Labeled as the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford of Silicon Valley, Robert Noyce receives this distinction for two reasons. He was the co-inventor of one of the most important discoveries in technology and a leader in the growth of Silicon Valley.

Historical figure

Leslie Berlin, project historian for the Silicon Valley Archives at Stanford University, sat down with Jeff Frick of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, at Intel’s Innovation Day to discuss her book The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley.

Noyce, the co-inventor of the integrated circuit, better known as the microchip, was also a cofounder of two of the Northern California region’s largest contributors to technology, Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. and Intel Corp. In her book, Berlin talked about Noyce’s accomplishments, personality and the history of Silicon Valley.

The humble rock star

When asked to describe Noyce’s personality, Berlin noted a common theme that runs through Noyce’s life: teamwork. “The first thing Noyce would say if he were here right now is that ‘I didn’t do all that by myself.’ I think he would be the first person to tell you that he was a team player from the very beginning,” said Berlin.

She continued by talking about all the collaboration Noyce did throughout his career and summed it up by saying, “The whole way through he has been a team player, and that mentality explains how Silicon Valley works and innovation in technology works.”

The other personality traits of interest were Noyce’s willingness to be a risk taker and his humility. Berlin elaborated by saying, Noyce was the “rock star” of Silicon Valley in the 1980s and that he is the face and incarnation of the Silicon Valley spirit.

A valley of reinvention

As a historian of Silicon Valley history, Berlin said that the essence of the region is the ability to reinvent itself decade after decade. From a government-funded land of instrumentation in the ’40s to the worldwide Web and Web 2.0 of recent history, Silicon Valley has been a hub of invention and innovation.

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of Intel Innovation Day.

Photo by SiliconANGLE