Life on the critical path: Constructing silicon detectors for hadron colliders

A brief history of silicon detectors in the CDF and CMS experiments is presented that includes some of the more important tactics that have been employed in the construction of these detectors. Although the use of silicon strip detectors has increased dramatically over the past two decades, each generation has had to push the limits of scale, complexity and cost. These projects were all very challenging. Some lessons learned by the author are presented along with examples showing the importance of direct involvement of the detector builders in the ensuing physics program.