[Premium-Rx] Jack Kilby, IC inventor, dies

[Greg Bailey]

Slightly Off Topic- but worthy of reflection,

Texas Instruments Inc. announced today that Jack Kilby, whose 1958 
invention of the integrated circuit that ushered in the modern electronic 
age and made possible the microprocessor, has died in Dallas.  He was 81 
years of age.

Before the IC, electronic devices relied on bulky and fragile circuitry, 
including glass vacuum tubes.  Afterward, through the use of operational 
amplifiers and digital gates, electronics became increasingly smaller, 
complex, reliable, and efficient.

Kilby, who is also recognized as the co-inventor of the hand-held 
calculator, won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2000.  His Nobel citation 
read,  "Kilby laid the foundation of modern information technology".




Wording paraphrased from today's Associated Press release.

Greg Bailey
San Diego