Amazon.com
Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer with a multitude of items for sale. Your TI Alumlni Association (TIAA) has an agreement with Amazon whereby TIAA can earn an associate’s fee when items are purchased through the following link on the TIAA website. The associate’s fee is 4% of the total purchase order before shipping and taxes are applied, and this helps TIAA offset operating expenses. Tell your friends and family to click on Amazon first and then shop. Unless otherwise noted, the following books are available on Amazon.com.
The following list contains some books by TI Authors or about TIers, and surely there are more! If you have a book in print, or know of a title by a former TIer, please notify the TIAA office by clicking Contact Us.
Check out the latest books on our list which are available on Amazon.com right now:
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No Small Dreams: J. Erik Jonsson–Texas Visionary — by Darwin Payne
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Socialism vs Capitalism: Roosevelt through Obama — by Mel Barney
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Dodging Elephants, the Autobiography of J. Fred Bucy — by Kenneth R. Martin
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Gravity Decoded: Exploring the Structure of Space-Energy — Sebastian Borrello
Engineering the World: Stories from the First 75 years of Texas Instruments
Published in 2005
The seventy-five vignettes making up this history paint a picture of TI and its people, providing a window into a corporate culture that fosters the creativity and the mental toughness needed to compete in the world semiconductor market. The stories show TI’s staunch sense of fiscal responsibility, civic mindedness, and high ethical standards in its business practices.
TI Alumni Association Cookbook Benefiting United Way
by the TIAA Cookbook Committee
Published in 2011
Many former TIers and their families have made this wonderful collection of recipes possible: old and new, from bear and far, and from family and friends. Send an email to the TIAA Office for ordering informaton.
Four Wars
by Mel Barney [Kindle Edition]
Published in 2012
Mel Barney’s life story reads like a fascinating history lesson. Born on the eve of the Great Depression in Shreveport, Louisiana, Mel manages to win a football scholarship to Louisiana Tech. where he gains a lifelong sweetheart and an engineering degree. His invention and development of airborne systems that allow covert penetration of enemy territory bring him professional recognition and the attention of the CIA. He flies on many dangerous flight tests. With CIA assistance, he travels behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War and initiates a technology exchange which becomes part of the Nixon/Brezhnev détente initiative. As the manager of the Texas Instruments international marketing program he travels to fifty-four countries. His adventures include many stories about the countries he visits including being kidnapped in Nigeria and shot at in Jakarta. He goes on to manage Texas Instruments in Washington D. C. This experience provides him with a first hand-look at how business is transacted in the nation’s capitol. After returning to Dallas he has other inventions to pursue. Mel co-founds Merit Technology Incorporated with ideas about reducing the workload of military pilots was one of the core strategies of the company. In retirement, his political upbringing, D. C. experience, and editorial page reading educate Mel on the political/economic nature of our country. The Dallas Morning News has published many of his letters. He plays a lot of golf, poker, and bridge. On his seventieth birthday his wife gives him a piano keyboard and he creates a new business of playing for senior homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Mel Barney is a true American original. His story of struggle and adventure, and the wisdom he has gained along the way should be required reading for those working to end the class warfare of today’s Economic Crisis.
Socialism vs Capitalism: Roosevelt through Obama
by Mel Barney
Published in 2014
Socialism vs Capitalism is the culmination of four years of research concerning the 13 presidents who have presided over the United States during the last 85 years. The book covers the administrations of Roosevelt through Obama. It includes the study results of the socialistic and capitalistic policies of each president and rates each president relative to the policies that he was able to incorporate into the United States Government during his term of office. For those who remember these 13 presidents it should be no surprise that Roosevelt implemented the most socialistic policies of any of the other 13 presidents. Reagan implemented the most capitalistic policies of any other president. The author’s interest in this subject stems from being born into a political family and having a civics teacher in high school who required that students read the editorial page of the newspaper every day and it became a lifelong habit.
Gravity Decoded: Exploring the Structure of Space-Energy
by Sebastian R. Borrello
Published in 2001
Gravity is a mystery. Objects fall to the ground as if pulled by an unseen hand. Galileo was the first person to discover how falling works, but failed to ask why. Kepler deciphered the laws of planetary motion but missed the meaning of his own discoveries. Newton ignited the Enlightenment when he found the connection between matter and gravity, and gave us the tools to measure orbital mechanics. But Newton was disappointed with his own discoveries because the source of gravity lay hidden from him. Einstein discovered the connection between space and matter but his own equations masked the real source of gravity. He failed to understand that space is more than geometry. This book explores the energy of space and discovers that its structure completely defines gravity. Using simple mathematics and the achievements of Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and Einstein, the author constructs a new law of gravity that is defined by the size of the universe and its matter-energy content. Gone is Newton’s awkward, arbitrary constant and Einstein’s dependence on it. The force of gravity becomes the tendency for the Universe to reach perfect symmetry of space-energy. The Universe is self-regulating with its space-tension exactly balanced by its matter-energy. The Universe consists of only space-energy and the matter-energy that was derived from it. With space-energy revealed as the source of gravity, the author looks into the meaning of anti-gravity, and how we might achieve it.
Dodging Elephants
the Autobiography of J. Fred Bucy and Edited by Kenneth R. Martin
Published in 2014
Dodging Elephants tells the story of how a contented teenage soda jerk from Tahoka, Texas, with no plan for his future, found his way to higher education, landed a research job at Texas Instruments, and, over three decades, helped move that company from a small, oil-searching firm to a worldwide electronics giant. From the start J. Fred Bucy was a tireless, driven manager who turned failures into successes. Taking on TI’s government equipment division in 1963, he successfully championed ingenious new designs. In 1967 he moved to the company’s volatile, ever-expanding semiconductor division, establishing factories worldwide. Meanwhile, he had become an influential advisor on U.S. government export regulation. By 1976, when TI was competing in the consumer market, he was the company’s president. Bucy left TI in 1985 after a brief term as CEO. His autobiography is rich in anecdotes and unsparingly honest.
Growing up on the rural South Plains of Texas in the years of the Great Depression, Dust Bowl, and World War II, Fred Bucy learned the value of self-reliance and hard work. He seemed headed for a farming career when his life took an abrupt turn. Against substantial odds, and with a family to support, he earned two degrees in Physics and, in 1953, joined a young but promising company, Texas Instruments Incorporated. For the next thirty years he played a major role in TI’s phenomenal growth and history-making innovation, moving steadily upward, becoming TI’s president in 1976 and its CEO in 1984. It was a tough climb. Along the way he successfully managed a variety of brilliant, often endangered projects including digital computers, sophisticated weaponry, and complex semiconductors, playing a crucial role in the explosive, worldwide expansion of microchip technology.
Aces and Eights
by Bob Cox
Published in 2008
The author’s published writing began at age 15 when he wrote a humorous travelogue for the Litchfield Enquirer, a Litchfield, Connecticut newspaper. Much later he wrote a weekly column, titled: Premeditated Absurdity for the Weekly Register Call, a Central City, Colorado newspaper with occasional reprints in the Rocky Mountain News, a Denver, Colorado newspaper. He has also written more or less serious articles, depending on your point of view, published in several journals and magazines devoted to technical subjects. He now publishes his own poetry.
Crazy Horse
by Bob Cox
Published in 2008
More poems, composed from legends, family stories, and thoughts on life in general.
The Joy Charged Life: 52 Simple, Practical Ways to Create Joy in Your Daily Life
by Donna Dawley
Published in 2013
By using the methods author Donna Dawley recommends in this book, you can significantly boost your mood each day. The methods themselves cost little to no money, and most can be accomplished in just a few minutes each day. When you add these Joy Charges to your day, you can easily transform a typical day into one filled with joy.
Grabbing Operas by Their Tales: Liberating the Libretti
by Charles E. Lake
Published in 2004
Charles flippantly retells the plots of fifteen of the best known and well-loved operas. Using irreverent humor, word play, footnotes, and absurdities, each opera plot is described in an entertaining and educational way. The fifteen operas are:
Carmen by Bizet
Faust by Gounod
Romeo and Juliet by Gounod
Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck
Don Giovanni by Mozart
Tales of Hoffmann by Offenbach
Tosca by Puccini
Turandot by Puccini
Cinderella by Rossini
Samson and Delilah by Saint-Saens
Il Trovatore by Verdi
Aida by Verdi
Otello by Verdi
Lohengrin by Wagner
Die Walkure by Wagner
This is great reading for music lovers.
The Mortician and Other Short Stories
by Charles E. Lake
Published in 2010
There are 14 interesting and enjoyable fictional stories in this anthology. The stories are short and independent of each other, which make for easy stop-and-go reading. You will enjoy a wide variety of stories: mystery, murder, suspense, romance, feel-good, and humorous. (Betcha can’t read just one!) The Accident: A man decides he must murder to avenge his sister’s death. The Bequest: An aunt’s untimely death results in regrettable consequences. The Broach: Hostile twin sisters vie for their mother’s broach. The Cabin: An unfaithful wife and her lover take steps to murder her husband. The Counselor: An alienated husband gets advice from a stranger. The Diary: A family learns the contents of Grandfather’s diaries. The Encounter: An attractive young woman is not afraid to jog by herself. The Letters: Community newcomers are threatened for unknown reasons. The Loan: A young child loans her parents some money. The Mortician: A man must return a favor … or else. The Pact: A secret platonic relationship spawns a crisis. The Playmate: A mother has aversion to her four-year-old daughter’s friend. The Sale: A homeowner lives through a garage sale. The Ticket: A chance meeting is really not a chance meeting. Do you like surprises? You’ll find one or two in each story!
Analog and Digital Circuits for Electronic Control System Applications – Using the TI MSP430 Microcontroller
by Jerry Luecke
Jerry worked for 32 years in Semiconductor engineering and marketing. His book is directed to the beginning engineer, and describes new analog control system design techniques. Send an email to Jerry at Luecke.gerald@gmail.com for order informaton.
Jack St. Clair Kilby: A Man of Few Words
by Ed Millis
Published in 2008
The story of Jack Kilby and the invention of the microchip has been told many times, and is told again here from a new perspective. This book also tells the story of Jack’s other life—his youth, his education, his family, and hobbies, and his service in World War II — as well as the turning points: what part did a Kansas blizzard play in Jack’s life? Was his life saved by a cat nap? How did not taking a vacation lead to a Nobel Prize? The answers are within.
Kiss Willie for Me
by Ed Millis
In the Gavine Drummond Hunt family of Lexington, Kentucky, all four sons went to war. Two brothers fought with the Union and two with the Confederacy, and wrote letters to their sister that ended with “Kiss Willie for me.” Willie was William Hunt Craig, my grandfather. Many of these 1860-1864 Civil War letters are from the battlefield. Send e-mail to Ed at EMLLS@aol.com for order information.
TI, the Transistor, and Me
by Ed Millis
Published in 2000
Ed Millis, an employee of Texas Instruments for 37 years, writes of his adventures and misadventures while working at this famous company back in the 50s – 70s. He denies that it’s a history of TI and calls it “my dis-integrated circuit through Texas Instruments.” Send e-mail to Ed at EMLLS@aol.com for order information.
High Voltage, Gunpowder and Mousetraps
by Ed Millis
Published in 2002
Ed Millis writes about memories of his “almost perfect childhood” while growing up in the “M Streets” area of Dallas. The book title is no exaggeration, with stories of potentially lethal experiments and devices and his unswerving path to a lifelong career in engineering. Send e-mail to Ed at EMLLS@aol.com for order information.
One Way To Write Your Personal Story
by Ed Millis
Ed has written yet another book, and this time he tells you how to write and publish your own unique life history. Everybody, he claims, has a story to tell. His advice is succinct and light-hearted, but it’s also clear and interesting to follow. So get started; your grandkids are eager to read your book! Send e-mail to Ed at EMLLS@aol.com for order information.
The Forgotten War: Texas Veterans Remember Korea
by Mackey Murdock
Published in 2002
For his first book, Last of the Old-Time Texans, Mackey Murdock transported readers to an era that ended before his life began. His second book is part personal history and part retelling the stories of others who came of age in the early 50s: the shattering of innocence of a generation of young Texans on the ugly terrain of pain and disillusionment that was Korea.
Last of the Old-Time Texans
by Mackey Murdock
Published in 2000
In the early 1900s, much of Texas remained raw and unbroken, waiting to be tamed. Mackey Murdock’s tribute to these old-time Texans describes how they accomplished this task with their sweat, their laughter, and their livesóhow they harnessed her blessings and sowed seeds for the future. Told in their own words by the builders of our state, Last of the Old-Time Texans is an enlightening account of life at the beginning of the twentieth century when it was lived and enjoyed with only the essentials. Their stories of hardships and triumphs and everyday living are gathered and told with great warmth and respect, and a precious piece of history is lovingly preserved in the interviews with these turn-of-the-century Texans.Mackey retired from Linear Products Front End in 1991.
No Small Dreams: J. Erik Jonsson–Texas Visionary
by Darwin Payne
Published in 2014
John Erik Jonsson, the only child of hard-working Swedish immigrants, latched on early to the American dream of success. Defying his father’s old world notion that he take over the family’s small cigar shop, he became a visionary industrialist who led unknown Texas Instruments to the top of the electronics revolution that transformed American life. Then, following the assassination of President Kennedy in his adopted city of Dallas, he guided the city in its darkest hour, becoming the greatest mayor in its history. When he enrolled as a freshman in 1918 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Jonsson struggled to make up academic deficiencies while holding part-time jobs. He graduated on time, and then began his remarkable journey to the National Business Hall of Fame. As a wealthy industrialist, knowing full well that education had provided his entry point, he promoted the value of learning, especially the sciences and engineering, and he backed up his convictions with his philanthropy. Many institutions benefited immensely from his gifts. Eleven of them honored him with honorary doctorates. As important as his philanthropy was, John Erik Jonsson is best remembered for more visible achievements elsewhere, especially at Texas Instruments. His leadership there led to his election as one of only four living Americans to the first class of the National Business Hall of Fame. Such an irony that Dallas, this proud Texas city then noted for its insularity, looked to a Brooklyn native to lead it from its despair after the assassination of President Kennedy. In his seven years as mayor Jonsson left an enduring legacy: an architectural gem in its marvelous new city hall, an airport that became one of the world s biggest and busiest, a Goals for Dallas program that involved citizens of all walks of life, a new central library, a coveted designation as an All-American City, and a new self-esteem for the city. Leadership came naturally. His tall frame, deep voice, easy manner, and commanding presence reinforced the fact. After being the guiding force in Texas Instruments transformation from an oil-exploration company into a world-wide modern electronics firm, civic responsibilities dominated his schedule. His pattern of leadership was consistent. He envisioned long-term goals, carefully recruited those who could carry them out, convinced them of the worth of their assignment, and monitored their progress regularly. In a large sense, he was an educator with a huge classroom. Through his Goals for Dallas program he enlisted thousands of ordinary residents to define what they wanted Dallas to be. He played the dominant role in building D/FW International Airport, then the world s biggest airport, the dominant catalyst for the entire region s development. Against significant opposition, he led the drive for a new and dramatic city hall recognized as one of the nation s most significant public buildings. Municipal politics in Dallas was non-partisan, a fact which Jonsson carefully observed. However, he was a life-long Republican, cut from the traditional GOP cloth of the day. Always a pragmatist, he was a champion of reason and scientific inquiry, especially committed to research in all things. Jonsson s long-time marriage to Margaret Fonde, his Tennessee belle, produced three children who became accomplished adults in their own rights. By his own acknowledgment, though, his family life took a back seat to his many business and civic obligations. Although he had told his long-suffering wife that he would retire early so they could travel the world and enjoy the comforts that hard work made possible, that moment never came. It is impossible to truly calculate the impact of an individual like J. Erik Jonsson. The ripple effects of his work and philanthropy go on and on and on from the technology of the information age.
The Kuala Lumpur Connection
by Robert Porter
Published in 2006
Awarded publisher’s “editor’s pick” award, this adventure thriller is set in South East Asia during the opium wars. The author learned the historical background when he was managing operations for the Materials and Controls Group in Kuala Lumpur.
During the tumultuous 1970s, competing warlords are killing each other to gain control of the opium grown in the Golden Triangle, the mountainous region in Southeast Asia where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Burma join. The winner in the latest opium war, Tai Los, which means “dope boss,” is now the “King of the Golden Triangle.”
Tai Los is the leader of a militia he calls the Shan Liberation Army—a group fighting for independence from the Burmese government and the creation of a separate Shan state. To raise money for guns and to gain respectability, he has offered to sell the opium crop now under his control to the United States. When President Carter’s administration decides to turn down Tia Los’s offer, the CIA brings in Mike Shannon, a young drug enforcement agent from South Boston, to broker a new deal.
Shannon faces two major threats as he heads into the perilous assignment: knowing that he is expendable, and the Triads. An ancient Chinese gang operating out of Hong Kong, the Triads are dependent on the Golden Triangle for their supply of heroin. Once they learn that their supply is threatened, they will not hesitate to hunt Shannon down for the sole purpose of eliminating him.
Electronic Genie: The Tangled History of Silicon
by Fred Seitz and Norman Einspruch
Published in 1997
Former TIers Seitz and Einspruch take readers on a two-century journey that began with Antoine Lavoisier’s prediction of the existence of silicon as an element. It traces the emergence of silicon as key to the development of most forms of today’s electronics and its role in making possible the revolutionary digital computer. Loaded with information about such original thinkers as Lavoisier, John Bardeen, Bill Gates, Patrick Haggerty, Gordon Moore, and many more, the volume traces the use of silicon in metallurgy, as a diode rectifier in wireless and radio, and ultimately as a nonlinear element for heterodyne mixing in radar during World War II.
Written by two well-known figures in the field, Electronic Genie will appeal to students of science and technology as well as to anyone interested in the history of these fields.take readers on a two-century journey that begins with Lavoisier’s prediction of the existence of silicon as an element, tracing its emergence as key to the development of most forms of today’s electronics.
Advantages and Other Stories
by Mark Smith
Published in 2006
Mark Smith, former GSI President and TI VP, published this collection of short stories in July 2006. Advantages and Other Stories is a collection of short stories, more-or-less in chronological order, occasionally approaching the autobiographical, and always understated as a means of inverted emphasis. Venues include Europe just before WWII, Vermont, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Sweden.
Short Stories and Vignettes
by Harry Waugh
Louisiana stories told by an expatriate with a few Texas stories thrown in. Retired TI engineer Harry Waugh describes his book as “Light reading for those who are not too serious about life.”
High John the Conqueror
by John W. Wilson and James Ward
Published in 1998
Set in Southeast Texas cotton plantation country, the novel tells of the struggle of one poor African American family to hold onto their land. Despite floods and crop failures, Bully Webster is determined not to let John Chaney, the rich white man who covets his farm, foreclose and leave Webster’s family homeless. This sensitive portrayal of a proud, but poor, Black farmer of the Depression Era was one of the first to deal honestly with race relations in Texas, with the issue of sexual harassment, and with the plight of the small farmer. Its terse, powerful prose will keep readers enthralled.
John W. Wilson worked 1953-1985 for Texas Instruments Incorporated and its predecessor company, Geophysicl Service Inc., in public relations, advertising, and employee communications.
Tales From Texas Past
by John Wilson (Kindle edition)
Published in 2013
These tales are from a period of great change in Texas, and the times he describes so well are now far in the past. John Wilson writes of these times as a master of description ― he doesn’t invite you into the scene, he drags you into it. You’re caught up in the action like a bystander walking onto the stage of a play as the lights come up. As you read, you see the surroundings and meet the people, you smell the smells and hear the sounds―the odor of the sweaty leather saddle and the clink of the trace chains, the grunting of the mules and the grit on the hoe handle, amd feel the sweat rolling down my back. John has a way of pulling you into a story like none other. And John knows of what he writes. He was there.