Barely fifty years ago, computers were gargantuan, vastly expensive things that only a handful of scientists had ever seen. The world's brightest engineers were stymied in their quest to make these machines small and affordable, until two ingenious young Americans finally devised the solution. Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce hit upon the stunning discovery that would lead to the silicon microchip and earn Kilby a Nobel Prize in physics in 2000.<BR>In this completely revised and updated edition of The Chip, T. R. Reid tells the gripping story of Kilby and Noyce's invention, which was the foundation of a global information industry that has transformed our world. This is the story of how our digital age began, and of the men who invented it.