The Idea Factory, Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation.
Course Description
This course is recorded along with the collaboration of Sony Shewakramani.
What’s it about?
Technology & the Future
This course charts the influence of Bell Labs, the research arm of telephony monopolist AT&T. This innovative laboratory, established in the 1920s, was the source of dozens, if not hundreds, of technological innovations, effectively ushering in our modern digital age.
What students will learn from this course?
1. Bell Labs was born from the early AT&T, which hired top scientists to improve telephone service.
2. During World War II, Bell Labs focused on developing military technology, such as radar.
3. The transistor, or crucial building block of all today’s electronic devices, was invented at Bell Labs.
4. Bell Labs mathematician Claude Shannon was the great mind behind information theory.
5. Bell Labs not only helped build the first satellite, but also figured out how to power it with the sun.
6. Bell Labs invented many other visionary products, but endured a fair share of failures as well.
7. Bell Labs was a force for innovation, yet was fueled by AT&T’s lucrative telecommunications monopoly.
8. Bell Labs shuttered its operations in 2006. Yet few tech giants have really followed in its footsteps.
9. Action Steps
