More Doings from the Computer History Museum
July 10th, 2009 by Paul Ceruzzi
Alan Weissberger, a volunteer at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, sends this along:
On July 1st, the Computer History Museum (CHM) launched the Silicon Engine exhibit, which traces the history of semiconductors that led to the design of the first microprocessor- the Intel 4004. Very impressive artifacts from the CHM collection are displayed in a glass enclosed panel. The artifacts illustrate the first transistor, the planar semiconductor manufacturing process, the integrated circuit, the first transistor radio, a 1965 calculator, semiconductor based computer circuit board and early computing devices. Jack Kilby’s TI engineering notebook pages on the design of the integrated circuit are particularly impressive.
The exhibit also includes two individual video kiosks and a short video documentary that details the steps that led up to the design and development of the Intel 4004 microprocessor in 1971. The documentary covers the invention of the transistor, its role as a building block of the integrated circuit, the rapid growth of semiconductors and the profound effect these technological breakthroughs have had on modern life.
July 10th, 2009 at 6:57 am
To view the CHM’s Silicon Engine “virtual exhibit” please visit: http://www.computerhistory.org/semiconductor/
July 16th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Clarification comment from David Laws- the Curator of the CHM Silicon Engine exhibit:
One of the groups of artifacts illustrates the IBM SLT manufacturing process. The planar process of semiconductor manufacturing was a key enabler of producing ICs. The Silicon Engine exhibit does include an example of Jean Hoerni’s first planar transistor.