Margaret O'Mara - The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America
O’Mara’s definitive history of Silicon Valley starts in the 1940s, when the area was notable primarily for Stanford University, charts the industry shift from electronics to information, and follows the rise of upstart entrepreneurs as they became today’s wealthy, Big Tech scions. A professor of history at the University of Washington and author of Cities of Knowledge, O’Mara profiles the key figures involved, takes us into tech venture capital firms, and traces the relationship between politics and the high-tech economy, showing how government contacts and defense spending have been integral to creating the powerhouse Silicon Valley has become.