# The Idea Factory by Jon Gertner

3 Hacker News commenters recommended The Idea Factory by Jon Gertner and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a worthwhile history of Bell Labs, described as an awesome book about that institution. No recurring criticisms appear in the quotes.

## Why people recommend it

- Awesome history of Bell Labs (1 comments): "Awesome book about the history if Bell Labs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49670377))
- Worthwhile read (1 comments): "The Idea Factory is a worthwhile read." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47043326))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dawn-of-everything.md): 23 recommend
- [Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cadillac-desert.md): 18 recommend
- [The Box by Marc Levinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/box.md): 16 recommend
- [Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sapiens.md): 13 recommend
- [Chip War by Chris Miller](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chip-war.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143122797?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780143122791) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Idea Factory by Jon Gertner", https://hackerapproved.com/p/idea-factory/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).