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Crystal Fire: The Birth of the Information Age

2000; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 41; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/tech.2000.0121

1097-3729

Arthur P. Molella,

Cognitive Science and Education Research

Having gone to school at Hollywood High and fallen under the spell of movie culture, William Bradford Shockley fancied himself, according to fellow physicist Frederick Seitz, "a cross between Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and Bulldog Drummond, with perhaps a dash of Ronald Colman." An early scene in Crystal Fire captures Seitz and Shockley in September 1932 as they head cross-country in Shockley's DeSoto to attend eastern graduate schools in their quest to learn more about the new European theories of quantum mechanics. Seitz notices a loaded pistol in the glove compartment and is then unnerved one night as his flamboyant traveling companion impulsively fires off several rounds into the dark at some howling coyotes, an incident that nearly lands Shockley in jail. The episode also sets the tone for the B movie that was Shockley's life. Shooting from the hip was definitely his style--a style that gave him startling victories but also got him into serious trouble.