Three Degrees Above Zero [Hardcover]

Peter L. Bernstein (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 241 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1St Edition edition (September 1, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684181703
• ISBN-13: 978-0684181707
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Record of a Legendary R & D outfit, March 12, 2001

By 

"pesellmer" (Richmond, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Degrees Above Zero (Hardcover)

The book paints an impressionistic picture of AT&T Bell Labs (pre-breakup), as viewed through the stories of several key players in its illustrious history. Written more as a family portrait than a strict history per se, the author successfully captures the flavour and the culture of this remarkable American R & D institution. Having been written in the shadow of the AT&T breakup, there is an undercurrent of concern over changing a proven winner throughout the book. Managers of any R & D organization would do well to read this and see how closely they can emulate this example.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a great read, November 16, 2003

By 

jose_monkey_org "jose_monkey_org" (ann arbor, mi, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Degrees Above Zero (Hardcover)

in the spirit of "dealers of lightning", 3 degrees above zero tours a large corporate research laboratory with skill and clarity. by focusing on achievements and people, it navigates the large labs and really highlights interesting topics.

i'm a geek, but no engineer. however, i really found the writing to be clean and move along at a good pace. by talking to people who what got them into research, how they got to their topics, and why they do what they do, it's a fascinating look at a bright collection of minds and people.

written at the time that the labs were about to be spun off, everyone ends a chapter with comments on what they think will happen next. definitely interesting given the historical perspective you can now apply.

hunt this one down, i think you'll be pleased.

5.0 out of 5 stars Life in the Labs from an Ex-Lab-Rat, January 13, 2012

By 

Jason Kay "Jakay11" (Was NJ, now CB) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three Degrees Above Zero (Hardcover)

I was told of this book when I started in Bell Labs as an R&D engineer, just as AT&T was spinning off Lucent. Not only did this give a great history lesson of where I was working, and what monumental accomplishments were achieved in the "Crystal Palace" but it was also another "break-up."

So take aways that I still remember from reading this:
1) The Big Bang was found at lunch hour. What did you do during lunch today?
2) The photo-voltaic solar cell was found by accident after inventing the transistor.
3) A tech left a soldering iron on, and burned down part of a mid-town NY exchange, resulting in having to route calls from downtown to uptown via San Francisco.
And so on.

The revelations are truly staggering.
I recently start working with an old co-worker from the labs, and have started reading this book.
It's clearly written, and accurately captures a bygone time of American ingenuity. And for the nerds out there, you'll get to find out what the acronym RADAR means and what it does.