Microchips Turn Sand Into Mind

But like Stanford and the Third Reich, microchips were the brainchild of an eugenicist

The world can’t stop talking about the chip, but the thrill is in the toppings. The toppings are the atomic-sized transistors, the fragments of supercharged pimentos and capers that, when carved, layered, and latticed into a semiconductive nano-universe, give a microchip its fathomless virtuosity. By contrast, the chip is just a crisp, visible morsel ca…