Traitorous Eight - Frictions

Frictions

Historians and colleagues unanimously agree that Shockley was a poor manager and businessman. From the early childhood he was prone to outbursts of unprovoked aggression, which were suppressed due to the internal discipline of his past working environment. He also tended to seek rivals, even in his own subordinates.

On November 1, 1956, it was announced that the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics would be awarded to Shockley, Bardeen and Brattain. The related public events of November–December overtired Shockley and took him away from the lab in a time when it had several management problems. Despite the festivities, the atmosphere in the lab was unhealthy.

Historians characterized Shockley's state of mind in 1956–1957 as paranoia, or autism, although Shockley was never diagnosed by psychiatrists. All phone calls were recorded, and the staff was not allowed to share their results with each other, which was not feasible since they all worked in a small building. Shockley, not trusting his employees, was sending their reports to Bell Labs for double-checking. At some point he sent the entire lab for a lie detector test, though everyone refused.

The team started losing its members, starting with Jones, a technologist, who left in January 1957 due to a conflict with Greenwich and Hoernie. Noyce and Moore then stood on different sides: Moore led the dissidents, whereas Noyce stood behind Shockley and tried to resolve conflicts. Shockley appreciated that and considered Noyce as his sole support in the group.