BELL LABS MEMOIRS: VOICES OF INNOVATION, by A. Michael Noll and Michael Geselowitz

The innovative spirit and creative energy of Bell Labs during the directorship of William Baker are described by twelve people who worked there. The culture of Bell Labs comes to life through the first-hand accounts of John Pierce, father of communications satellites; Manfred Schroeder, speech encoding pioneer; Walter Brown, developer of silicon semiconductors; Carol Maclennan, expert in spacecraft communications and data analysis; Alan Chynoweth, materials research authority; David Dorsi, expert glassblower; Edward Zajac, submarine cables and economics research; Edwin Chandross, optical memories and organic materials (inventor of the now ubiquitous light stick); Italo Quinto, chauffeur to William Baker; Mohan Sondhi, inventor of the adaptive echo canceller; William Keefauver, Bell Labs’ general patent attorney; and lastly,William Baker himself.

Available from Amazon.com in hard copy and on Kindle.