In the last decade of this century and millennium, the computer and communication revolution has shown its power to transform the society.
In this talk I will reflect on my personal experience of witnessing
this revolution from an observation post in Silicon Valley. In
particular, I will emphasise the role of physics and the interplay
between science and engineering in this development.
Information technology is often viewed as based on some physics
discoveries and inventions such as the transistor and the
semiconductor laser. Much of the subsequent development, the
integrated circuit being a good example, has been an engineering
feat.
With shrinking dimensions of the circuits we are approaching the
quantum limitations, requiring new types of computer architectures
based on fundamental physics concepts. In this context we may ask
if we should include the basic concepts of information and information handling as part of physics.
Finally I will include some remarks on the views of physics as seen
in the eyes of a group of politicians.
This is based on a personal experience as past chairman of a
parliamentary committee on science policy in Sweden.
