The Idea Factory

The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation is a 2012 book by Jon Gertner that describes the history of Bell Labs, the research and development wing of AT&T, as well as many of its personalities, including Claude Shannon and William Shockley.

Reception

The New [York Times] said that Gertner's "portraits of Kelly and the cadre of talented scientists who worked at Bell Labs are animated by a journalistic ability to make their discoveries and inventions utterly comprehensible".
The Idea Factory was reviewed favorably by Foreign Policy, the New York Times, the The [Plain Dealer|Cleveland Plain-Dealer] and others. Three adapted excerpts from the book were published in TIME.
Facebook co-founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg recommended The Idea Factory to his book club in 2015, saying of the choice, " very interested in what causes innovation — what kinds of people, questions and environments."