The (pre-) history of the integrated circuit: a random walk

Return to the world of coherers, crystals, catwhiskers, point contacts, and Chilean copper rectifiers. Follow the random path of semiconductor advances made without fundamental understanding. Grow in the confidence that all the good stuff has NOT already been invented. The microprocessor consumes 100 watts, switching at pico-seconds while your brain consumes just 20 to 25 watts, and operates at microcroseconds. Nature shows us there's plenty of advances left.