JOHN CRESSLER’S SILICON EARTHwill take you through a historical voyageto the modern wonders of electronicsand nanotechnology. Silicon is the techno-logical foundation of our multidimen-sional information highway. The frontiersof this silicon-based universe are definedby ever-shrinking transistors, increasinglycomplex computational systems, continu-ously growing numbers of micromachineddevices, and rapidly evolving nanotech-nology systems. Gadgets and widgetsthat comprise these frontiers affect ourdaily life and revolutionize our culture.Like it or not, our personal universe isnow defined by silicon, which is rapidlybecoming the dominant factor that influ-ences every aspect of our lifestyle. Copingwith this fast-changing lifestyle demandsa historical understanding of the 50-yearevolution of silicon, together with thefundamental principles that drive its grow-ing expansion into our lives. Silicon Earthis designed to provide readers with thishistorical understanding.

If you are a parent, you may appreci-ate this book more, particularly as yourchild enters those curious teenage years.For example, Blalock’s teenage son re-cently received his cell phone and enjoysswapping text messages with friends.Mojarradi’s teenage son is a self-proclaimed ‘‘Teslacian’’ (member of aninformal self-organized group dedicatedto repeating Nikola Tesla’s experiments).He enjoys building solid-state Tesla coilsthat can create spectacular lightning dis-charges accompanied by sounds similarto ‘‘Mario Bros. tunes.’’ He also buildshis own computers with high-resolutiongraphics and Internet accelerators for hisnext high-tech video game and partici-pates in the robotics contests at his highschool. What happened to ‘‘fixing the

old man’s ‘67 Chevy?’’ Only Mr. Silicon,the affectionate name Cressler uses forsilicon technology, has the power tobring about fundamental and permanentchanges in our lifestyles. Consequently, itis now more appealing to our teenagersto build computers, robots, and Teslacoils instead of rebuilding old cars. It is abrave new era spawned by silicon.

Given the increasing daily usage ofhigh-tech instruments and gadgets, somefirst-hand knowledge of Mr. Silicon iswarranted. As a bare minimum, this mayhelp to better understand the behavior oftoday’s teenagers. Better yet, you may beable to answer their fundamental techni-cal questions. In addition, if you are anonelectrical engineering professional,scholar, or college student, an under-standing of the silicon world only adds toyour understanding of the fundamentaloperation of modern tools and theirimpact on your surroundings. Studyingthe solid-state physics that govern theinteraction of charge carriers in silicon

typically requires an undergraduate-levelcollege course in electrical engineering orreading a classical text on the subject, butthat does not provide you with the globalimpact of silicon.

Silicon Earth provides a concise, easyto follow, step-by-step discussion of theevolutionary history of silicon-basedelectronics, microelectromechanical struc-tures (MEMS), and nanotechnology, aswell as their impact on our lives. Historytexts typically lack technical depth,particularly that which is warranted forunderstanding silicon-based technology.This book, however, will provide youwith a unique prospective that is both

technically and historically balanced, with-out the prerequisite of an electrical engi-neering degree.

In the absence of a balanced prospec-tive on this subject, if you are a parent,your child will drive you crazy withquestions that are both profound andentertaining: What if the transistor wasnot invented? What if all the transistorsstopped working today? What is nano-technology anyway, and why should Icare? Who are those Maxwell and Ohmfellows? We can personally testify as electri-cal engineering professionals that ourhighly technical responses to such ques-tions are only a source of disappoint-ment and discouragement to them. Justas when we were rebuilding our dad’s oldChevy, our teenagers are looking for somepioneering recognition and thrilling storyof motivation not a technical briefing.Unfortunately, our dry technical answersgenerate a lack of interest on our sons’part and an increasing interest in otherDigital Object Identifier 10.1109/MNANO.2010.938014

Silicon EarthJohn Cressler, Editor

REVIEWED BY MOHAMMAD MOJARRADI AND BENJAMIN BLALOCK

Reducing silicon into aneasily readable and

exciting text suitable fora broad nontechnical

audience is amonumental challenge.

SEPTEMBER 2010 | IEEE NANOTECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE | 29

distractions (such as video games). In amoment of reflection, we jointly decidedto conduct an experiment, asking ourteenagers to read Silicon Earth.

The topic coverage in this book isquite remarkable, including upcomingimplantable nanoprosthetics that can po-tentially extend our lifespan and provideus with bionic super sense of hearing,vision, and smell to new highly advancedcell phones and personal digital assistants(PDAs) that enable us to surf the net andreach out to our friends and family allover the world. Cressler’s treatment ofthese incredible topics helps even the cas-ual reader to understand the world ofsilicon. Reducing silicon, and the widespectrum of technical and historicaldisciplines and topics it encompasses,into an easily readable and exciting textsuitable for a broad nontechnical audi-ence is a monumental challenge. The

ability to express these topics in simplelanguage is a skill gifted to only a few tal-ented writers. Demonstrated in SiliconEarth, Cressler has this gift. In SiliconEarth, Cressler reflects his inner thoughtsas a world-class electrical engineeringscholar, philosopher, and student ofmodern history. This book is a compre-hensive yet thrilling and invigoratingsimple-to-read text that is well on itsway to becoming a classic.

The book reduces highly abstract,technical, and mathematical topics foun-dational to the frontiers of silicon into athrilling tail of pioneering history with verysimple mathematics in an easy-to-under-stand and readable style. Graphically deco-rated with pictures and stories form thegreatest science fiction movies (e.g.,Terminator and Fantastic Voyage), thebook helps the reader visualize thefundamental principles of electrical engi-neering and nanotechnology. To furtherstimulate and entertain the reader, thebook is adorned with interesting anec-dotes: ‘‘Greek Trivia,’’ ‘‘Historical Anec-dotes,’’ ‘‘Deep Thoughts,’’ and ‘‘LifeDigressions.’’

The book provides readers with manyfundamental answers. These answers coverdiverse topics from ‘‘when and how’’transistors were invented and ‘‘why theywork,’’ to discussion of ‘‘global position

Silicon is thetechnological foundationof our multidimensional,

information highway.

30 | IEEE NANOTECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2010

sensors,’’ and how sophisticated com-puters systems are fabricated. However,the most stimulating part of the book isthe last two chapters where the readerexperiences the real science of nanotech-nology, otherwise considered sciencefiction only 20 years ago. Cressler aptlystarts the chapter citing the 1966 sciencefiction movie Fantastic Voyage.

Finally, Silicon Earth is strongly rec-ommended for technical ‘‘oldies’’ thatmay have lost sight of the history of siliconand inquisitive youth that yearn todevelop a profound understanding of fac-tors affecting their lifestyle. And yes, backto our teenagers reading Silicon Earth,each has presented different perspectives.Blalock’s teenage son, who enjoys swap-ping text messages with friends, gravitatedto the ‘‘Widget Deconstruction #1: CellPhone’’ chapter in Silicon Earth. From hisreading, he found it interesting thatAlexander Graham Bell beat out ElisaGray to become the inventor of the tele-phone and gained an appreciation for thetechnological evolution of the telephoneto the amazing cell phone. Thanks to thischapter, he gained an understanding ofcell phones’ dependence on cell towers tocommunicate, the range limitations ofcell towers, the communication chan-nel-selection process, and how cell tow-ers transfer these channels back andforth. In addition, he read about the dis-tinction between analog cell phones anddigital second-generation (2G) and third-generation (3G) phones and gained anappreciation for the complexity of 3Gphones. Silicon Earth dissects the 3Gphone into subsystems (such as theantenna, display, transducers, applications,radio, memory, ADCs, and power system)

and illustrates their dependence on sili-con-based integrated circuits that ena-ble these high-tech marvels, all whileentertaining even young readers. Thatis a great accomplishment.

Reading this book renewed the interestof Mojarradi’s teenage son in electronics.He decided to go build a new Tesla coil

and asked his father to help him with thenew silicon microcontroller-based audiosynthesizer he needed for this purpose.He recommended Silicon Earth as a ‘‘coolbook’’ to his fellow Internet friends as heposted pictures of his new Tesla coil onthe Web.

Cressler reflects hisinner thoughts as a

world-class electricalengineering scholar,

philosopher, and studentof modern history.

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