Moore, Gordon (1929-2023), an American scientist and businessman, cofounded Intel Corporation, a major computer chip manufacturer. Moore was the author of Moore’s law. Moore’s law is a prediction that the number of electrical devices on a computer chip—a measure related to computing power—will double about every two years. At the same time, according to the law, the cost of the chip will remain the same or decrease.
Gordon Earle Moore was born on Jan. 3, 1929, in San Francisco. He grew up in nearby Pescadero. In 1950, Moore graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.S. degree in chemistry. In 1954, he received a Ph.D. degree in chemistry and physics from the California Institute of Technology. From 1956 to 1957, he worked with the American physicist William Shockley at Beckman Instruments. Shockley was one of the inventors of the transistor, a switchlike component that forms the basis for computer chips and other electronic devices. Moore later moved to Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation. In 1968, Moore cofounded Intel Corporation with the American inventor Robert Noyce, one of the inventors of the microchip. At Intel, Moore served variously as executive vice president, president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board. He retired from Intel in 2001.
Moore received many honors. In 2002, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian honors in the United States. In 2003, he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was awarded the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Medal of Honor in 2008. He was a fellow of the Computer History Museum in the United States and a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering in the United Kingdom. Moore died on March 24, 2023.
