Bob Pease

Robert A. Pease
Full face portrait, showing mature glasses-wearing adult male with white hair and a full white mustache and long beard
Born (1940-08-22)August 22, 1940
Rockville, Connecticut
Died June 18, 2011(2011-06-18) (aged 70)
Saratoga, California
Nationality American
Other names Bob Pease
Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Occupation Electronics engineer
Known for Analog integrated circuit design, technical author
Religion Episcopalian[1]

Robert Allen Pease (August 22, 1940 – June 18, 2011) was an analog integrated circuit design expert and technical author.[2][3] He designed several very successful "best-seller" integrated circuits, many of them in continuous production for multiple decades. These include the LM331 voltage to frequency converter,[4] and the LM337 adjustable negative voltage regulator (complement to the LM317).

Life and career

Pease was born on August 22, 1940 in Rockville, Connecticut.[5][6] He attended Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts, and subsequently obtained a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961.

He started work in the early 1960s at George A. Philbrick Researches (GAP-R). GAP-R pioneered the first reasonable-cost, mass-produced operational amplifier (op-amp), the K2-W. At GAP-R, Pease developed many high-performance op-amps, built with discrete solid-state components.

In 1976, Pease moved to National Semiconductor Corporation (NSC) as a designer and applications engineer, where he began designing analog monolithic integrated circuits, as well as design reference circuits using these devices. He had advanced to staff scientist by the time of his departure in 2009.[7] During his tenure at NSC, he began writing a popular continuing monthly column called "Pease Porridge" in Electronic Design about his experiences in the world of electronic design and application.[8]

Pease was the author of eight books, including Troubleshooting Analog Circuits, and held 21 patents.[9]

His other interests included hiking and biking in remote places, and working on his old Volkswagen Beetle, which he often mentioned in his columns.[10] Pease's writing was "strongly opinionated, but he could communicate with a wry sense of humor that endeared him to readers whether they agreed with him or not".[2][11][12]

“ My favorite programming language is ... solder.[13] ”

Death

Flag at half-staff at National Semiconductor on June 21, 2011

Pease was killed in the crash of his 1969 Volkswagen Beetle, on June 18, 2011.[14][15][16] He was leaving a gathering in memory of Jim Williams, who was another well-known analog circuit designer, a technical author, and a renowned staff engineer working at Linear Technology. Pease was 70 years old, and was survived by his wife, two sons, and three grandchildren.[16] The sudden death of Pease triggered a small flood of remembrances and tributes from fellow technical writers, practicing engineers, and electronics hardware hacking enthusiasts.[11][14][17][18]

Publications (partial)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pease, Bob (January 13, 2005). "What's All This Resonance Stuff Anyhow?". Electronic Design. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  2. 1 2 Tuite, Don (June 20, 2011). "Remembering Bob Pease The Writer". Electronic Design (Penton Media, Inc.). Retrieved 2011-06-21.
  3. ↑ Williams, Jim (1991). Analog Circuit Design: Art, Science and Personalities. Newnes. p. xvi. ISBN 978-0-7506-9640-1. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  4. ↑ "Engineering Silicon Valley" (PDF). National Semiconductor. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  5. ↑ "National Semiconductor Staff Scientist Bob Pease Named To Electrical Engineering Hall Of Fame" (Press release). National Semiconductor. October 21, 2002.
  6. ↑ Robert A. Pease (December 1984). "A new Fahrenheit temperature sensor". IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits 19 (6): 971–977. doi:10.1109/JSSC.1984.1052253.
  7. ↑ Cassidy, Mike (April 20, 2009). "Departure of chip-design legend Bob Pease prompts outpouring in valley". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on April 23, 2009. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  8. ↑ Gawel, Richard (June 21, 2011). "An English Major Remembers An Analog Giant". Electronic Design. Penton Media, Inc. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
  9. ↑ Mattera, Lucinda (September 13, 2004). "Hall-Of-Famers Ponder The Future Of Electronics Engineering". Electronic Design News. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  10. ↑ Pease, Bob. "Pease Porridge column". Electronic Design. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  11. 1 2 Desposito, Joseph. "Bob Pease Remembered For Pease Porridge And A Whole Lot More". Electronic Design. Penton Media, Inc. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
  12. ↑ Schneiderman, Ron. "Robert A. Pease: Passionate, Talented Guru And Maverick". Electronic Design. Penton Media, Inc. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
  13. ↑ "Remembering Bob Pease". Texas Instruments. Retrieved 2015-06-09.
  14. 1 2 Schweber, Bill (June 20, 2011). "Analog expert Bob Pease dies in accident". EE Times. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
  15. ↑ Desposito, Joseph (June 19, 2011). "Bob Pease Killed in Car Crash". Electronic Design.
  16. 1 2 Rako, Paul (June 20, 2011). "Analog engineering legend Bob Pease killed in car crash". Electronic Design News (UBM Electronics). Retrieved 2011-06-21.
  17. ↑ Rako, Paul (ed.) (June 20, 2011). "Analog engineering legend Bob Pease remembered". Electronic Design News (UBM Electronics). Retrieved 2011-06-21.
  18. ↑ Szczys, Mike (June 21, 2011). "The passing of Bob Pease". Hack a Day. Hack a Day. Retrieved 2011-06-21.

External links

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