In his own words: John R. Pierce

In April of 2002, the engineering world lost one of its great visionaries. John Robinson Pierce, whose career spanned six decades, was at one time one of the best known figures in the engineering field. He became famous not only for his considerable technical accomplishments, but as a popularizer of scientific knowledge in the media and through his own voluminous publications. In 1992, when he was 80, the IEEE History Center interviewed Dr. Pierce at his home in California as part of its ongoing effort to collect the reminiscences of prominent members. As a tribute to Pierce, we have drawn from the transcript of this interview to touch on some of the highlights of his career.