Inventor of integrated circuit dies at 81

Jack Kilby, the US inventor of the integrated circuit, died on 20 June at the age of 81. His invention, which he made in 1958, laid the foundation for the multi-billion euro microchip industry and today’s information and communication technologies. Without the integrated circuit there would not be PCs, mobile phones, and other digital devices as we know them.

An interesting aspect is that the invention of the microchip was driven by the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. The integrated circuit helped Texas Instruments to win a contract to supply chips for the Minuteman rocket. He later co-invented both the hand-held calculator and the thermal printer that was used in portable data terminals.

Microchip pioneer Jack Kilby dies
BBC News, 22 June 2005

Engineer's Tiny Chip Changed the World
Washington Post, 22 June 2005

Jack Kilby page on the Texas Instruments website