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Bob Widlar

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I've listed this article for peer review because… I went to an electronics college in the 1980s. We studied Widlar's building blocks and Widlar's amps along with Fourier transforms and Maxwell's equations. I did not realize then that the man was still active, and in fact younger than most of our professors. Only a few years older than my father. Students had quite busy lives in the 80s - girls, booze, discos, course papers, money... there was no place for biographies of great inventors. I frequently ran into his name in the IEEE journals but somehow never connected two and two. Shortly before graduation I ran into an obit in one of the journals and felt surprised - gosh, how did this fossil made it to 1991? Again, sometimes the mind just does not connect two and two.

Twenty years later, it's time to pay the dues. Here's the short life of Bob Widlar, the intoxicated genius, who made himself a legend at the age of 30 and retired into his Mexican hideout at 33. Read, discuss, add and fix. I have three concerns myself: relying on only one comprehensive bio (Bo Lojek), the abundance of direct quotes from primary sources (spoken memoirs of the Gifford, Valentine etc.), and what looks like poor flow/coherence of the material.

Thanks, East of Borschov 16:58, 25 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from Jappalang

I have some electronic engineering background, so the article is fairly accessible to me; however, I think some parts are delving too deep into the technical terms and might alienate those without such background.

  • Dablinks (toolbox on the right of this peer review page) shows two disambiguation links; please fix them.

Lede

  • "In 1964-1970 Widlar and David Talbert created ..."
    I think this should read "From 1964 to 1970, Widlar, together with David Talbert, created ..."
  • "Already a "legendary chip designer" at the age of 33, Widlar voluntarily retired into a hideout in Mexico ..."
    "Already" comes across as biased; furthermore this title was not "given" when he was 33. Suggestion: "At the age of 33, the "legendary chip designer", as later proclaimed by The New York Times's John Markoff, voluntarily retired into a hideout in Mexico ..."
  • "According to Bo Lojek, ..."
    Make it clear on what authority Lojek is: "According to Bo Lojek, author of History of Semiconductor Engineering, ..."
  • "... was born November 30, 1937."
    Missing word.

Early years

  • "The world of electronics surrounded him since birth: Widlar became the first baby monitored by wireless radio."
    Best to mention that the wireless baby monitor was invented by his father; I also think "became" should be replaced with "was".
  • "... (1960[15]), ..."
    footnotes after punctuation
  • "... in Boulder, Colorado to ..."
    Boulder was already linked and established to be in Colorado previously (in the University of Colorado mention).

Arrival at Fairchild

  • "... and after a few hours of discussion Widlar ended up in possession of the transistors. Sanders resolved the incident to mutual benefit, and in September 1963 Fairchild invited Widlar for a job interview."
    Either the language is too flowery for my taste or I do not understand the sequence of events... Is this trying to say "... and after a few hours of drinks and discussion Widlar ended up in possession of the transistors and left Sanders with a good impression of his technical knowledge. In September 1963, on Sanders's recommendation, Fairchild invited Widlar for a job interview." (but see further below for another adjustment I would suggest).
  • "... 'what they are doing is bullshit'."
    The interview ("what they are doing")? Context should be established for this quote.
  • "Instead of R&D, Widlar went to work for Fairchild's Mountain View, California Applications Engineering division headed by John Hulme, who embraced Widlar despite objections from Ruegg."
    Widlar did not make the decision, neither was Ruegg the only detractor, and there were two interviews... I would suggest:
    "... and after a few hours of drinks and discussion, Widlar ended up in possession of the transistors and left Sanders with a good impression of his technical knowledge. Sanders recommended Widlar to Fairchild and in September 1963, the company's manager of research and development, Heinz Ruegg, invited Widlar for a job interview. During the interview Widlar insulted Ruegg by telling him that his team's work is "bullshit". Widlar was sent to another interview with the company's Applications Engineering division, which was based in Mountain View, California. The division head, John Hulme, hired Widlar despite objections from the first round interviewers."
  • "... consisted of only three devices."
    "Only" introduces a bias (condemning the company for its capacity then).

The first op amps

  • "Fairchild engineers before Widlar designed analog ICs like conventional circuits built with discrete components, resorting to nichrome thin film resistors whenever the design values were too high or too low for the silicon die."
    I fail to comprehend this sentence; how are "design values" quantified? I also believe casual readers would be confused with "discrete components" at the first part. What were conventional circuits as compared to analog ICs?
    • (East of Borschov: I'd rather move it into the next section which describes how W. approached the same problems)
  • "Yield of these poorly performing hybrid ICs was very low, resulting in prohibitively high costs."
    "Many of these hybrid ICs failed their quality tests and were discarded, effectively increasing the production costs of a working chip."
    • (East of Borschov: "Many failed" is inevitable for all silicon processes, especially those on the cutting edge of available technology, be it 1964 or 2010. But in case of early analog ICs losses were exorbitant by any standard (even those of contemporary digital ICs) so the price was too high even for aerospace clients. I'm thinking of some workaround here.)
  • "... then the Fairchild R&D chief, steered his organization in favor of digital integrated circuits."
    "... the Fairchild R&D chief then, directed his organization to favor digital integrated circuits."
  • "Digital integration was easily scalable, less dependent on the environment, and promised high production volumes."
    Please rephrase for the general readership.
  • "... Mountain View Semiconductor fabrication plant, ..."
    Why is "Semiconductor" capitalized?
  • "... shared the same approach ..."
    "... shared the same belief ..." or "opinion".
  • "The rest were, at best, static observers."
    What are "static observers"?
  • "... and kept the unwanted co-workers out of the loop."
    "... and kept unwanted co-workers out of the loop."
  • "Gifford, one of the initiated, said that ..."
    I doubt there was a cabal of accepted workers... "Gifford, one of those accepted by Widlar and Talbert, said that ..."
  • "Don Valentine said in 2004:"
    Who is Don Valentine to be an authority here (please do not divert readers to another article to find out)?
  • "... eccentric - or whatever the word is beyond eccentric - individuals"
    Why are hyphens used here?
  • "... permitted matched performance of all components ..."
    Explain "matched performance".
  • "The latter increased the bandwidth ..."
    The latter what? Innovation or device (capacitor)? Do we use latter when there are three options?
  • "... then an unprecedented breakthrough for monolithic operational amplifiers."
    "... an unprecedented breakthrough for monolithic operational amplifiers at that time."
  • "Widlar considered the μA702 prototype not good enough for production, ..."
    "Widlar did not consider the μA702 prototype good enough for production, ..."
  • "The device set the direction for the industry for decades to come, despite poor common-mode rejection ratio, weak output drive capabilities, and a price of $300."
    "The device was an industrial standard for decades, despite its poor common-mode rejection ratio, weak output drive capabilities, and price of $300."
    • (East of Borschov: No-no, it wasn't a standard. This honour goes to uA741. The 709 wasn't good enough (yet). Set the trend, yes, but was phased out by better ones in less than a decade.)
  • "The μA709 which followed the compromised μA702 became a ..."
    "The μA709, which followed the compromised μA702, became a ..."
  • "Widlar increased gain from 7,000 to 70,000 and improved output performance with a push-pull output stage, although lacking protection against short circuit. The input stage was governed by Widlar current source which allowed [...] Widlar's decision to employ lateral PNP transistors[note 4] sparked oppostition among the R&D staff. Widlar locked himself up for 170 hours of continuous experimental work and came out with a robust design that blended two resistive diffusion areas into a lateral PNP device."
    "Widlar increased the device's gain from 7,000 to 70,000 and improved output performance with a push-pull output stage, although it lacked protection against short circuit. Its input stage was governed by a Widlar current source, which allowed [...] Widlar's decision to employ lateral PNP transistors was opposed by the R&D staff. Widlar experimented for 170 continuous hours and came out with a robust design that blended two resistive diffusion areas into a lateral PNP device."
  • "For a few years, Fairchild became the leader in linear ICs. Demand exceeded capacity by a factor of ten; production was sold out for two years in advance."
    "For a few years, Fairchild was the leader in the field of linear ICs. Demand for its products exceeded its production capacity by a factor of ten; Fairchild's circuits were sold out for two years in advance."
  • "None of the competitors came even close."
    "None of Fairchild's competitors came close to matching its status in the market."
  • "Competitors eventually created their own clones of μA709 but only Philco succeeded in fully matching the original."
    Competitors created clones of μA709 but only Philco succeeded in producing one that fully matched the original."

National Semiconductor

  • "Widlar and Talbert realized that the "Traitorous Eight" which ran Fairchild would not share their windfall profits with the designers. In November 1965 they accepted ..."
    Widlar and Talbert realized that the founders of Fairchild did not intend to share their profits with the designers. In November 1965 the two engineers accepted ..."
  • "... then valued at five dollars each."
    "... each valued at five dollars then."
  • "He refused to fill an exit interview form for Fairchild and wrote only one line: "I want to be RICH!" [44]"
    He refused to complete an exit interview form for Fairchild, writing only one line (exact quote): "I want to be RICH!"[44]
  • "For unknown reasons, Robert Noyce continued to pay Widlar his salary until April 1966. According to Widlar himself, ..."
    "For unknown reasons, Robert Noyce, one of Fairchild's founders, continued to pay Widlar his salary until April 1966. According to Widlar, ..."
  • "Gifford said that Widlar and Talbert were actually the founders of National Semiconductor, and that Sporck joined them later."
    How does this tally with "Peter Sprague's offer to join the National Semiconductor's Molectro facility" and who is Sporck?
    • (East of Borschov: I'm thinking of a way to reconcile both statements. Gifford meant that "we all know the legal founders, but the business took off only when they brought in some brains...")
  • "Widlar's solution minimized die area, and current drain, and enabled operation over a wide range of power supply voltages."
    "Widlar's solution minimized die area and current drain, and enabled operation over a wide range of power supply voltages."
  • "... LM108 precision operational amplifier released in 1969."
    "... LM108 precision operational amplifier, which was released in 1969."
  • "These high-gain, very-low-voltage transistors allowed operation at very low input currents at full military range of operating conditions."
    "These high-gain, very-low-voltage transistors were capable of operating at very low input currents within the full military range of operating conditions."
  • "The "Widlar's Leap" ..."
    What is the "Widlar's Leap"?
  • "... and a precise reference on the same die."
    What is a "precise reference"?
  • "... he frequently lectured to fellow engineers, ..."
    I believe it is either "... he frequently lectured fellow engineers, ..." or "... he frequently gave lectures to fellow engineers, ..."
  • "... and on May 23, 1970 spoke ..."
    "... and on May 23, 1970, spoke ..."

Personality

  • "Widlar lived the life of an alcoholic loner."
    I think the advice given in Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Biography/Archive 24#Referencing alcoholism was not taken. There are very little reliable sources that use "alcoholic" in reference to Widlar—in fact, it looks like only George Glider does so in Commentary.[1] Any sentence that states Widlar to be an alcoholic, hence, has to be explicitly attributed to Glider.
  • "According to Bo Lojek, 'as he was older he was for the first time able to keep relationship with one woman.'"
    So who was this woman? What was the nature of Widlar's relationships with women previously?
  • "... in legends and anecdotes which ..."
    "... in legends and anecdotes, which ..."
  • "He did practice widlarising – methodically destroying a faulty component or a flawed prototype with a sledgehammer."
    This statement assumes that the reader is familiar with widlarising. This is unlikely to be true. It would be best to rephrase into a statement that states to some effect: "Widlar's methodical destruction of faulty components or flawed prototypes with a sledgehammer gave rise to the term widlarising."
  • "At the same time, he eradicated all unwanted sounds ..."
    He did this while widlarising?
  • "However, the story about Widlar bringing a goat to trim the lawn in front of his office, ..."
    "However, the story about Widlar's bringing a goat to trim the lawn in front of his office, ..."
  • "Widlar brought her in his Mercedes-Benz convertible for just one day, which included a photo op for the local journalists."
    I do not quite understand this sentence. Does it mean that the whole affair was a publicity stunt? Note: "photo op" is an informal term inappropriate for encyclopaedias.

Retirement and return

  • "On December 21, 1970 Widlar and Talbert ..."
    "On December 21, 1970, Widlar and Talbert ..."
  • "Widlar quit, cashed in his stock option ..."
    "Quit" is redundant when the earlier statement said "resigned". "Widlar cashed in his stock option ..." would suffice.
  • "... Puerto Vallarta, Mexico at ..."
    "... Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, at ..."
  • "... but had not been formally employed ..."
    "... but was not formally employed ..."
  • "His proud statement: "I don't work" caused him frequent troubles when crossing the Mexican border and eventually, ..."
    It bears explaining why "I don't work" can cause troubles at borders. Furthermore, "proud statement" casts a bias on it.
  • "Robert Swanson said in 2006:"
    Who is Robert Swanson? It is better to give readers the basic context than to expect them to go off to another article.
  • "LM10 is capable of operating with only a 1.1 volt power supply, thus instead of a conventional bandgap reference it employs Widlar's sub-bandgap circuit locked at 200 mV and the low-voltage Widlar output stage."
    "Only" is redundant, the same with "thus": "LM10 is capable of operating with a 1.1 volt power supply; instead of a conventional bandgap reference, it employs Widlar's sub-bandgap circuit locked at 200 mV and the low-voltage Widlar output stage."
  • "The rest of the industry caught up with LM10 only a decade after its introduction."
    Again "only" introduces a bias. Suggestion: "For 10 years, no one else in the industry was able to produce a circuit that matched the LM10."

The last decade

  • "... the relationships fell apart upon a patent right dispute."
    "... the relationships fell apart in a patent right dispute."
  • "... the mandatory share repurchase provision of Widlar's contract."
    "... the mandatory share repurchase provision that was in Widlar's contract."
  • "According to Bo Lojek, Widlar's notebooks contain sufficient evidence that many disputed ideas were created by Widlar before the creation of Linear."
    "According to Bo Lojek, Widlar's notebooks contain sufficient evidence to prove that many of the disputed patents were created by Widlar before Linear was formed."
  • "On February 27, 1991 Widlar suddenly died ..."
    "On February 27, 1991, Widlar suddenly died ..."
  • " Apparently he had been jogging on a sidewalk ..."

Honors

  • This section is just two bullet points that could be reworked into prose and integrated into other sections.

General

  • There should be a comma after countries in place locations (state, country) and years in US format dates (month day, year).

Images File:Widlar - NatSemi Ad 400px.jpg: As far as I know, the book does not state this advertisement was Widlar's idea. Although the attitude of the adverstisement seems in line with Widlar's, there is no mention in the article nor source that it was (lack of contextual significance).

Prose-wise, some parts seem brilliant, but some parts as pointed above seem too informal or has bias introduced. A thorough look-through by another would be advisable. Jappalang (talk) 15:40, 1 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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