Three Degrees Above Zero

I was told of this book when I started in Bell Labs as an R&D engineer, just as AT&T was spinning off Lucent. Not only did this give a great history lesson of where I was working, and what monumental accomplishments were achieved in the "Crystal Palace" but it was also another "break-up."So take aways that I still remember from reading this:1) The Big Bang was found at lunch hour. What did you do during lunch today?2) The photo-voltaic solar cell was found by accident after inventing the transistor.3) A tech left a soldering iron on, and burned down part of a mid-town NY exchange, resulting in having to route calls from downtown to uptown via San Francisco.And so on.The revelations are truly staggering.I recently start working with an old co-worker from the labs, and have started reading this book.It's clearly written, and accurately captures a bygone time of American ingenuity. And for the nerds out there, you'll get to find out what the acronym RADAR means and what it does.

in the spirit of "dealers of lightning", 3 degrees above zero tours a large corporate research laboratory with skill and clarity. by focusing on achievements and people, it navigates the large labs and really highlights interesting topics.i'm a geek, but no engineer. however, i really found the writing to be clean and move along at a good pace. by talking to people who what got them into research, how they got to their topics, and why they do what they do, it's a fascinating look at a bright collection of minds and people.written at the time that the labs were about to be spun off, everyone ends a chapter with comments on what they think will happen next. definitely interesting given the historical perspective you can now apply.hunt this one down, i think you'll be pleased.

This slipped by in its time--yet it gives more sense of the reality than the recent more complete and "businessy" book which has been on best-seller lists

The book paints an impressionistic picture of AT&T Bell Labs (pre-breakup), as viewed through the stories of several key players in its illustrious history. Written more as a family portrait than a strict history per se, the author successfully captures the flavour and the culture of this remarkable American R & D institution. Having been written in the shadow of the AT&T breakup, there is an undercurrent of concern over changing a proven winner throughout the book. Managers of any R & D organization would do well to read this and see how closely they can emulate this example.