The book "Much Ado About Almost Nothing", which has been retailing for $
14.95, is now also available as a free download at
http://www.historyofelectronics.com/ (.pdf format, 238 pages, 1.8MB).

Written by Hans Camenzind, the designer of the 555 Timer, the book spans
2600 years and focuses on the contributions and personalities of a many
discoverers and inventors, such as Gilbert, Franklin, Galvani, Volta,
Oersted, Ampere, Ohm, Henry, Faraday and Edison.

The genius of Nikola Tesla gets a detailed treatment, as does his descent
into madness. The contributions of Guglielmo Marconi, Le de Forest and
Vladimir Zworykin are critically examined and credit is given to the much
underrated Howard Armstrong and Philo Farnsworth.

The book ends with the historic controversy between Jack Kilby and Robert
Noyce about the microchip and sets the record straight as to who invented
what.

"Much Ado About Almost Nothing" follows Camenzind's 2005 publication of
"Designing Analog Chips", a book that is also simultaneously selling in
printed form and can be downloaded at no charge.

wrote:
The book "Much Ado About Almost Nothing", which has been retailing for $
14.95, is now also available as a free download at
http://www.historyofelectronics.com/ (.pdf format, 238 pages, 1.8MB).

Had an enjoyable 2hrs read. Thanks.