reader to learn not only about where we’ve been technologically, but also about where we might go."
—Joel Andrews, Ph.D., Garmin InternationalPraise for the Previous Edition"In this unique book, Cressler, … displaying his immense and diverse knowledge, demystifies the overwhelming concepts of microelectronics. … Summing up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals; general readers."
—M.S. Roden, emeritus, California State University, Los Angeles, USA, from CHOICE, February 2010"… provides a concise, easy-to-follow, step-by-step discussion of the evolutionary history of silicon-based electronics, microelectromechanical structures (MEMS), and nanotechnology, as well as their impact on our lives. … This book is a comprehensive yet thrilling and invigorating, simple-to-read text that is well on its way to becoming a classic. … The book reduces highly abstract, technical, and mathematical topics foundational to the frontiers of silicon into a thrilling tale of pioneering history with very simple mathematics in an easy-to-understand and readable style. Graphically decorated with pictures and stories from the greatest science fiction movies (e.g., Terminator and Fantastic Voyage), the book helps the reader visualize the fundamental principles of electrical engineering and nanotechnology."
—Mohammad Mojarradi and Benjamin Blalock, from IEEE Nanotechnology Magazine, September 2010