1 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:21,596 Speaker 1: Pushkin Hello, Hello everyone. Before we get to this episode, 2 00:00:21,796 --> 00:00:24,476 Speaker 1: I want to let you know about two new exciting 3 00:00:24,516 --> 00:00:27,676 Speaker 1: shows from Pushkin Industries that you might be interested in. 4 00:00:28,396 --> 00:00:32,076 Speaker 1: The first is McCartney A Life in Lyrics with Sir 5 00:00:32,196 --> 00:00:36,996 Speaker 1: Paul McCartney. You'll hear conversations between McCartney and poet Paul 6 00:00:37,076 --> 00:00:42,156 Speaker 1: muldoon as they dissect the inspirations that shaped McCartney's songwriting. 7 00:00:42,636 --> 00:00:46,756 Speaker 1: It's a combination masterclass, memoir and improvised journey. 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You 16 00:01:19,756 --> 00:01:23,796 Speaker 1: can also unlock exclusive binge listens and ad free listening 17 00:01:24,036 --> 00:01:27,436 Speaker 1: for these shows on their Apple podcast show pages or 18 00:01:27,476 --> 00:01:36,716 Speaker 1: at Pushkin, dot fm, slash plus. It's a beautiful morning 19 00:01:36,716 --> 00:01:40,156 Speaker 1: in northern California. I flew in last night, drove down 20 00:01:40,156 --> 00:01:43,796 Speaker 1: from San Francisco Airport to Mountain View, and then I 21 00:01:43,836 --> 00:01:48,116 Speaker 1: got up first single morning and I'm here at last 22 00:01:49,356 --> 00:01:54,556 Speaker 1: three ninety one San Antonio Road, in the heart of 23 00:01:54,596 --> 00:01:57,436 Speaker 1: Silicon Valley. On the wall of an office building, there's 24 00:01:57,476 --> 00:02:01,476 Speaker 1: a small plaque and next to it a chart, a 25 00:02:01,516 --> 00:02:06,276 Speaker 1: family tree of companies, dozens of them, National Semiconductor, Fairchild, 26 00:02:06,356 --> 00:02:09,836 Speaker 1: Variant Intel. It's the kind of display you could easily 27 00:02:09,876 --> 00:02:12,916 Speaker 1: miss if you weren't looking for it, which is a 28 00:02:12,916 --> 00:02:16,516 Speaker 1: shame because it's a monument to the origins of one 29 00:02:16,556 --> 00:02:24,636 Speaker 1: of the greatest technological revolutions in human history. It's an 30 00:02:24,636 --> 00:02:29,436 Speaker 1: office building on a four lane six lane road, kind 31 00:02:29,436 --> 00:02:33,796 Speaker 1: of a main thoroughfare through Mountain View. Apartments on one side, 32 00:02:33,996 --> 00:02:36,836 Speaker 1: office buildings on the other. I think three ninety one 33 00:02:36,876 --> 00:02:39,516 Speaker 1: is a might be a Facebook building. I think I 34 00:02:39,556 --> 00:02:42,876 Speaker 1: read that somewhere. But back in the day, it was 35 00:02:43,276 --> 00:02:46,396 Speaker 1: just a little quantset hut on this site, a little 36 00:02:46,556 --> 00:02:52,236 Speaker 1: wooden structure and big windows up front with a sign 37 00:02:52,276 --> 00:02:57,276 Speaker 1: over the door, and I I just sort of read 38 00:02:57,436 --> 00:03:01,556 Speaker 1: a plaque that is on the front of the building 39 00:03:01,556 --> 00:03:07,076 Speaker 1: today the birthplace of Silicon Valley nineteen fifty six. At 40 00:03:07,076 --> 00:03:12,356 Speaker 1: this location three ninety Antonio Road, the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory 41 00:03:12,396 --> 00:03:16,316 Speaker 1: manufactured the first silicon devices in what became known as 42 00:03:16,356 --> 00:03:21,036 Speaker 1: Silicon Valley. Some of the talented scientists and engineers initially 43 00:03:21,076 --> 00:03:24,356 Speaker 1: employed there left to found their own companies, leading to 44 00:03:24,396 --> 00:03:27,476 Speaker 1: the birth of the silicon electronics industry in the region. 45 00:03:28,076 --> 00:03:32,196 Speaker 1: Hundreds of firms in electronics and computing can trace their 46 00:03:32,236 --> 00:03:39,276 Speaker 1: origins back to Shockley Semiconductor. Here's my question that brought 47 00:03:39,276 --> 00:03:42,196 Speaker 1: me all the way from New York City to this 48 00:03:42,596 --> 00:03:46,236 Speaker 1: building in the middle of Silicon Valley. Why was Shockley 49 00:03:46,276 --> 00:03:53,116 Speaker 1: semi Conductor Laboratories here on San Antonio Road, Of all 50 00:03:53,116 --> 00:03:57,436 Speaker 1: the places in America? Why did Silicon Valley start right 51 00:03:57,476 --> 00:04:02,116 Speaker 1: where I'm standing? Dun dun dun dun dun d. My 52 00:04:02,236 --> 00:04:05,516 Speaker 1: name is Malcolm Blackwell. You're listening to Revisionist History, my 53 00:04:05,636 --> 00:04:10,116 Speaker 1: podcast about things Overlooked and Misunderstood. This episode is about 54 00:04:10,156 --> 00:04:13,036 Speaker 1: how the long, narrow valley that lies between the Santa 55 00:04:13,076 --> 00:04:18,396 Speaker 1: Clara Mountains and San Francisco Bay became the epicenter of 56 00:04:18,476 --> 00:04:30,436 Speaker 1: the modern age. The transistor, the forerunner of today's computer chips, 57 00:04:30,796 --> 00:04:34,756 Speaker 1: was invented in nineteen forty seven by the team headed 58 00:04:34,996 --> 00:04:40,236 Speaker 1: by a physicist named William Shockley. Before that, computers and 59 00:04:40,276 --> 00:04:46,636 Speaker 1: everything electronic ran on vacuum tubes, which were underpowered, oversized, fragile. 60 00:04:46,956 --> 00:04:51,956 Speaker 1: In the late forties, that changed forever. Shockley invented the transistor, 61 00:04:52,396 --> 00:04:54,756 Speaker 1: and then there was the chip, and then out of 62 00:04:54,756 --> 00:04:58,156 Speaker 1: Silicon Valley came a stream of technologies that gave us 63 00:04:58,156 --> 00:05:01,396 Speaker 1: the world we live in now. But Shockley didn't invent 64 00:05:01,436 --> 00:05:05,476 Speaker 1: the transistor in northern California. He invented it in New 65 00:05:05,556 --> 00:05:08,796 Speaker 1: Jersey at the famous Bell Labs in Murray Hill, about 66 00:05:08,796 --> 00:05:12,116 Speaker 1: ten miles outside of Newark. Then he left Bell Labs 67 00:05:12,236 --> 00:05:15,236 Speaker 1: and took a teaching job at Caltech in Pasadena, just 68 00:05:15,276 --> 00:05:18,436 Speaker 1: outside of Los Angeles. And after a stint there and 69 00:05:18,476 --> 00:05:21,316 Speaker 1: a stint at the Pentagon, he decides to strike out 70 00:05:21,356 --> 00:05:24,836 Speaker 1: on his own. He lines up a wealthy backer. He 71 00:05:24,916 --> 00:05:28,876 Speaker 1: starts a company called Shockley Semiconductor, and he recruits the 72 00:05:28,916 --> 00:05:33,236 Speaker 1: best and the brightest from all around the country. Everyone 73 00:05:33,396 --> 00:05:36,716 Speaker 1: comes from somewhere else to a quantt hut on three 74 00:05:36,916 --> 00:05:40,556 Speaker 1: ninety one San Antonio Road in Mountain View because William 75 00:05:40,596 --> 00:05:43,276 Speaker 1: Shockley wants to set up shop in a quantt hut 76 00:05:43,396 --> 00:05:46,756 Speaker 1: on three ninety one San Antonio Road in Mountain View. 77 00:05:49,076 --> 00:05:51,596 Speaker 1: The first question I have is really about looking at 78 00:05:51,596 --> 00:05:54,916 Speaker 1: this from the perspective of the mid fifties, the very beginning. 79 00:05:55,876 --> 00:05:58,836 Speaker 1: If you and I were having a conversation in nineteen 80 00:05:58,916 --> 00:06:03,716 Speaker 1: fifty five and we were told a computer revolution was 81 00:06:03,716 --> 00:06:06,756 Speaker 1: coming in the United States, and I asked, I said 82 00:06:06,756 --> 00:06:10,396 Speaker 1: to you on a where do you think think that 83 00:06:10,476 --> 00:06:14,276 Speaker 1: revolution will take place? What would you've told me? My 84 00:06:14,396 --> 00:06:18,676 Speaker 1: first call to Anno Saxonian, professor at Berkeley, who has 85 00:06:18,676 --> 00:06:21,516 Speaker 1: spent her career trying to understand why certain parts of 86 00:06:21,556 --> 00:06:24,556 Speaker 1: the country are home to innovation and others aren't. 87 00:06:25,036 --> 00:06:29,476 Speaker 2: Probably I would have said Boston, Boston, maybe New Jersey, 88 00:06:29,916 --> 00:06:34,316 Speaker 2: you know, maybe Chicago, less so New York, you know, 89 00:06:34,636 --> 00:06:40,156 Speaker 2: definitely on the Northeast where all the big manufacturing operations were. 90 00:06:40,196 --> 00:06:43,116 Speaker 1: And that it's that's the reason. It'd be more specific 91 00:06:43,116 --> 00:06:46,316 Speaker 1: about what it was about those three cities that would 92 00:06:46,316 --> 00:06:49,156 Speaker 1: have led you to think that's where the revolution was coming. 93 00:06:49,236 --> 00:06:52,116 Speaker 2: Well, first of all, you know, the transistor was being 94 00:06:52,116 --> 00:06:56,596 Speaker 2: invented at Bill Labs, so there's technical capability. Also, you 95 00:06:56,636 --> 00:07:02,116 Speaker 2: know MI T Also, you know activities around Columbia. So 96 00:07:02,116 --> 00:07:06,596 Speaker 2: there's there's there's universities, there's money. I mean, it's the northeast. 97 00:07:06,636 --> 00:07:09,036 Speaker 2: So you've got New York right there. So you've got finance. 98 00:07:09,316 --> 00:07:13,276 Speaker 2: It's expensive to invent you know, transistors and then computers 99 00:07:13,276 --> 00:07:18,196 Speaker 2: and whatnot. You got proximity to Washington, DC. You know, 100 00:07:18,356 --> 00:07:23,316 Speaker 2: military contracts really supported the early decades of development. Uh 101 00:07:23,356 --> 00:07:26,796 Speaker 2: So you've got people, you've got capital, you've got contacts, 102 00:07:28,236 --> 00:07:33,436 Speaker 2: and you've got existing corporations. That's where the expertise was, 103 00:07:34,276 --> 00:07:35,836 Speaker 2: That's where all the action was. 104 00:07:36,516 --> 00:07:39,356 Speaker 1: I asked the same question of Nathan Miervold, one of 105 00:07:39,356 --> 00:07:41,996 Speaker 1: the key figures in the growth of Microsoft and one 106 00:07:41,996 --> 00:07:43,916 Speaker 1: of the ogs of the computer industry. 107 00:07:44,596 --> 00:07:47,516 Speaker 3: New Jersey and Philadelphia has been the best bad Well 108 00:07:47,556 --> 00:07:50,636 Speaker 3: you Von Neumann would still have been at in Suit 109 00:07:50,716 --> 00:07:57,316 Speaker 3: for Advanced Study, and he had was super involved. Aeronoff 110 00:07:57,636 --> 00:08:01,196 Speaker 3: and the team that build ENIAC were at University of 111 00:08:01,196 --> 00:08:03,316 Speaker 3: Pennsylvania and Bell. 112 00:08:03,276 --> 00:08:04,116 Speaker 4: Labs was there. 113 00:08:04,316 --> 00:08:07,316 Speaker 3: It also had oh at RCA and sonof Labs. 114 00:08:07,796 --> 00:08:09,276 Speaker 1: Oh wow. So the Sonoff Labs of. 115 00:08:11,036 --> 00:08:16,876 Speaker 3: RCA are in Princeton, New Jersey, and that was where 116 00:08:17,036 --> 00:08:20,996 Speaker 3: David Sarnoff was sort of ruling the rust technically in radio, 117 00:08:21,516 --> 00:08:26,596 Speaker 3: and that was a big, big, big, big deal. So 118 00:08:26,876 --> 00:08:28,956 Speaker 3: that's where you would have thought it was, because it 119 00:08:28,996 --> 00:08:33,436 Speaker 3: was already the center of a ton of both radio 120 00:08:33,476 --> 00:08:34,876 Speaker 3: and electronics and computing. 121 00:08:36,876 --> 00:08:39,356 Speaker 1: Now, there are a few theories out there about why 122 00:08:39,436 --> 00:08:42,436 Speaker 1: Shockley chose to set up in Santa Clara Valley. One 123 00:08:42,436 --> 00:08:45,036 Speaker 1: that might seem obvious is that right next door to 124 00:08:45,076 --> 00:08:49,116 Speaker 1: Mountain View is Polo Alto, and Palo Alto is the 125 00:08:49,116 --> 00:08:53,556 Speaker 1: home of Stanford University, a world class institution spitting out 126 00:08:53,596 --> 00:08:59,476 Speaker 1: one brilliant mind after another. But you're thinking of today Stanford. 127 00:09:00,876 --> 00:09:04,596 Speaker 1: I want to talk about Stanford, brumff. Why are you 128 00:09:04,676 --> 00:09:05,356 Speaker 1: rolling your eyes? 129 00:09:05,556 --> 00:09:09,076 Speaker 2: Because Stanford always gets all the attention, and it became 130 00:09:09,396 --> 00:09:11,756 Speaker 2: very important in the fifties, it was not important. It 131 00:09:11,836 --> 00:09:15,116 Speaker 2: was kind of a hic regional place, so it can't 132 00:09:15,156 --> 00:09:19,476 Speaker 2: have been the important institution. Mit was way ahead at 133 00:09:19,476 --> 00:09:19,996 Speaker 2: that time. 134 00:09:20,756 --> 00:09:23,276 Speaker 1: The whole thing makes no sense. When he's thinking of 135 00:09:23,276 --> 00:09:26,556 Speaker 1: setting up his startup, Shockley criss crosses the country. He 136 00:09:26,636 --> 00:09:29,356 Speaker 1: goes to see one of the Rockefellers, He visits the 137 00:09:29,476 --> 00:09:32,476 Speaker 1: leading electronics companies of the day. He combs through their 138 00:09:32,516 --> 00:09:35,276 Speaker 1: financial statements. He does a comparison of the cost of 139 00:09:35,316 --> 00:09:39,636 Speaker 1: living in Cambridge, Washington, d C. And Michigan. Yale says, 140 00:09:39,876 --> 00:09:43,636 Speaker 1: we'll give you everything you want. Bell Lab says, come back. 141 00:09:44,156 --> 00:09:47,276 Speaker 1: Everybody wants him. And what does he do? He says no. 142 00:09:48,556 --> 00:09:51,476 Speaker 1: He finally finds a backer. He likes, a wealthy entrepreneur 143 00:09:51,516 --> 00:09:54,876 Speaker 1: named Arnold Beckman who is based near Caltech in Pasadena. 144 00:09:55,356 --> 00:10:00,516 Speaker 1: Beckman loves Shockley, loves his ideas. Beckman's company makes sophisticated 145 00:10:00,636 --> 00:10:05,596 Speaker 1: scientific equipment. He has resources, infrastructure, skilled technicians. He says 146 00:10:05,636 --> 00:10:08,676 Speaker 1: to Shockley, set up here in Pasadena. My guys can 147 00:10:08,676 --> 00:10:12,876 Speaker 1: help out. I want you here. Shockley already knows Pasadena. 148 00:10:13,156 --> 00:10:17,356 Speaker 1: He literally worked at Caltech. His benefactor, the man giving 149 00:10:17,436 --> 00:10:22,276 Speaker 1: him all his money, wants him to be there. Shockley says, no. 150 00:10:23,156 --> 00:10:26,276 Speaker 1: I want to be in the apricot orchards off the 151 00:10:26,276 --> 00:10:32,356 Speaker 1: Santa Clair Valley. I find all of the seemingly obvious 152 00:10:33,316 --> 00:10:35,916 Speaker 1: explanations to be unconvincing. 153 00:10:37,036 --> 00:10:37,756 Speaker 4: It's a mystery. 154 00:10:37,916 --> 00:10:42,796 Speaker 1: It's a mystery. Next on my list, Richard Florida, author 155 00:10:42,876 --> 00:10:46,156 Speaker 1: of the hugely influential study Rise of the Creative Class, 156 00:10:46,236 --> 00:10:49,876 Speaker 1: another take on why certain regions take off and others don't. 157 00:10:50,396 --> 00:10:52,236 Speaker 1: But here's the one I really want to talk you about, 158 00:10:52,956 --> 00:10:58,116 Speaker 1: which is the weather? Is it? Is it at all? 159 00:10:58,236 --> 00:11:01,796 Speaker 1: Why are you looking at me like this? Why I 160 00:11:01,876 --> 00:11:04,956 Speaker 1: hear the weather explanation and I just roll my eyes 161 00:11:06,036 --> 00:11:09,396 Speaker 1: as you should, as I should tell Okay, so tell me, 162 00:11:09,156 --> 00:11:12,156 Speaker 1: tell me, tell me why the weather explanation is nonsense. 163 00:11:13,276 --> 00:11:16,956 Speaker 4: Well, I mean, Boston was pretty good at this stuff. 164 00:11:16,996 --> 00:11:21,596 Speaker 4: And you know, I mean, if anything, Silicon Valley emulated 165 00:11:21,636 --> 00:11:22,516 Speaker 4: Boston right. 166 00:11:23,236 --> 00:11:26,916 Speaker 1: In the standard explanation for Silicon Valley. Right after people 167 00:11:26,956 --> 00:11:29,796 Speaker 1: say it was all because of Stanford, they add, oh, 168 00:11:29,876 --> 00:11:32,676 Speaker 1: and the weather is amazing, as if that settles it. 169 00:11:33,316 --> 00:11:36,756 Speaker 1: But Florida's point is, since when is there some magical 170 00:11:36,796 --> 00:11:42,076 Speaker 1: correlation between technological revolutions and good weather? He's totally right. 171 00:11:42,436 --> 00:11:45,756 Speaker 1: I have to say the weather argument has always driven 172 00:11:45,796 --> 00:11:48,556 Speaker 1: me crazy. How many times do people say, as a 173 00:11:48,556 --> 00:11:50,956 Speaker 1: way of explaining the decline of Rust belt cities like 174 00:11:50,996 --> 00:11:55,356 Speaker 1: Buffalo or Detroit or Cleveland, Well, the weather's terrible, who 175 00:11:55,396 --> 00:11:58,076 Speaker 1: would want to live there? Meanwhile, north of the border, 176 00:11:58,396 --> 00:12:01,076 Speaker 1: directly on the other side of Lake Ontario, there are 177 00:12:01,116 --> 00:12:03,796 Speaker 1: two of the most successful tech hubs in the world, 178 00:12:04,236 --> 00:12:08,716 Speaker 1: Toronto and its sibling down the road, Waterloo. Which have 179 00:12:09,236 --> 00:12:12,716 Speaker 1: exactly the same weather as Detroit, Buffalo, and Cleveland. 180 00:12:13,436 --> 00:12:16,956 Speaker 4: I was a professor at Carnegie Mellon for nearly twenty years, 181 00:12:17,196 --> 00:12:19,796 Speaker 4: and you know, we were trying to figure out why 182 00:12:19,796 --> 00:12:22,436 Speaker 4: Pittsburgh had not turned into a tech hub of the 183 00:12:22,476 --> 00:12:26,076 Speaker 4: sorts of Grick, Boston, Cambridge or Palo Alto, the Bay Area, Slicon, 184 00:12:26,076 --> 00:12:28,596 Speaker 4: Morley Bay Area. And then somebody said to me, well, 185 00:12:28,636 --> 00:12:31,236 Speaker 4: one of our peer institutions is Waterloo. You should look 186 00:12:31,236 --> 00:12:33,156 Speaker 4: at them because they're really good. 187 00:12:33,356 --> 00:12:36,396 Speaker 1: Yeah, and the weather in Waterloo, as someone who grew 188 00:12:36,476 --> 00:12:39,156 Speaker 1: up outside of Waterloo, is strocious. 189 00:12:39,836 --> 00:12:40,516 Speaker 4: It's not great. 190 00:12:40,916 --> 00:12:44,116 Speaker 1: It's I was just there, it's freezing. I was like, 191 00:12:45,636 --> 00:12:48,796 Speaker 1: it's not the weather. And I was thinking, your good 192 00:12:48,876 --> 00:12:53,836 Speaker 1: friend Bill Gates drops out of Harvard because he wants 193 00:12:53,876 --> 00:12:57,596 Speaker 1: to start a software company, but doesn't go to Silicon Valley, 194 00:12:58,036 --> 00:13:01,756 Speaker 1: goes home to Seattle. When I was talking to Nathan Meherveld, 195 00:13:02,116 --> 00:13:03,196 Speaker 1: Microsoft came up. 196 00:13:03,476 --> 00:13:03,916 Speaker 4: Naturally. 197 00:13:04,436 --> 00:13:07,316 Speaker 1: Microsoft is the reason Seattle turned into a major tech hub. 198 00:13:07,636 --> 00:13:11,236 Speaker 1: That's why Amazon's there. But why was Microsoft in Seattle? 199 00:13:11,836 --> 00:13:13,316 Speaker 1: The story on that is very funny. 200 00:13:13,516 --> 00:13:17,996 Speaker 3: What's the story He and Paul started the company Microsoft 201 00:13:18,036 --> 00:13:23,476 Speaker 3: that is in New Mexico, because the first PC company 202 00:13:23,676 --> 00:13:24,996 Speaker 3: was in Albuquerque. 203 00:13:25,236 --> 00:13:28,956 Speaker 1: He being Bill Gates, Paul being his co founder Paul Allen. 204 00:13:29,316 --> 00:13:31,516 Speaker 1: They were high school friends from Seattle. 205 00:13:31,916 --> 00:13:35,036 Speaker 3: And so they literally went across the street from this 206 00:13:35,196 --> 00:13:38,756 Speaker 3: first PC company and readed some space and they started Microsoft. 207 00:13:39,316 --> 00:13:39,516 Speaker 5: Well. 208 00:13:39,556 --> 00:13:42,916 Speaker 3: Within a few years that company had gone under and 209 00:13:43,076 --> 00:13:46,956 Speaker 3: Microsoft was doing super well. And so Bill sort of 210 00:13:47,036 --> 00:13:52,436 Speaker 3: characteristically does this big analysis and decides they had to 211 00:13:52,476 --> 00:13:58,036 Speaker 3: be near either O'Hare Airport or Dallas Fort Worth Airport 212 00:13:58,436 --> 00:14:01,916 Speaker 3: because from those airports you could get to anywhere in 213 00:14:01,916 --> 00:14:04,796 Speaker 3: the United States with a commercial because no one's thinking 214 00:14:04,876 --> 00:14:08,396 Speaker 3: private aviation back then. You could get there and get. 215 00:14:08,196 --> 00:14:08,796 Speaker 1: Back and be more. 216 00:14:09,796 --> 00:14:14,356 Speaker 3: Yeah, and Paul says, God, the weather is terrible those places. 217 00:14:14,596 --> 00:14:20,556 Speaker 1: Let's just go home. Exactly. Paul Allen tells his Microsoft 218 00:14:20,636 --> 00:14:23,356 Speaker 1: co founder Bill Gates that they shouldn't move to Chicago 219 00:14:23,476 --> 00:14:26,276 Speaker 1: or Dallas, they should go home to Seattle because the 220 00:14:26,356 --> 00:14:28,436 Speaker 1: weather is better there. And you and I both know 221 00:14:28,716 --> 00:14:32,756 Speaker 1: the weather in Seattle is not better. It's terrible. It 222 00:14:32,796 --> 00:14:35,436 Speaker 1: does nothing but rain. And by the way, since when 223 00:14:35,476 --> 00:14:38,436 Speaker 1: does a software programmer care about what the weather's like? 224 00:14:38,756 --> 00:14:42,476 Speaker 1: They never go outside. I think about this mystery every 225 00:14:42,476 --> 00:14:45,476 Speaker 1: time I go to northern California. You land at San 226 00:14:45,476 --> 00:14:48,516 Speaker 1: Francisco Airport, you drive south down the one oh one 227 00:14:48,796 --> 00:14:52,876 Speaker 1: fog everywhere, traffic is appalling, strip malls on one side, 228 00:14:52,916 --> 00:14:56,716 Speaker 1: bad office buildings on the other. And Stanford. Enough already 229 00:14:56,716 --> 00:14:59,916 Speaker 1: about Stanford. It's supposed to be this crown jewel. Have 230 00:15:00,036 --> 00:15:02,676 Speaker 1: you ever been there? It looks like someone gave a 231 00:15:02,716 --> 00:15:06,596 Speaker 1: billion dollars to Taco Bell and said, build me a university. 232 00:15:07,516 --> 00:15:13,036 Speaker 1: Democracy had as its ucible Athens, the Renaissance had Florence, 233 00:15:13,516 --> 00:15:18,396 Speaker 1: the Impressionists at Paris. The Digital Age as best buy 234 00:15:18,436 --> 00:15:20,796 Speaker 1: an in and out burger. I don't get it. 235 00:15:25,396 --> 00:15:28,596 Speaker 6: My father was a mining engineer, and I maintained that 236 00:15:28,676 --> 00:15:31,116 Speaker 6: I am probably a Cockney because I believe in the 237 00:15:31,156 --> 00:15:33,476 Speaker 6: right weather conditions you could hear the sound of bow 238 00:15:33,556 --> 00:15:35,356 Speaker 6: bells from the apartment where I was born. 239 00:15:36,076 --> 00:15:40,236 Speaker 1: That's Shockley being interviewed by the Palo Alto Historical Association 240 00:15:40,556 --> 00:15:44,756 Speaker 1: in the nineteen sixties. Picture a shiny bald head, thick glasses, 241 00:15:45,076 --> 00:15:50,556 Speaker 1: chiseled features, handsome fit, and that even relentless delivery. He 242 00:15:50,596 --> 00:15:53,556 Speaker 1: was born in London. In nineteen ten. The Shockleys returned 243 00:15:53,556 --> 00:15:56,356 Speaker 1: to the United States when he was three. He skipped 244 00:15:56,396 --> 00:15:59,836 Speaker 1: middle school all of it, just went straight from elementary 245 00:15:59,836 --> 00:16:02,876 Speaker 1: school to high school, Hollywood High in Los Angeles. 246 00:16:03,796 --> 00:16:05,236 Speaker 5: And then you went on to college. 247 00:16:06,116 --> 00:16:09,556 Speaker 6: Yes, I went to Caltech for my undergraduate work and 248 00:16:09,596 --> 00:16:13,076 Speaker 6: then to MIT for a PhD. I was a physics 249 00:16:13,116 --> 00:16:17,036 Speaker 6: major all from about my sophomore year in college. 250 00:16:17,316 --> 00:16:21,436 Speaker 5: And after your PhD, armed with your diploma, where. 251 00:16:21,196 --> 00:16:24,716 Speaker 6: Did you go? I went to belt Holephone Laboratories at 252 00:16:24,756 --> 00:16:29,676 Speaker 6: that time, where I worked for CJ. Davison, who won 253 00:16:29,716 --> 00:16:33,156 Speaker 6: the Nobel Prize around nineteen thirty eight for electronic fraction. 254 00:16:34,236 --> 00:16:38,116 Speaker 6: And he was one of the attractions that brought me 255 00:16:38,156 --> 00:16:39,076 Speaker 6: to Bell Laboratories. 256 00:16:39,956 --> 00:16:43,116 Speaker 1: Shockley's father was older. He died when Shockley was young. 257 00:16:43,356 --> 00:16:46,916 Speaker 1: Shockley was an only child, raised by his mother, May Bradford. 258 00:16:46,956 --> 00:16:52,236 Speaker 1: Shockley a steer, intimidating, emotionally withholding. She grew up in 259 00:16:52,276 --> 00:16:55,716 Speaker 1: New Mexico. A tomboy, comfortable on horseback, and handy with 260 00:16:55,756 --> 00:16:58,196 Speaker 1: a gun. She had a math degree in an era 261 00:16:58,276 --> 00:17:01,196 Speaker 1: whe most women didn't have degrees at all. One of 262 00:17:01,276 --> 00:17:04,316 Speaker 1: the first female mining surveyors in the country, she was 263 00:17:04,356 --> 00:17:07,836 Speaker 1: an accomplished artist who made a small fortune trading stocks 264 00:17:07,836 --> 00:17:10,636 Speaker 1: on the side. He was one hundred and sixty one. 265 00:17:10,716 --> 00:17:13,236 Speaker 1: I mean, come on, if we're going to understand Shockley's 266 00:17:13,236 --> 00:17:18,556 Speaker 1: great decision, we have to understand Shockley, right. So I 267 00:17:18,636 --> 00:17:21,316 Speaker 1: called up the New York psycho Analytics Society and I said, 268 00:17:21,636 --> 00:17:25,076 Speaker 1: I need to talk to someone about William Shockley because 269 00:17:25,116 --> 00:17:30,396 Speaker 1: this combination absent father, brilliant only child, dominant mother is 270 00:17:30,516 --> 00:17:33,756 Speaker 1: just a freudient field day. And they got right back 271 00:17:33,756 --> 00:17:37,756 Speaker 1: to me with a name Philip Herschenfeld, Upper east Side. 272 00:17:38,236 --> 00:17:42,156 Speaker 1: The psychoanalytic community, and William Shockley, for reasons that will 273 00:17:42,196 --> 00:17:48,396 Speaker 1: become obvious, turned out to be well acquainted. So, as 274 00:17:48,476 --> 00:17:51,116 Speaker 1: I explained to you, I had this notion in my 275 00:17:51,156 --> 00:17:54,876 Speaker 1: head that Freud was very interested in this question of 276 00:17:54,916 --> 00:18:00,436 Speaker 1: the brilliant only child and the strong mother. Am I 277 00:18:00,516 --> 00:18:03,116 Speaker 1: right that Freud had thought about it? What did he 278 00:18:03,196 --> 00:18:03,996 Speaker 1: have to say about that? 279 00:18:04,996 --> 00:18:08,916 Speaker 5: He's said? And I think he was also talking about himself. 280 00:18:09,596 --> 00:18:11,516 Speaker 1: Just to be clear, when a member of the New 281 00:18:11,596 --> 00:18:15,996 Speaker 1: York Psychoanalytics Society uses the pronoun he, there's about a 282 00:18:16,076 --> 00:18:19,516 Speaker 1: ninety nine percent chance they're referring to Freud. 283 00:18:20,036 --> 00:18:26,236 Speaker 5: That any son who is the This is not the 284 00:18:26,276 --> 00:18:33,556 Speaker 5: exact quote. The undisputed favorite of his mother goes through 285 00:18:33,636 --> 00:18:39,276 Speaker 5: life with the feeling of being a conqueror. Uh huh, 286 00:18:39,316 --> 00:18:40,956 Speaker 5: and that's a very powerful feeling. 287 00:18:42,316 --> 00:18:45,636 Speaker 1: When Shockley was eight, his mother May wrote in her diary, 288 00:18:46,076 --> 00:18:48,756 Speaker 1: I woke up with the thought in my mind, the 289 00:18:48,756 --> 00:18:51,676 Speaker 1: only heritage I care to lead to Billy is the 290 00:18:51,716 --> 00:18:55,476 Speaker 1: feeling of force and the joy of responsibility for setting 291 00:18:55,516 --> 00:19:00,636 Speaker 1: the world right on something. He's eight. What mother writes 292 00:19:00,636 --> 00:19:02,956 Speaker 1: of her eight year old that she desires to leave 293 00:19:03,036 --> 00:19:08,436 Speaker 1: him with a feeling of force? Good lord, what is that? 294 00:19:08,556 --> 00:19:12,396 Speaker 1: What was for explanation for why that relationship would have 295 00:19:12,436 --> 00:19:14,276 Speaker 1: imbued the son with such power? 296 00:19:15,196 --> 00:19:22,796 Speaker 5: Because it's what any young child strives for. If you 297 00:19:23,036 --> 00:19:28,996 Speaker 5: are a fan of the Oedipus complex, which I am, 298 00:19:29,756 --> 00:19:35,116 Speaker 5: you know there's evidence of it everywhere in Shakespeare, in literature, 299 00:19:35,276 --> 00:19:42,156 Speaker 5: in life, that young child has a feeling of conquering, 300 00:19:42,356 --> 00:19:48,636 Speaker 5: of overpowering his father perhaps and basking in this love. 301 00:19:50,676 --> 00:19:58,996 Speaker 5: And there are many examples of that in history. So yeah, 302 00:19:59,196 --> 00:20:01,356 Speaker 5: I think it can be a very powerful feeling. 303 00:20:02,076 --> 00:20:06,556 Speaker 1: So we have this brilliant mother who is a little 304 00:20:06,556 --> 00:20:15,116 Speaker 1: emotionally reserved the sun. Shockley is handsome, unbelievably brilliant. I mean, 305 00:20:15,156 --> 00:20:19,436 Speaker 1: everyone I mean beyond he said his first word at 306 00:20:19,436 --> 00:20:22,516 Speaker 1: four months You know that kind of right from the 307 00:20:22,556 --> 00:20:27,236 Speaker 1: get go. Kinder, brilliant, unbelievably competitive and self confident, a 308 00:20:27,316 --> 00:20:31,996 Speaker 1: champion athlete to this day. There's a the in the 309 00:20:32,316 --> 00:20:33,516 Speaker 1: You're not a mountain, time are? 310 00:20:33,636 --> 00:20:36,996 Speaker 5: There's a I live right near the Gonks? 311 00:20:37,236 --> 00:20:39,196 Speaker 1: Oh, the Gnks. Do you know about Shockley's cliff? 312 00:20:39,516 --> 00:20:40,516 Speaker 5: Yes, I do, I know? 313 00:20:42,076 --> 00:20:45,556 Speaker 1: Ceiling The Shawna Gunks are a mountain range in the 314 00:20:45,596 --> 00:20:48,916 Speaker 1: Catskills just outside of New York City. Shockley conquered a 315 00:20:48,956 --> 00:20:52,716 Speaker 1: particularly challenging rock formation there and immediately they named it 316 00:20:52,756 --> 00:20:57,196 Speaker 1: after him. Literally, there is no mountain he cannot climb. 317 00:21:00,076 --> 00:21:02,796 Speaker 1: There's a really wonderful biography of Shockley written some years 318 00:21:02,836 --> 00:21:06,916 Speaker 1: ago by Joel Shirkin, Broken Genius, which begins with the sentence, 319 00:21:07,356 --> 00:21:10,636 Speaker 1: I believe that William Shockley was, in terms of practical 320 00:21:10,716 --> 00:21:13,796 Speaker 1: impact on the world, one of the most important scientists 321 00:21:13,956 --> 00:21:16,916 Speaker 1: of the twentieth century. And then Shirkin goes on to 322 00:21:16,956 --> 00:21:19,756 Speaker 1: convince you why that's true. And here's the strange thing. 323 00:21:20,276 --> 00:21:22,836 Speaker 1: The most compelling chapter of the book is not the 324 00:21:22,876 --> 00:21:26,036 Speaker 1: part about Shockley's role in the invention of the transistor 325 00:21:26,636 --> 00:21:29,316 Speaker 1: arguably one of the one or two most important innovations 326 00:21:29,316 --> 00:21:31,956 Speaker 1: of the twentieth century. No, it's the chapter on what 327 00:21:31,996 --> 00:21:36,156 Speaker 1: Sharkley did during the Second World War. It's insane. Basically, 328 00:21:36,436 --> 00:21:39,916 Speaker 1: he's working at Bell Labs, then the premiere industry research 329 00:21:39,916 --> 00:21:42,876 Speaker 1: and development organization in the world, and the government comes 330 00:21:42,876 --> 00:21:45,716 Speaker 1: to him just before the war and says, hey, we're 331 00:21:45,716 --> 00:21:48,756 Speaker 1: doing some interesting things with uranium. Do you think it 332 00:21:48,836 --> 00:21:52,276 Speaker 1: might someday be possible to generate power from nuclear fuel. 333 00:21:53,276 --> 00:21:57,076 Speaker 1: Two months later, Shockley comes back and says, here you go, 334 00:21:57,556 --> 00:22:00,596 Speaker 1: this is how you do it. Work gets around that 335 00:22:00,676 --> 00:22:03,516 Speaker 1: there's this genius in New Jersey, and so he signs 336 00:22:03,556 --> 00:22:06,356 Speaker 1: on as the kind of problem solver in chief with 337 00:22:06,396 --> 00:22:09,316 Speaker 1: the Secretary of War. He gets an official pass the 338 00:22:09,316 --> 00:22:12,476 Speaker 1: government that allows him to board any commercial flight, and 339 00:22:12,556 --> 00:22:14,956 Speaker 1: over the course of the Second World War he flies 340 00:22:15,116 --> 00:22:19,356 Speaker 1: all around the world solving problems. The Navy says, we're 341 00:22:19,356 --> 00:22:23,796 Speaker 1: having trouble hitting German submarines with underwater explosives. Can you help. 342 00:22:24,436 --> 00:22:27,796 Speaker 1: Within two months, Shokli has increased their hit rate by 343 00:22:27,836 --> 00:22:32,756 Speaker 1: five hundred percent. Shirkin estimates that Shockley's ideas about protecting 344 00:22:32,756 --> 00:22:36,636 Speaker 1: the Navy's ships saved thousands of lives in the North Atlantic. 345 00:22:39,476 --> 00:22:41,636 Speaker 1: Some of you may remember the series we did at 346 00:22:41,636 --> 00:22:44,876 Speaker 1: Revisionist History about Curtis le May's fire bombing campaign of 347 00:22:44,916 --> 00:22:47,916 Speaker 1: Japan at the end of the Second World War. Who 348 00:22:47,996 --> 00:22:51,036 Speaker 1: flew to the South Pacific to teach bombing cruise about 349 00:22:51,036 --> 00:22:55,036 Speaker 1: how to use radar during night attacks. Shockley, I could 350 00:22:55,036 --> 00:22:56,956 Speaker 1: go on. He's the guy who writes one of the 351 00:22:56,956 --> 00:23:00,356 Speaker 1: crucial memos proving that many, many more millions of lives 352 00:23:00,356 --> 00:23:03,556 Speaker 1: would be lost if America invaded Japan at the end 353 00:23:03,556 --> 00:23:05,476 Speaker 1: of the Second World War, then if it dropped the 354 00:23:05,516 --> 00:23:10,116 Speaker 1: atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the war ends. 355 00:23:10,396 --> 00:23:13,876 Speaker 1: The Pentagon won't let him go. They've never met anyone 356 00:23:13,996 --> 00:23:19,356 Speaker 1: like him before. Then he helps invent the transistor, wins 357 00:23:19,396 --> 00:23:22,356 Speaker 1: the Nobel Prize, has the idea to start the first 358 00:23:22,636 --> 00:23:27,516 Speaker 1: the original computer age startup, and Chris crosses America, convincing 359 00:23:27,556 --> 00:23:30,596 Speaker 1: one brilliant mind after another to join his new venture. 360 00:23:31,396 --> 00:23:35,316 Speaker 1: This dynamic genius walks into the labs of twenty somethings 361 00:23:35,356 --> 00:23:39,276 Speaker 1: graduate students across the country and announces, I am Shockley. 362 00:23:39,796 --> 00:23:45,116 Speaker 1: I am here representing the future. Here's the physicist Victor 363 00:23:45,236 --> 00:23:49,116 Speaker 1: Jones remembering his first contact with Shockley. Everyone, by the way, 364 00:23:49,156 --> 00:23:51,836 Speaker 1: who met Shockley remembers the first time they met Shockley. 365 00:23:52,716 --> 00:23:55,956 Speaker 7: I was saying my working talks in the lab, but 366 00:23:57,396 --> 00:24:00,156 Speaker 7: Shockley said, why don't you go get cleaned up and 367 00:24:00,516 --> 00:24:02,596 Speaker 7: we'll go off for lunch. And we walked for lunch 368 00:24:02,636 --> 00:24:06,036 Speaker 7: at the farewea hotel for a for a starry graduates. 369 00:24:07,076 --> 00:24:08,836 Speaker 7: It was a bit of a shock, but it was 370 00:24:08,876 --> 00:24:11,516 Speaker 7: the probably the most intense after the physically I had 371 00:24:11,556 --> 00:24:12,756 Speaker 7: them quite a long time. 372 00:24:14,276 --> 00:24:18,596 Speaker 1: They talked for seven hours. Then Shockley was off to 373 00:24:18,676 --> 00:24:21,076 Speaker 1: jump on a plane or a train to recruit another 374 00:24:21,116 --> 00:24:24,756 Speaker 1: young talent. Here is Jay Last, another of Shockley's best 375 00:24:24,796 --> 00:24:28,236 Speaker 1: and brightest. In an interview with the historian David Brock. 376 00:24:28,836 --> 00:24:32,036 Speaker 8: Yeah, personally visited me at MIT and I was calling 377 00:24:32,116 --> 00:24:35,516 Speaker 8: him some of the problems I was having with my 378 00:24:35,556 --> 00:24:38,756 Speaker 8: doctoral work and why I can just figure it out 379 00:24:38,756 --> 00:24:44,316 Speaker 8: in the second really just an unbelievable mind. So that 380 00:24:44,516 --> 00:24:46,596 Speaker 8: must have impressed you greatly, yes. 381 00:24:46,956 --> 00:24:47,716 Speaker 5: Yeah, And. 382 00:24:49,076 --> 00:24:50,476 Speaker 9: So then. 383 00:24:51,876 --> 00:24:55,476 Speaker 8: Then I went down to visit him and another visiting 384 00:24:55,636 --> 00:25:00,956 Speaker 8: Washington at the Cosmos Club and sitting down and join 385 00:25:00,996 --> 00:25:03,436 Speaker 8: me for breakfast as I took a night trained down 386 00:25:03,516 --> 00:25:07,276 Speaker 8: on there, and here was sitting the table with like 387 00:25:07,436 --> 00:25:13,076 Speaker 8: Admiral Rickover. 388 00:25:11,516 --> 00:25:17,476 Speaker 10: Man of har Boys, everybody I've ever heard about, it 389 00:25:17,556 --> 00:25:22,796 Speaker 10: was sitting at that table having breakfast with Shockley, and 390 00:25:23,876 --> 00:25:27,876 Speaker 10: so it was quite overwelted, quiet, overwhelmed. 391 00:25:28,676 --> 00:25:31,996 Speaker 1: Admiral Rickover was one of the most famous military figures 392 00:25:32,036 --> 00:25:36,516 Speaker 1: of his day, the pioneer of nuclear propulsion. Vanavar Bush was, 393 00:25:36,676 --> 00:25:38,756 Speaker 1: and there's no better way to put it, the king 394 00:25:39,156 --> 00:25:42,316 Speaker 1: of American science at the time. That was just breakfast. 395 00:25:42,996 --> 00:25:46,236 Speaker 1: There are countless stories like this. Here's a young physicist 396 00:25:46,316 --> 00:25:49,396 Speaker 1: named Julius Blank who Shockley summoned to meet him at 397 00:25:49,476 --> 00:25:51,276 Speaker 1: Newark Airport between flights. 398 00:25:52,156 --> 00:25:55,796 Speaker 9: Did he describe to you then or we're early on 399 00:25:55,916 --> 00:26:00,356 Speaker 9: in the in the whole conversation about what his what 400 00:26:00,436 --> 00:26:02,636 Speaker 9: he wanted to do with Shockley's semiconductor. 401 00:26:02,916 --> 00:26:04,716 Speaker 11: Really, I didn't think you knew he was, just he 402 00:26:04,956 --> 00:26:11,596 Speaker 11: was his name, Ross's Silicon would work focus on silicon 403 00:26:11,676 --> 00:26:15,556 Speaker 11: and in ways to make devices out of it. They 404 00:26:15,596 --> 00:26:18,356 Speaker 11: weren't sure whether they were going to use, whether they're 405 00:26:18,356 --> 00:26:23,996 Speaker 11: gonna do alloy or diffusion. They were exploring to find 406 00:26:23,996 --> 00:26:25,636 Speaker 11: on what the best way he was and they didn't 407 00:26:25,636 --> 00:26:27,676 Speaker 11: even know what to make just to make it a 408 00:26:27,756 --> 00:26:29,716 Speaker 11: transistor with silicon. 409 00:26:30,836 --> 00:26:33,156 Speaker 1: At the time, most people were trying to make computer 410 00:26:33,236 --> 00:26:36,916 Speaker 1: chips out of something called germanium, which is far inferior 411 00:26:36,956 --> 00:26:40,956 Speaker 1: to silicon. Not to mention that germanium valley doesn't sound 412 00:26:41,236 --> 00:26:44,916 Speaker 1: nearly as glamorous. Shockley was like, no, no, I have 413 00:26:44,956 --> 00:26:48,716 Speaker 1: a better idea. But and this is a crucial butt. 414 00:26:49,596 --> 00:26:54,756 Speaker 1: Why is his biography called broken Genius? Because there's another 415 00:26:54,876 --> 00:26:58,076 Speaker 1: side to Shockley. There always is, isn't there. It shows 416 00:26:58,156 --> 00:27:01,956 Speaker 1: up early. He's an impossible child. He bites his parents, 417 00:27:02,276 --> 00:27:05,756 Speaker 1: breaks things, throws tantrums. Once he fires the stone at 418 00:27:05,756 --> 00:27:08,676 Speaker 1: the docks and hits the dog squarely between the eyes, 419 00:27:09,196 --> 00:27:13,476 Speaker 1: that temper never goes away. He's called grandiose. He turns 420 00:27:13,516 --> 00:27:15,876 Speaker 1: on the charm when he's recruiting all those brilliant young 421 00:27:15,916 --> 00:27:18,636 Speaker 1: scientists to join his startup in Mountain View, but once 422 00:27:18,676 --> 00:27:23,716 Speaker 1: they arrived, they quickly realize he's a monster. He's controlling paranoid. 423 00:27:24,156 --> 00:27:27,196 Speaker 1: Here's Harry Cello, one of Shockley's earliest tires. 424 00:27:28,196 --> 00:27:29,876 Speaker 9: What was the initial contact. 425 00:27:30,356 --> 00:27:33,356 Speaker 12: The initial contact was an invitation to come and talk 426 00:27:33,396 --> 00:27:37,996 Speaker 12: to him, okay, and he told me about who he 427 00:27:38,156 --> 00:27:41,276 Speaker 12: was and just get acquainted. But what he didn't tell 428 00:27:41,316 --> 00:27:43,756 Speaker 12: me was what I had to go through before I 429 00:27:43,796 --> 00:27:46,276 Speaker 12: could be accepted, and that was three days with intense 430 00:27:46,676 --> 00:27:53,036 Speaker 12: psychological examinations. And that's a story practically in itself. I mean, 431 00:27:53,196 --> 00:27:56,396 Speaker 12: I can went weekends, I couldn't go from work. So 432 00:27:56,436 --> 00:28:00,156 Speaker 12: I went on Saturdays and Sundays, three successive weekends, and 433 00:28:00,236 --> 00:28:03,076 Speaker 12: went through a battery of psychological tess You wouldn't believe. 434 00:28:03,596 --> 00:28:07,436 Speaker 1: Shockley forced every one of his recruits to take Ruschach tests, 435 00:28:07,636 --> 00:28:11,636 Speaker 1: the thematic op perception to brain teasers, imagined a tennis 436 00:28:11,676 --> 00:28:14,516 Speaker 1: tournament with one hundred and twenty seven entrants, blah blah blah. 437 00:28:14,796 --> 00:28:16,956 Speaker 1: He wanted to make sure they were smart enough to 438 00:28:16,996 --> 00:28:19,916 Speaker 1: work for him, but not smarter than him. 439 00:28:20,836 --> 00:28:23,436 Speaker 12: And the reason for those test is we probably already know, 440 00:28:24,716 --> 00:28:28,676 Speaker 12: was that he did not trust the behavior of the 441 00:28:28,756 --> 00:28:32,476 Speaker 12: scientists and that he had already run across or felt 442 00:28:32,556 --> 00:28:35,596 Speaker 12: he had run across. It was a reflection of the 443 00:28:35,636 --> 00:28:38,796 Speaker 12: trouble he was beginning to have with his senior scientists. 444 00:28:39,516 --> 00:28:43,356 Speaker 1: Once Shockley's secretary cut herself on a pin that was 445 00:28:43,396 --> 00:28:47,436 Speaker 1: sticking in a door, Shockley was convinced someone had deliberately 446 00:28:47,476 --> 00:28:50,316 Speaker 1: put it there, in an attempt to injure him. As 447 00:28:50,316 --> 00:28:53,996 Speaker 1: he opened the door, he confronted his staff. They denied it, 448 00:28:54,516 --> 00:28:56,876 Speaker 1: so he tried to ship everyone up to San Francisco 449 00:28:57,316 --> 00:28:58,716 Speaker 1: to take a light detector test. 450 00:28:59,596 --> 00:29:04,956 Speaker 13: Roberts later on was the one who solved the famous 451 00:29:04,996 --> 00:29:08,196 Speaker 13: episode of the pin which you probably heard about. 452 00:29:09,396 --> 00:29:12,276 Speaker 1: Roberts another of Shockley's best and brightest. 453 00:29:12,716 --> 00:29:16,596 Speaker 13: Oh the push Yeah, the push pin that Shockley felt 454 00:29:16,796 --> 00:29:22,356 Speaker 13: somebody at place to try to get him, and Roberts 455 00:29:22,396 --> 00:29:25,516 Speaker 13: simply took the pin out of the wall, stuck and 456 00:29:25,636 --> 00:29:28,436 Speaker 13: under the microscope, and so was a thumbtack which had 457 00:29:28,436 --> 00:29:29,116 Speaker 13: broken off. 458 00:29:30,996 --> 00:29:32,356 Speaker 11: Shockley never believed. 459 00:29:31,996 --> 00:29:38,356 Speaker 1: That this is why, in fact, Shockley Semon Conductor ends 460 00:29:38,436 --> 00:29:41,996 Speaker 1: up spawning so many other companies. Shockley brings the world's 461 00:29:41,996 --> 00:29:45,516 Speaker 1: computer geniuses to Mountain View, and then after just a year, 462 00:29:45,916 --> 00:29:49,876 Speaker 1: eight of Shockley's most brilliant hires decide enough is enough 463 00:29:50,396 --> 00:29:53,996 Speaker 1: and leave En Masse to start other companies. From that 464 00:29:54,036 --> 00:29:57,316 Speaker 1: point on, they're known as the Traitorous Eight, and the 465 00:29:57,356 --> 00:30:00,196 Speaker 1: reason they start their new companies in the Santa Clara Valley, 466 00:30:00,196 --> 00:30:02,116 Speaker 1: by the way, as opposed to going back to the 467 00:30:02,156 --> 00:30:05,236 Speaker 1: East Coast, is that they've all bought houses in Palo Alto, 468 00:30:06,076 --> 00:30:09,636 Speaker 1: which is something that someone in their twenties could do 469 00:30:09,756 --> 00:30:11,676 Speaker 1: back then, if you can imagine that. 470 00:30:12,316 --> 00:30:13,316 Speaker 5: Well, one thing that. 471 00:30:16,996 --> 00:30:19,156 Speaker 8: Shockley told me a story, and I could see it 472 00:30:19,196 --> 00:30:21,276 Speaker 8: was more than a joke to him. It was something 473 00:30:21,476 --> 00:30:22,356 Speaker 8: fairly serious. 474 00:30:23,556 --> 00:30:26,676 Speaker 14: It was about a fellow in a mental institution that's 475 00:30:26,756 --> 00:30:33,276 Speaker 14: looking out through the mars and sees a truck driving 476 00:30:33,356 --> 00:30:38,716 Speaker 14: under an underpass and a truck gets stuck and they 477 00:30:38,796 --> 00:30:40,516 Speaker 14: can figure out how to get the truck out, and 478 00:30:40,556 --> 00:30:43,756 Speaker 14: the guy in asylum shouts, I will just let the 479 00:30:43,796 --> 00:30:45,276 Speaker 14: air out of the tires a little bit, and then 480 00:30:45,316 --> 00:30:48,316 Speaker 14: he pushed it through and he said, well, how's the 481 00:30:48,396 --> 00:30:51,236 Speaker 14: guy in a mental institution figure that out? 482 00:30:51,516 --> 00:30:53,836 Speaker 8: And the guy said, I may be crazy, but I'm 483 00:30:53,876 --> 00:30:59,796 Speaker 8: not stupid. And I could see the sort of attention 484 00:30:59,876 --> 00:31:01,556 Speaker 8: to his voice to me is telling me. And he 485 00:31:01,676 --> 00:31:07,516 Speaker 8: told that story twice, so I could tell I could 486 00:31:07,556 --> 00:31:10,676 Speaker 8: see something that he was thinking along these lines that. 487 00:31:14,476 --> 00:31:18,156 Speaker 14: With his brilliancy, he had some very serious other problems. 488 00:31:19,196 --> 00:31:23,636 Speaker 1: Oh yes he did. By the way, we're about to 489 00:31:23,676 --> 00:31:26,436 Speaker 1: talk about suicide and mental health difficulties. 490 00:31:30,436 --> 00:31:33,116 Speaker 5: So let me tell you what I think some of 491 00:31:34,836 --> 00:31:40,636 Speaker 5: the foundations of his personality might have been. 492 00:31:41,796 --> 00:31:44,236 Speaker 1: Back on the couch with doctor Herschenfelder. 493 00:31:45,036 --> 00:31:54,196 Speaker 5: Number one, the genius level, intellectual endowment. Number two, the 494 00:31:54,436 --> 00:32:04,276 Speaker 5: infusion of his mother's approval, encouragement, or that for developing 495 00:32:04,396 --> 00:32:11,276 Speaker 5: those muscles. Number three. One of the reasons she homeschooled 496 00:32:11,356 --> 00:32:19,476 Speaker 5: him was because he had uncontrollable temper tantrums. Now, what's 497 00:32:19,556 --> 00:32:23,436 Speaker 5: that about. Lots of kids have temper trans rooms, but 498 00:32:23,676 --> 00:32:27,156 Speaker 5: it doesn't they're not to that degree that it keeps 499 00:32:27,236 --> 00:32:31,756 Speaker 5: them out of school at least for some period of time. 500 00:32:33,476 --> 00:32:40,596 Speaker 5: So what I put that together with is again speculation 501 00:32:41,596 --> 00:32:46,796 Speaker 5: of how as he got older he became more and 502 00:32:47,036 --> 00:32:53,796 Speaker 5: more weird. After he was such a brilliant scientist inventor 503 00:32:53,876 --> 00:33:00,596 Speaker 5: of the transistor, he became a really nutty racist, coming 504 00:33:00,716 --> 00:33:04,556 Speaker 5: up with all sorts of what I would call delusional 505 00:33:05,676 --> 00:33:10,836 Speaker 5: thinking about race. When I put that all together, I 506 00:33:10,956 --> 00:33:17,036 Speaker 5: come up with a bipolar disorder, Oh wow, which showed 507 00:33:17,276 --> 00:33:24,556 Speaker 5: itself early with this uncontrollable aggression and showed itself later 508 00:33:25,396 --> 00:33:26,876 Speaker 5: with paranoid thinking. 509 00:33:31,476 --> 00:33:34,236 Speaker 1: I left this part out. Over the last twenty years 510 00:33:34,236 --> 00:33:38,436 Speaker 1: of his life, Shockley becomes a full on eugenicist who 511 00:33:38,596 --> 00:33:43,636 Speaker 1: uses his celebrity to mount an offensive and increasingly embarrassing campaign. 512 00:33:44,356 --> 00:33:47,116 Speaker 1: He wants the government to pay people who he considers 513 00:33:47,156 --> 00:33:50,396 Speaker 1: to be of inferior genetic stock not to have children, 514 00:33:51,316 --> 00:33:54,876 Speaker 1: by which he means black people. This is why Shockley's 515 00:33:54,956 --> 00:33:57,876 Speaker 1: role as the father of Silicon Valley hasn't given him 516 00:33:57,956 --> 00:34:01,916 Speaker 1: the enduring celebrity of his mid century peers like say 517 00:34:02,356 --> 00:34:07,116 Speaker 1: Linus Pauling or Richard Feynman, because he completely goes off 518 00:34:07,196 --> 00:34:11,316 Speaker 1: the rails. Even Shockley ceiling, that legendary rock climb in 519 00:34:11,356 --> 00:34:18,236 Speaker 1: the Shaunagunks eventually gets renamed. You know about Shockley's suicide attempt, 520 00:34:19,076 --> 00:34:23,356 Speaker 1: I do not, okay, which was more kind of interesting. 521 00:34:23,956 --> 00:34:29,476 Speaker 1: It's when his first marriage is on the rocks and 522 00:34:29,756 --> 00:34:35,676 Speaker 1: he plays Russian Roulette and writes out a suicide note 523 00:34:35,716 --> 00:34:38,196 Speaker 1: which he then was put in a safe and was 524 00:34:38,236 --> 00:34:42,236 Speaker 1: discovered upon his death, in which he, you know, explains 525 00:34:42,276 --> 00:34:45,036 Speaker 1: that this was the only course of action he felt, 526 00:34:45,476 --> 00:34:47,236 Speaker 1: and he does. He puts the gun to his head 527 00:34:47,276 --> 00:34:50,356 Speaker 1: and spins the bins, the cylinder and the revolver and 528 00:34:50,956 --> 00:34:55,156 Speaker 1: pulls a trigger and survives. So you know, this was 529 00:34:55,236 --> 00:35:00,236 Speaker 1: a man prone to extremes. Shockley's suicide note, by the way, 530 00:35:01,076 --> 00:35:05,196 Speaker 1: is so Shockley, and so heartbreaking. It's written to his 531 00:35:05,316 --> 00:35:09,396 Speaker 1: wife Jene. Dear Gene, I am sorry that I that 532 00:35:09,476 --> 00:35:12,156 Speaker 1: I can no longer go on. Most of my life 533 00:35:12,476 --> 00:35:14,716 Speaker 1: I have felt that the world was not a pleasant place, 534 00:35:15,156 --> 00:35:17,996 Speaker 1: and that people were not a very admirable form of life. 535 00:35:18,716 --> 00:35:22,476 Speaker 1: I find that I am particularly dissatisfied with myself, and 536 00:35:22,556 --> 00:35:25,596 Speaker 1: that most of my actions are the consequence of motives 537 00:35:25,916 --> 00:35:29,236 Speaker 1: of which I am ashamed. Most people do not feel 538 00:35:29,276 --> 00:35:33,316 Speaker 1: this way, I am sure. Consequently, I must regard myself 539 00:35:33,796 --> 00:35:36,876 Speaker 1: as less well suited than most to carry on with 540 00:35:36,996 --> 00:35:40,556 Speaker 1: life and to develop the proper attitudes in our children. 541 00:35:41,436 --> 00:35:43,516 Speaker 1: I see no reason to believe other than that I 542 00:35:43,596 --> 00:35:48,036 Speaker 1: shall continually become worse in these regards as time passes. 543 00:35:49,676 --> 00:35:55,356 Speaker 1: I hope you have better luck in the future. Shockley's 544 00:35:55,356 --> 00:35:59,516 Speaker 1: marriage to Jeanne was always rocky. It's clear he did 545 00:35:59,556 --> 00:36:03,196 Speaker 1: not consider her his equal, but who was. He didn't 546 00:36:03,196 --> 00:36:05,196 Speaker 1: even think the best and the brightest to be convinced 547 00:36:05,236 --> 00:36:07,356 Speaker 1: to join him on San Antonio Road were his equal. 548 00:36:07,956 --> 00:36:11,516 Speaker 1: He grew disenchanted with his brilliant hires, and he was forced, 549 00:36:11,836 --> 00:36:14,476 Speaker 1: over the rest of his life to watch his proteges 550 00:36:14,556 --> 00:36:19,396 Speaker 1: go on to become Silicon Valley, multi millionaires and billionaires. Intel, 551 00:36:19,916 --> 00:36:22,596 Speaker 1: the biggest chip maker in the world, was founded by 552 00:36:22,716 --> 00:36:26,436 Speaker 1: Robert Neiss and Gordon Moore. Nois and Moore were brought 553 00:36:26,556 --> 00:36:29,676 Speaker 1: to the Santa Clair Valley by Shockley, and Noise and 554 00:36:29,836 --> 00:36:34,796 Speaker 1: Moore abandoned Shockley. He spent his final years giving crazy 555 00:36:34,916 --> 00:36:39,236 Speaker 1: lectures on college campuses in favor of eugenics. An isolated 556 00:36:39,476 --> 00:36:45,076 Speaker 1: and reviled figure, but he still had mom. May Bradford Shokley. 557 00:36:45,796 --> 00:36:49,356 Speaker 1: Boxes and boxes of their letters sit in the Stanford 558 00:36:49,396 --> 00:36:52,716 Speaker 1: Library Archives. Shockley inviting his mother to join him on 559 00:36:52,756 --> 00:36:56,796 Speaker 1: a trip, May giving her son stock tips. Two emotionally 560 00:36:56,876 --> 00:37:01,116 Speaker 1: repressed geniuses communicating the best way they know how in short, 561 00:37:01,596 --> 00:37:05,916 Speaker 1: concise notes. Here was Shockley running to his mother sometime 562 00:37:05,996 --> 00:37:08,876 Speaker 1: in the early nineteen fifties, at a time when he 563 00:37:09,116 --> 00:37:11,396 Speaker 1: here is to have suffered something like a nervous breakdown. 564 00:37:12,036 --> 00:37:15,756 Speaker 1: The letter begins, Dear May, he always called his mother 565 00:37:15,876 --> 00:37:18,196 Speaker 1: by her first name. To bring you up to date, 566 00:37:18,596 --> 00:37:21,316 Speaker 1: I am planning to leave the Washington job between the 567 00:37:21,396 --> 00:37:24,156 Speaker 1: tenth of July and the tenth of August. Gene and 568 00:37:24,236 --> 00:37:28,116 Speaker 1: I are planning a divorce. No particular hard feelings. I hope, 569 00:37:28,356 --> 00:37:31,356 Speaker 1: but we do not get along. I am also probably 570 00:37:31,436 --> 00:37:35,076 Speaker 1: leaving Bell Labs currently. It is my intention to start 571 00:37:35,116 --> 00:37:38,516 Speaker 1: a company of my own, just to be clear. In 572 00:37:38,636 --> 00:37:42,036 Speaker 1: three sentences, in the first paragraph of a two page 573 00:37:42,116 --> 00:37:45,236 Speaker 1: letter to his mom, Shockley A tells her that the 574 00:37:45,356 --> 00:37:48,636 Speaker 1: work with the Pentagon that has defined his life since 575 00:37:48,676 --> 00:37:51,836 Speaker 1: the outbreak of the Second World Boar is over. B 576 00:37:52,316 --> 00:37:54,436 Speaker 1: He's leaving his job at Bell Labs, where he has 577 00:37:54,516 --> 00:37:58,036 Speaker 1: worked since getting his pH d almost twenty years before c. 578 00:37:58,716 --> 00:38:01,156 Speaker 1: He intends to start a new company, which will, of 579 00:38:01,236 --> 00:38:03,676 Speaker 1: course prove to be the most important startup in the 580 00:38:03,836 --> 00:38:08,196 Speaker 1: history of startups. And d oh, by the way, he's 581 00:38:08,276 --> 00:38:10,916 Speaker 1: divorcing his wife of twenty years, with whom he has 582 00:38:11,036 --> 00:38:17,796 Speaker 1: three children. Then next paragraph he changes the subject. May 583 00:38:18,356 --> 00:38:22,836 Speaker 1: writes back, dear Bill, your letter quote filled me with 584 00:38:22,996 --> 00:38:27,676 Speaker 1: sadness and helplessness. But be assured that always you have 585 00:38:27,836 --> 00:38:32,796 Speaker 1: my loyalty, sympathy and affection, and never any questions asked, 586 00:38:34,036 --> 00:38:38,356 Speaker 1: my loyalty and affection, and never any questions asked. That's it, 587 00:38:39,036 --> 00:38:41,956 Speaker 1: That's all she needs to say, and then she changes 588 00:38:41,996 --> 00:38:46,636 Speaker 1: the subject. They are forever bound together, peas in a pod. 589 00:38:47,596 --> 00:38:51,036 Speaker 1: A little bit later, Shockley wins a nobel who does 590 00:38:51,076 --> 00:38:56,956 Speaker 1: he send a telegram to immediately Mom? Of course, congratulations 591 00:38:56,996 --> 00:39:00,916 Speaker 1: on being the mother of a nobel laureate. And you 592 00:39:00,996 --> 00:39:03,796 Speaker 1: can feel her heart burst, can't you? To the extent 593 00:39:03,876 --> 00:39:07,276 Speaker 1: at least that her heart could burst because her prediction 594 00:39:07,596 --> 00:39:10,916 Speaker 1: about her eight year old Vunderkin has come true. The 595 00:39:11,116 --> 00:39:14,316 Speaker 1: only heritage I cared to leave to Billy is the 596 00:39:14,356 --> 00:39:18,796 Speaker 1: feeling of force and the joy of responsibility for setting 597 00:39:18,876 --> 00:39:23,516 Speaker 1: the world right on something. The telegram is addressed by 598 00:39:23,556 --> 00:39:28,396 Speaker 1: the way to missus W. H. Shockley to sixty one 599 00:39:28,876 --> 00:39:33,836 Speaker 1: Waverley Street, Palo Alto. Let me read that to you 600 00:39:33,956 --> 00:39:38,716 Speaker 1: again in case you missed it, to sixty one Waverley Street, 601 00:39:39,316 --> 00:39:45,116 Speaker 1: Palo Alto, California. William Sharckley's mother, May Shockley lived in 602 00:39:45,276 --> 00:39:48,236 Speaker 1: Palo Alto. You could walk from her house to three 603 00:39:48,396 --> 00:39:53,036 Speaker 1: ninety one San Antonio Road, where Shockley so mysteriously chose 604 00:39:53,116 --> 00:39:56,436 Speaker 1: to launch his revolution. Why did the Santa Clara Valley 605 00:39:56,516 --> 00:40:01,276 Speaker 1: become the birthplace of the computer age because someone wanted 606 00:40:01,316 --> 00:40:08,516 Speaker 1: to be close to Mom. So let's now turn to 607 00:40:09,556 --> 00:40:13,196 Speaker 1: what interests me the most, which is this whole episode 608 00:40:13,276 --> 00:40:17,996 Speaker 1: is an attempt to make sense of this hugely consequential 609 00:40:18,076 --> 00:40:22,596 Speaker 1: decision Shockley makes, which is to cite his new enterprise, 610 00:40:22,996 --> 00:40:29,516 Speaker 1: Shock Elapse in Mountain View, Palo Alto. Basically and rationally, 611 00:40:30,236 --> 00:40:33,876 Speaker 1: it makes no sense. The last place you would start 612 00:40:33,916 --> 00:40:38,636 Speaker 1: a semiconductric company if you irrational in nineteen fifty six 613 00:40:39,076 --> 00:40:42,476 Speaker 1: is Palo Alto. And the only thing that's in Palo 614 00:40:42,516 --> 00:40:49,636 Speaker 1: Alto is his mom. Oh is that all? Well? 615 00:40:50,876 --> 00:40:53,916 Speaker 5: I'm reminded of a paper I read years ago, and 616 00:40:54,036 --> 00:40:58,196 Speaker 5: I can't remember where it was, But a couple of 617 00:40:58,276 --> 00:41:06,796 Speaker 5: psychologists started studying the histories of virtuoso pianists and violinists, 618 00:41:08,396 --> 00:41:14,396 Speaker 5: and they found one thing in common throughout all of them, 619 00:41:14,516 --> 00:41:19,636 Speaker 5: and only one thing, which is that when they were 620 00:41:19,716 --> 00:41:25,836 Speaker 5: young children, when they were practicing, their mothers sat with them. 621 00:41:26,516 --> 00:41:30,876 Speaker 5: Oh really, yeah, really, Now, that doesn't mean if your 622 00:41:30,996 --> 00:41:34,356 Speaker 5: mother sits with you, you're going to turn into a 623 00:41:34,476 --> 00:41:39,996 Speaker 5: yasha hiphex because you also have to have the gift. 624 00:41:40,916 --> 00:41:45,276 Speaker 5: But your mother sitting with you does a lot to 625 00:41:45,396 --> 00:41:49,236 Speaker 5: bring out that gift. Yeah, to win her approval, to 626 00:41:49,356 --> 00:41:50,476 Speaker 5: win her admiration. 627 00:41:51,196 --> 00:41:53,996 Speaker 1: Wait, Philips is so lovely. So here we have a 628 00:41:54,116 --> 00:41:59,956 Speaker 1: man making the biggest taking the biggest risk of his career. 629 00:42:00,116 --> 00:42:02,756 Speaker 1: He's just won the Nobel and he's putting it all 630 00:42:02,796 --> 00:42:04,996 Speaker 1: on the line to start to strike out from his 631 00:42:05,076 --> 00:42:09,316 Speaker 1: own on his own, leaving Bell Labs the most aim 632 00:42:09,396 --> 00:42:12,916 Speaker 1: as well funded. He's leaving all that behind and get 633 00:42:12,956 --> 00:42:16,196 Speaker 1: a setup shop in a little garage with a bunch 634 00:42:16,236 --> 00:42:18,476 Speaker 1: of people who he's convinced to come and join him. 635 00:42:18,916 --> 00:42:21,036 Speaker 1: And you're saying he needs his mother on the piano 636 00:42:21,076 --> 00:42:21,876 Speaker 1: bench beside him. 637 00:42:22,436 --> 00:42:26,036 Speaker 5: I'm also saying that people with this kind of a 638 00:42:26,156 --> 00:42:31,836 Speaker 5: disorder are extremely impulsive. Often they don't think it out clearly. 639 00:42:32,796 --> 00:42:36,036 Speaker 5: But I'm also saying that maybe this was a spark 640 00:42:36,076 --> 00:42:42,516 Speaker 5: of genius that he knew, for whatever reason, that Palo 641 00:42:42,716 --> 00:42:48,356 Speaker 5: Alto was the place to have this new beginning. 642 00:42:49,156 --> 00:42:55,436 Speaker 1: Yeah, but that the specific psychological function of needing to 643 00:42:55,516 --> 00:43:00,116 Speaker 1: be near his mother as he takes this enormous step 644 00:43:00,196 --> 00:43:03,356 Speaker 1: into the unknown. Right, that's that's not trivial. 645 00:43:04,396 --> 00:43:09,556 Speaker 5: No, No, is your mother trivial in your life? No, no, 646 00:43:09,716 --> 00:43:11,476 Speaker 5: man minus not even. 647 00:43:13,356 --> 00:43:16,876 Speaker 1: We construct a history of the greatest technological revolution of 648 00:43:16,916 --> 00:43:21,796 Speaker 1: our time, and we build our theory out of macro forces, institutions, 649 00:43:22,236 --> 00:43:25,756 Speaker 1: structural advantages. We look for a grand logic, a reason 650 00:43:25,836 --> 00:43:29,076 Speaker 1: big enough to match the magnitude of the outcome. But 651 00:43:29,196 --> 00:43:32,076 Speaker 1: there is no grand logic. There's just an aging widow 652 00:43:32,236 --> 00:43:35,516 Speaker 1: living on a quiet street in Paloualdo who wanted her 653 00:43:35,596 --> 00:43:39,316 Speaker 1: golden boy next to her, and the golden boy himself 654 00:43:39,876 --> 00:43:42,716 Speaker 1: stretched to the limit by his own demons, who needed 655 00:43:42,756 --> 00:43:51,036 Speaker 1: her next to him. Why in when we come to 656 00:43:51,116 --> 00:43:54,556 Speaker 1: do a formal accounting for something like this, are we 657 00:43:54,676 --> 00:43:58,436 Speaker 1: so allergic to the personal explanation. 658 00:43:59,396 --> 00:44:03,116 Speaker 5: Because we want to ignore it because that would apply 659 00:44:03,276 --> 00:44:09,356 Speaker 5: to us also, and we want to paint a rational picture. Sure, 660 00:44:11,316 --> 00:44:15,396 Speaker 5: we're in Palo Alto because of somebody's mother. This was 661 00:44:15,556 --> 00:44:20,956 Speaker 5: Freud's biggest struggle. This is why he was not accepted 662 00:44:21,036 --> 00:44:25,556 Speaker 5: in eighteen ninety five and why he is still vilified 663 00:44:25,756 --> 00:44:33,436 Speaker 5: today because people don't like to think about their irrational side, 664 00:44:33,596 --> 00:44:41,756 Speaker 5: their unconscious side, the fact that yeah, we're smart, we're rational, 665 00:44:41,956 --> 00:44:46,036 Speaker 5: we do all of these various things, but we also 666 00:44:46,196 --> 00:44:52,476 Speaker 5: have an unconscious which is full of sexuality and aggression. 667 00:44:53,556 --> 00:44:55,996 Speaker 5: And who in the right mind would want to think 668 00:44:56,036 --> 00:44:56,516 Speaker 5: about that. 669 00:44:58,476 --> 00:45:02,516 Speaker 1: The shrine at three ninety one San Antonio Road is incomplete? 670 00:45:03,316 --> 00:45:03,996 Speaker 1: Can we fix it? 671 00:45:04,116 --> 00:45:04,396 Speaker 10: Please? 672 00:45:05,036 --> 00:45:08,036 Speaker 1: Maybe in time for next Mother's Day. In the middle 673 00:45:08,316 --> 00:45:11,396 Speaker 1: of the massive reas search campuses, the miles and miles 674 00:45:11,396 --> 00:45:15,476 Speaker 1: of office buildings, the coders and engineers and technological wizards 675 00:45:15,556 --> 00:45:20,156 Speaker 1: hunched over their laptops. We need a proper monument, A 676 00:45:20,276 --> 00:45:25,436 Speaker 1: statue of May Bradford Shockley, front and center, on her horse, 677 00:45:25,996 --> 00:45:32,596 Speaker 1: gun in hand, watching over her little boy, the grandmother 678 00:45:33,276 --> 00:45:42,076 Speaker 1: of Silicon Valley. This episode of Revisionist History was produced 679 00:45:42,116 --> 00:45:46,436 Speaker 1: by Tally Emlin, Ben Nadaph Haffrey, Kiara Powell, and Jacob Smith, 680 00:45:46,916 --> 00:45:50,276 Speaker 1: editing by Peter Clowney and Sarah Nix, original scoring by 681 00:45:50,356 --> 00:45:55,196 Speaker 1: Luis Garra, fact checking by Arthur Gompertz, mastering by Jake Gorsky, 682 00:45:55,556 --> 00:45:58,636 Speaker 1: and engineering by Nina Lawrence. I'm Malcolm Glamo.