Kilby

"Kilby did not have a PhD, and his theoretical foundation was not as strong as Noyce’s, but he had a thorough understanding of the basic principles of physics and electronics. He was also one of the most imaginative and creative people I have ever known, an Edison-type inventor. Edison once said: “Invention is one part inspiration and nine parts perspiration.” Besides being inspired, Kilby had perseverance and pursued his inventive ideas relentless"

"The development of integrated circuits was faster than I had imagined when I chatted with Kilby. After the inspiration from the inventions of Kilby and Noyce, the biggest obstacle to the development of integrated circuits was manufacturing process capability. Under fierce competition among companies, advances in process capability progressed by leaps and bounds. Products I considered “unthinkable” in 1958 had become quite possible by 1962. In 1963, TI established an integrated circuit business unit and began small-scale production. By the end of 1966, when I took over as general manager of the integrated circuit business unit, business had already reached about 1.5 million U.S. dollars per month. In the early 1970s, the MOS structure was widely adopted, and integrated circuits grew even faster. By 1995, the global integrated circuit market reached 130 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 85% of the entire semiconductor market."