Silicon Valley: The Lure & The Legends

By Paula Tuerk:

“Silicon Valley: The Lure and the Legends,” an original exhibit at the Los Altos History Museum, will answer the question, “why here?”

What was it that led the Valley of Heart’s Delight from orchards to oscillators? And who were the visionaries and risk takers who made it happen?

The exhibit – Oct.18 2014 through April 2015 -- is the story of the “who” and “why” behind the “what.” Displays will highlight the ingredients in the recipe for Silicon Valley: Stanford University, the role of the military and federal government, corporate culture, climate and the venture capital community.

It will focus on the local factors and folks contributing to this very special place.

Nowhere else was there the same combination of things that existed in Silicon Valley: brilliant minds, cheap land, great weather, casual lifestyle and what’s called “cowboy capitalism” - the belief that there is nearly unlimited money to be made. The centerpiece will be a parametric structure, shaped by stock market fluctuations during the valley’s boom years.

Enter and you’ll meet several dozen people – via iPad stories, anecdotes and photos – who helped shape the world we live in.

Among these “legends” will be John Warnock and Chuck Geschke of Adobe Systems, Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore of Intel, and Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google. A vignette of a workbench from the Los Altos garage where the two Steves – Jobs and Wozniak– created the first Apple computer will be part of the exhibit.

For a hands-on experience, there will be an Adobe Photoshop workstation, which will take “selfies” to a new level.

A third workbench will showcase a 3D printer with its capabilities to print objects from trinkets to medical devices. Bespoke Innovations founder Scott Summit, whose company makescustomized prosthetic limbs using 3D technology, will be a featured speaker during the exhibit.

A mini-theater will be showing “The Lure and the Legends,” an original film featuring Silicon Valley luminaries, and the PBS film, “The American Experience.”

Related programs will feature Stanford University President John Hennessy, former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry and Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur and academician Steve Blank.

An opening reception will be held on October 19 at the Los Altos History Museum, 51 South San Antonio Road, Los Altos.

The Museum is open Thursday through Sunday, noon to 4 pm. Free admission. For more information, go to www.losaltoshistory.org.

About the Los Altos History Museum: Located in one of the few apricot orchards of Santa Clara Valley, the Los Altos History Museum explores the rich history of local people and how the use of the land over time has transformed the open space of the First People to the agricultural paradise, once known as “The Valley of Hearts Delight,” into the high technology hub of today’s Silicon Valley.

Opening in the spring of 2001, the Los Altos History Museum resides in an impressive three-level, 8200 square-foot building built entirely with public funds. Building ownership was transferred to the City of Los Altos in 2002. The Museum features a changing exhibits gallery as well as a permanent exhibit called The Crown of the Peninsula. Additionally, the 1905 Gilbert Smith home, furnished in the period of the Great Depression, sits on the original orchard site and is open for tours.

Image captions:

David Packard and Bill Hewlett with their mentor, Stanford Professor Fred Terman
Silicon Valley map with company logos
Xerox Parc Research Center, 1970s