Silicon
Valley is known worldwide as the global center of high tech innovation.
In large part, the spark that ignited Silicon Valley's explosive growth
can be traced back to a 50 year-old dispute that occurred in the
building at 391 San Antonio Road, Mountain View, California.
In
the 1950s William Shockley was considered a "God" in the electronics
world. He led the Bell Labs team that invented the transistor in 1948.
With funding from Arnold Beckman -- a wealthy scientist-businessman --
Shockley established the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in 1955.
Shockley went against Beckman's recommendation to set up in southern
California, near Beckman's own company, and established the lab in a
former Quonset hut at 391 San Antonio.
Shockley's disruptive
management style eventually forced eight of his young scientists to
approach Arnold Beckman directly in an attempt to remove Shockley from
day-to-day management. When their bid fails, the group feels they have
burned their bridges and must find alternative employment. Through an
East Coast banker, the scientists are introduced to Sherman Fairchild,
a New York industrialist. He is intrigued by the potential of silicon
transistors and agrees to support the group with an investment of $1.3
million to start a new company called Fairchild Semiconductor.
In
Silicon Valley lore, the dissenting scientists became known as the
Traitorous Eight - some of whom went on to bigger and better things.
Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore founded Intel in 1968, now the world's
largest chipmaker. More than 400 electronics, computer and chip
companies in Silicon Valley can trace their genealogy back to the
Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory at 391 San Antonio Road.
Through
interviews with historians and surviving former employees of Shockley
Labs, filmmaker Craig Addison recounts the events that indirectly led
to the explosive growth of Silicon Valley. Thanks to The Computer
History Museum and Craig Addison for making this film available.