Bell Labs

"A focus on manufacturing gives China another advantage in technological competition with the United States. It can simply wait for American scientists to do the fundamental research before Chinese companies take over the production. That is, in essence, what happened with the solar industry. Bell Labs invented the first solar cell, and German companies produced solar production equipment. Beijing’s designation of solar as a “strategic emerging industry” invited Chinese companies to rush into this industry. Chinese companies bought German equipment and competed fiercely to make the most efficient solar cells. By the mid-2010s, Chinese companies figured out how to make all the German tools, as well as the entirety of the solar value chain. The plunge in solar power costs over the last decade has been driven less by breakthroughs in science—which is the United States’ strong suit—than by efficient production, which is China’s strength. The beneficiaries are not only the climate but also China’s national power."

"A focus on manufacturing gives China another advantage in technological competition with the United States. It can simply wait for American scientists to do the fundamental research before Chinese companies take over the production. That is, in essence, what happened with the solar industry. Bell Labs invented the first solar cell, and German companies produced solar production equipment. Beijing’s designation of solar as a “strategic emerging industry” invited Chinese companies to rush into this industry. Chinese companies bought German equipment and competed fiercely to make the most efficient solar cells. By the mid-2010s, Chinese companies figured out how to make all the German tools, as well as the entirety of the solar value chain. The plunge in solar power costs over the last decade has been driven less by breakthroughs in science—which is the United States’ strong suit—than by efficient production, which is China’s strength. The beneficiaries are not only the climate but also China’s national power."

"The characteristics of a semiconductor are exactly as its name suggests: its electrical conductivity lies between that of a conductor (such as metal) and an insulator (such as wood or stone). Semiconductors have another characteristic: their conductivity can be changed by adding “impurities.” Scientists had known of the existence of semiconductors for many years, but did not know how to use them. It wasn’t until 1948 that scientists at Bell Labs, making use of the properties of semiconductors, built the transistor—and everything changed."

"At that time, Texas Instruments was still a very small company, and when it applied to Bell Labs for a license for transistor technology, it was mocked quite a bit. But its president, Patrick Haggerty, was an extremely ambitious person with strategic vision. Not long after obtaining the license, Haggerty poached a Dr. Teal from Bell Labs. Teal was a significant contributor within the transistor invention team. When he left Bell for TI, everyone at Bell found it astonishing. Bell was the world’s most famous research institution, while TI was an insignificant little company. Moreover, at the time, Texas gave people the impression of nothing but cowboys and oil—no high level of culture, let alone advanced technology."

"Bell Labs was keenly aware of the importance of this invention, so in 1952 it began licensing manufacturers to produce transistors. In 1953, commercially manufactured transistors appeared."

"These were the golden years of R&D: the first laser was invented at Bell Labs, and the transistor, and the Unix computer operating system, among many other advances. I was in heaven. In my early years there, I was working in economic planning and R&D under the tutelage of Doug Barnes, who became a mentor to me."

"Bell Labs was building a discipline in a new field they called operations research, a new way of applying scientific modeling to complex problems in business, engineering, and other fields. First, break the problem into manageable parts, then apply relevant disciplines—mathematical modeling, data analysis, and computer simulations, all while considering real-world constraints like time and money. The result: firms make smarter, faster, and more cost-effective decisions."

"I relied on creative problem-solving skills I had honed at Jerrold and in my days at Bell Labs and McKinsey. Some days I felt energized by the challenge, like a young mechanic back home piecing together parts on the garage floor and trying to get a dead engine to come sputtering back to life."