Inventing the future at ‘the idea factory’

Mervin Kelly lead Bell Lab's research for a time.
Mervin Kelly lead Bell Lab’s research for a time.

In the 1950s, AT&T Bell Labs was a hotbed of innovation, a place where engineers and theorists came together to invent the transistor and make major contributions to the field of lasers and cell phones. One reason: the leadership of Bell Labs’ research director Mervin Kelly, a 1914 physics graduate. 

Kelly “hired the best researchers he could find for the good of the system” – and then got out of their way, wrote Jon Gertner in his 2012 book, The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation. “In technology, the odds of making something truly new and popular have always tilted toward failure. That was why Kelly let many members of his research department roam free, sometimes without concrete goals, for years on end.”

Share This Story

Spark a Memory?

Share your story! Fill out the form below to share your fondest memory or anecdote of S&T. If you'd prefer not typing, you can also share by phone at 833-646-3715 (833-Miner150).

Jessica (Kressig) and Daniel Cannon

Jessica (Kressig) and Daniel Cannon

Jessica (Kressig) and Daniel Cannon met in September 2011 after she took a dare at a party to dance with…

First woman department chair

First woman department chair

In 1990, Dr. Elizabeth Cummins was named chair of Missouri S&T’s English department. She joined S&T as an instructor in…

Chain reaction

Chain reaction

Take 60 sleep-deprived students — easy enough to find in Rolla — and add 450,000 strips of newsprint and 530,000…

Amanda (Gealy) and Logan Meyer

Amanda (Gealy) and Logan Meyer

Amanda (Gealy) and Logan Meyer met through mutual friends during St. Pat’s in 2010. Amanda earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees…

Lindsay (McNamee) and Garrett Blanchard

Lindsay (McNamee) and Garrett Blanchard

Lindsay (McNamee) and Garrett Blanchard met on a trip with other Christian Campus Fellowship members to the International Conference on…

Kala Longman and Maxwell Rose

Kala Longman and Maxwell Rose

Kala Longman and Maxwell Rose met in 2015 thanks to mutual campus interests and a similar friend group. But it…