• Gordon E. Moore, who originated what became known as Moore's Law - saying that the number of transistors that could be placed on a silicon chip would double every two years for the foreseeable future, and therefore would increase the data-processing power of computers exponentially - has passed away. He was 94.
The New York Times writes that Moore was "a co-founder and former chairman of Intel Corporation, the California semiconductor chip maker that helped give Silicon Valley its name, achieving the kind of industrial dominance once held by the giant American railroad or steel companies of another age … Along with a handful of colleagues, Mr. Moore could claim credit for bringing laptop computers to hundreds of millions of people and embedding microprocessors into everything from bathroom scales, toasters and toy fire engines to cellphones, cars and jets."
The Times also writes that "as his wealth grew, Mr. Moore also became a major figure in philanthropy. In 2001, he and his wife created the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation with a donation of 175 million Intel shares. In 2001, they donated $600 million to the California Institute of Technology, the largest single gift to an institution of higher learning at the time. The foundation’s assets currently exceed $8 billion, and it has given away more than $5 billion since its founding."
