50 summers ago, Jack Kilby skipped on the beach bum routine and toiled in his job to be the hero for all internet users. He ended up inventing the Integrated Circuit, a device that proved crucial in propelling all of us into an age where Internet is nearly ubiquitous. No less credit, however, should be given to another genius, Intel founder Robert Noyce. Leslie Berlin, "project historian for Stanford Silicon Valley Archives and author of a book about Noyce", said in an Associated press article that Noyce was tinkering around his tool box at just about the same time as Kilby was. Kilby ended up being the first person to actually present the IC chip to the world, but Noyce was the one who found a way to actually have the IC chip produced in mass numbers. Associated Press noted that the two men are credited equally for their contributions. And that is just about fair. Innovation is meaningless unless it actually becomes useful in the real world. Kilby and Noyce are both geniuses whose efforts are probably one of the most significant in the modern age and the future.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080913/tc_afp/usitinternetchipkilby;_ylt=AnTHHcmZTRluXoq2DAZO75gjtBAF
PHOTO SOURCE: http://bass.gmu.edu/images/IC-chip.jpg
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