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The Long Arm of Moore's Law: Microelectronics and American Science
How, beginning in the mid 1960s, the US semiconductor industry helped shape changes in American science, including a new orientation to the short-term and the commercial.
Since the mid 1960s, American science has undergone significant changes in the way it is organized, funded, and practiced. These changes include the decline of basic research by corporations; a new orientation toward the short-term and the commercial, with pressure on universities and government labs to participate in the market; and the promotion of interdisciplinarity. In this book, Cyrus Mody argues that the changes in American science that began in the 1960s co-evolved with and were shaped by the needs of the “civilianized” US semiconductor industry.
In 1965, Gordon Moore declared that the most profitable number of circuit components that can be crammed on a single silicon chip doubles every year. Mody views “Moore's Law” less as prediction than as self-fulfilling prophecy, pointing to the enormous investments of capital, people, and institutions the semiconductor industry required—the “long arm” of Moore's Law that helped shape all of science.
Mody offers a series of case studies in microelectronics that illustrate the reach of Moore's Law. He describes the pressures on Stanford University's electrical engineers during the Vietnam era, IBM's exploration of alternatives to semiconductor technology, the emergence of consortia to integrate research across disciplines and universities, and the interwoven development of the the molecular electronics community and associated academic institutions as the vision of a molecular computer informed the restructuring of research programs.
Since the mid 1960s, American science has undergone significant changes in the way it is organized, funded, and practiced. These changes include the decline of basic research by corporations; a new orientation toward the short-term and the commercial, with pressure on universities and government labs to participate in the market; and the promotion of interdisciplinarity. In this book, Cyrus Mody argues that the changes in American science that began in the 1960s co-evolved with and were shaped by the needs of the “civilianized” US semiconductor industry.
In 1965, Gordon Moore declared that the most profitable number of circuit components that can be crammed on a single silicon chip doubles every year. Mody views “Moore's Law” less as prediction than as self-fulfilling prophecy, pointing to the enormous investments of capital, people, and institutions the semiconductor industry required—the “long arm” of Moore's Law that helped shape all of science.
Mody offers a series of case studies in microelectronics that illustrate the reach of Moore's Law. He describes the pressures on Stanford University's electrical engineers during the Vietnam era, IBM's exploration of alternatives to semiconductor technology, the emergence of consortia to integrate research across disciplines and universities, and the interwoven development of the the molecular electronics community and associated academic institutions as the vision of a molecular computer informed the restructuring of research programs.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published December 9, 2016
21 people want to read
About the author
Cyrus C.M. Mody
4 books1 followerCyrus C. M. Mody is Professor and Chair in the History of Science, Technology, and Innovation at Maastricht University. He is the author of Instrumental Community: Probe Microscopy and the Path to Nanotechnology (MIT Press).
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 19, 2019
This is an interesting and well researched look at the research and development of certain alternatives in microelectronics., including superconducting Josephson Junctions and molecular electronics such as the use of carbon nanotubes in microcircuits. It draws on published accounts and many interviews the author has done over more than a decade. However the real focus of the book is the research cultures that created and rose up around these developments and their relation to the title the Long Arm of Moore's Law; the relentless drive for smaller and smaller electronic components.
The book is thus an intriguing illustration of ideas about how basic, general and long term scientific and technological research relate to specific development of applications and products. It shows how research often has a zig-zag character with ideas, devices and people moving from basic areas to applied and back again according to circumstance. It also shows how differently basic research came to be organized by government and private interests over the course of the post World War II period as different social, geopolitical and economic realities presented themselves.
Moore's law is taken as a "social fact" not merely the result of semiconductor physics, but the result of the purposeful decisions of people and the formation of institutions in society. So Moore's law is not merely an unexplained fact of history, rather having accepted a putative explanation the narrative of the book refers back to that explanation at various points to explain other developments. This is one of the central themes of the book.
I read this book in an electronic form, borrowing it from ebook central. I could not get the epub version of this to load properly on my computer, but I did manage to get the pdf version to. It was legible and worked okay, it was a bit hard to access the endnotes.
The book is thus an intriguing illustration of ideas about how basic, general and long term scientific and technological research relate to specific development of applications and products. It shows how research often has a zig-zag character with ideas, devices and people moving from basic areas to applied and back again according to circumstance. It also shows how differently basic research came to be organized by government and private interests over the course of the post World War II period as different social, geopolitical and economic realities presented themselves.
Moore's law is taken as a "social fact" not merely the result of semiconductor physics, but the result of the purposeful decisions of people and the formation of institutions in society. So Moore's law is not merely an unexplained fact of history, rather having accepted a putative explanation the narrative of the book refers back to that explanation at various points to explain other developments. This is one of the central themes of the book.
I read this book in an electronic form, borrowing it from ebook central. I could not get the epub version of this to load properly on my computer, but I did manage to get the pdf version to. It was legible and worked okay, it was a bit hard to access the endnotes.
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November 16, 2025A bit dense — probably not comprehensible unless you have prior knowledge on the US defense industrial policy and semiconductor industry, and even then it's no walk in the park.
Nevertheless, I have to admire the depth of research. Very informative.
Nevertheless, I have to admire the depth of research. Very informative.
September 21, 2023
A great review of the impact of Moores Law on American Science. However, I expected it to encompass also the most recent decades of development in microelectronics and material sciences. It would have been interesting to read about the technology used in the manufacturing and studying of microelectronics today, not just 30 years ago and further back. The prose is unnecessarily complex making it rather unaccessable and less pedagogic than it should be.
Although, I am really happy that I found and picked this book up as it's thesis; that Moore's Law is a sort of "social law" which rests upon the beliefs of it's participants to realize itself and become true, as well as the ability of a "social law" as such to shape society and change it forever, is an absolutely sublime idea from the author and he proves it with very convincing evidence.
Although, I am really happy that I found and picked this book up as it's thesis; that Moore's Law is a sort of "social law" which rests upon the beliefs of it's participants to realize itself and become true, as well as the ability of a "social law" as such to shape society and change it forever, is an absolutely sublime idea from the author and he proves it with very convincing evidence.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews