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The Cryotron Files: The Untold Story of Dudley Buck, Cold War Computer Scientist and Microchip Pioneer Kindle Edition

by Iain Dey (Author), Douglas Buck (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 18 ratings
The “fascinating [and] informative” biography of a pioneering American computer scientist and his mysterious death during the Cold War (The Scotsman, UK).

MIT professor Dudley Allen Buck was a brilliant young scientist on the cusp of fame and fortune when he died of mysterious causes in 1959. His latest invention, the Cryotron, was an early form of microchip that would have greatly advance ballistic missile technology. Shortly before Dudley’s death, he was visited by a group of Soviet computer experts. On the day that he died from a sudden bout of pneumonia, a close colleague of his was also found dead from similar causes. Some wonder if their deaths were linked.

Dudley’s son Douglas was never satisfied with the explanation of his father’s death. He’s spent more than twenty years investigating it, acquiring his father’s lab books, diaries, correspondence, research papers and patent filings. Armed with this research, Douglas and award-winning journalist Iain Dey tell the story of Dudley’s life and groundbreaking work.

The Cryotron Files is at once a gripping history of America’s Cold War era computer scientists, the dramatic personal story of Dudley Buck, and an eye-opening investigation into his mysterious death.
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  1. Print length
    361 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    ABRAMS Press
  4. Publication date
    October 9, 2018
  5. File size
    6.8 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

An incredibly thorough but fully accessible deep dive into the Cold War battle for computer supremacy.

-- "Jesse Eisenberg, award-winning actor"

Fascinating...The authors more than make their case for the significance of [Buck's] contributions to current technological breakthroughs.

-- "Publishers Weekly"

In the fast-paced The Cryotron Files, Iain Dey not only restores the MIT scientist Dudley Buck to his rightful place in the pantheon of America's computer pioneers but he also sheds new light on Buck's shocking, untimely, and utterly mysterious death-at all of 32 years old.

-- "William D. Cohan, New York Times bestselling author"

About the Author

Iain Dey is a senior director at Edelman, one of the world's leading communications companies. He was previously the Business Editor for the Sunday Times and also served as the paper's New York correspondent. He also worked for the Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, and the Sunday Telegraph. He was named Business Journalist of the Year in 2010 for his coverage of the financial crisis. The Cryotron Files is his first book.



Over the past thirty-plus years, Douglas Buck has invested in commercial real estate ventures primarily in the states of Washington and Florida, where he resides. His interest in technology stems partially from what he learned about his father's career growing up near Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as many years in the Seattle area.



William Hughes is an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator. A professor of political science at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon, he received his doctorate in American politics from the University of California at Davis. He has done voice-over work for radio and film and is also an accomplished jazz guitarist.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07MXDX13J
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ ABRAMS Press; 1st edition (October 9, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 9, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6.8 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 361 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 18 ratings

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4.4 out of 5 stars
18 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Tstith
    5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely fascinating
    Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Ordered this book because I needed to understand the government's need for tantalum and niobium production in the 1950s, as local metallurgists and chemists worked locally in our town (Albany, Oregon) to produce a commercial method for separation. This book answered a lot of questions about the need for the two materials, plus the political/technological climate that pushed scientific discoveries. Overall a VERY enjoyable book. Iain Dey's writing was perfect for the layperson and the "twist" at the end will leave readers wondering whether the unfortunate event was planned, coincidental, or just a tragic byproduct of scientific advancement.
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  • East coast traveler
    5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaing history of a lost era in modern technology.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Fascinating and fast paced tale of the high level high stakes race in the 50's to be first in the computers that were to control rockets and missiles and now are part of every day existence in most aspects of home and business. Once again, real life is superior to fiction. The end of Dudley Buck would be incredible where it not so familiar sounding today. Well written and revealing.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book and very timely with the current political climate
    Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    This is a fascinating story of the beginning of the computer age. The story also tells of the interactions between the US and the Soviet Union and how leading US scientist met untimely death at the height of the Cold war.
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  • Alaturka
    3.0 out of 5 stars Cold War Science, Colder Electronics
    Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2019
    It is an interesting read for sure. Exposes the role of science early in Cold War, the spying, encryption, missiles, tracking and guidance and the race to build the fastest computers to do real-time calculations and tasks for these advanced weapons and systems. This young man, clearly an exceptional engineer, was right in the middle of it. To be clear, this book is written (well, I was listening actually!) by his son in cooperation with another author, as an ode to a brilliant father lost at such an early age. Objectivity was not the aim. Cryotron based fast memory device development absorbed enormous sums of funding and effort at the time. It was the wrong path it turns out. There was another, a lot less complicated way as Intel and Fairchild showed. Some of the work requires a minimum level of scientific understanding, and authors did try to put all these developments into proper context, which was very helpful. Still, it lacked a certain depth. Reference is made do Buck's idea about following satellite orbit deviations to measure local gravity and thus mass density. It was tied to recent discovery and measurement of gravity waves. The two have nothing in common. A cryotron, a passive device, works on the behavior of superconducting metals having this property modulated by a magnetic field. Authors imply this in some way led to development of Josephson junctions, another cryogenic device, which works on the principle of tunneling, a pure quantum phenomena. No relation. Like the early magnetic core memory he has worked to perfect having no real relation to modern FeRAM. While trying to emphasize Buck's accomplishments as a scientist, they may have shortchanged his pioneering work in microelectronics, cryogenics, e-beam lithography and thin film technology in general. In some places extensive personal and family details seem to dilute the writing. In any case, those who have an interest in history of technology, Cold War and computers may find it very interesting.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • XY
    5.0 out of 5 stars interesting
    Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2019
    This book is an interesting look at the too-short life of an early pioneer in microelectronics. The circumstances surrounding the death of Buck and his collaborator Ridenour are certainly suspicious. If the Soviets did indeed murder these two men in order to cripple American microelectronic research, we now know in retrospect that they killed the wrong men - semiconductors rather than superconductors led to the microelectronics revolution.
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  • Patty P
    5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing mind
    Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2018
    Wonderfully well written book.
    Buck is an amazing character, the science concepts are presented in a solid manner, the pace and relevancy to today's world is brilliant. Cannot recommend it enough.
    2 people found this helpful
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