This book takes the reader through the actual manufacturing process of making a typical chip, from start to finish, including a detailed discussion of each step, in plain language. The evolution of today's technology is added to the story, as seen through the eyes of the engineers who solved some of the problems. The authors are well suited to that discussion since they are three of those same engineers. They have a broad exposure to the industry and its technology that extends all the way back to Shockley Laboratories, the first semiconductor manufacturer in Silicon Valley.
The CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) process flow is the focus of the discussion and is covered in ten chapters. The vast majority of chips made today are fabricated using this general method. In order to ensure that all readers are comfortable with the vocabulary, the first chapter carefully and clearly introduces the science concepts found in later chapters. A chapter is devoted to pointing out the differences in other manufacturing methods, such as the gallium arsenide technology that produces chips for cell phones. In addition, a chapter describing the nature of the semiconductor industry from a business perspective is included.
"The entire process of making a chip is surprisingly easy to understand. The part of the story that defies belief is the tiny dimensions: the conducting wires and other structures on a chip are more than a hundred times thinner than a hair - and getting thinner with every new chip design."
* Included CD gives the reader a much greater comprehension of the process than a strictly print book with static illustrations provides
* Authors are actual engineers who have a broad range of exposure and experience with chip technology
* Contains a unique chapter describing the nature of the semiconductor industry from a business perspective

A vision and practical path of a new partnership of rich and poor to create a better world. An uncommon memoir, Michael Heyn's cross-cultural journey through pervasive human adversity unexpectedly reveals a positive global vision of human decency and caring relevant as much to America as to Yemen. His journey passes through 50 years living and working across countries spanning from the United States to India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, South Pacific Islands, Nepal, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Thailand, Kosovo, Bangladesh, South Sudan, Vietnam, and Yemen. His story stretches from an unsettling childhood to a lifetime in support of the struggle for justice, opportunity and change of those left on the far sides of an ever expanding divide between rich and poor. From living as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a remote Peruvian mountain village to innumerable confrontations with prejudice, abuse, deprivation, conflict and war over a long career in service of the United Nations, Heyn shares what he learned from those caught up on either side of the chasm. A unique insight into and historical understanding of both alienation and aspiration that cut through all human cultures and relations, Heyn envisions a break from the past isolation of greed and selfishness on the one hand and a stark hopelessness on the other. This is a voyage of accumulating discovery that exposes what must change if people are to cross over the divide to come together for their common good, no matter how antithetical this may seem. It is a belief in the basic decency of people both rich and poor as the magic to realise such change. Heyn sets out a practical path to achieve this goal to be actively pursued and managed by those bridging the divide. In the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, it is an exhilarating path that will benefit all engaged and instill reform of our societies' values and governing systems. It is the vision of an immense new power of rich and poor to realise an altered way of life and a better world. In Search of Decency is a gripping memoir that provides cross cultural and political analysis, and views on international development. "My hope is to inspire people, rich and poor, young and old, corporate leaders and agents of change, that the world can be a more just and decent place, and that their commitment to join together is the power to make this happen," says author Michael Heyn.

This is a new novel by the author of Children's Day, his hugely successful debut novel, published by Jonathan Ball last year.
Nicholas Morris is a fundamentally decent chap who likes order. He and his 'sort-of' girlfriend, Leonora, share a relationship that is comforting in its sameness, and he is ensconced in a well-paid career as an environmental lawyer.
He is not aware of feeling much dissatisfaction with his lot, until he realises he has forgotten to vote in South Africa's first democratic elections - because he was seeing to the long-overdue mowing of his lawn! With a jolt Nicholas is aware how dull his life is, despite the efforts of his flamboyantly gay colleague Gerhard.
When he takes on a case to save the baboons of Cape Point from ruthless developers, he becomes drawn into intrigues involving a suave liberal judge, dinosaurs of the old regime, and the full cast of the wealthy Tomlinson family, and its golden boy heir.
When the baboons are captured for experimentation by a sinister research institute, from the Old South Africa, he finds himself sucked into a whirlpool of deceit and soon is not only struggling with his own identity, but fighting for his life.
The Reluctant Passenger is a hugely entertaining and intelligent comic novel set in contemporary Cape Town. The rainbow nation begins to unravel in a hilarious riot of traffic chaos, ecological mayhem and sexual discovery. The author's quiet intellect and dry humour make this novel a wonderfully satisfying romp, a good story with depth and sincerity.

Michiel Heyns if Professor of English at the University of Stellenbosch.