Bob Pease

Robert A. Pease
Born	(1940-08-22)August 22, 1940 Rockville, Connecticut
Died	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

Robert Allen Pease (August 22, 1940 – June 18, 2011) was an analog integrated circuit design expert and technical author. 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, and the LM337 adjustable negative voltage regulator (complement to the LM317).

Life and career

Pease was born on August 22, 1940 in Rockville, Connecticut. 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. 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.

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

His other interests included hiking and biking in remote places, and working on his old Volkswagen Beetle, which he often mentioned in his columns. 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".

My favorite programming language is ... solder.

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. 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. The sudden passing of Pease triggered a small flood of remembrances and tributes from fellow technical writers, practicing engineers, and electronics hardware hacking enthusiasts.

Publications (partial)

•  — An industry standard bench-top reference book for troubleshooting (and designing) analog circuits
• (self-published) — An idiosyncratic, entertaining, and insightful book on safe driving techniques, written for novices and experienced drivers alike

See also

• Jim Williams — analog circuit designer, technical author, colleague of Bob Pease
• Bob Widlar — pioneering analog integrated circuit designer, technical author, colleague at National Semiconductor Corporation, early contractor to Linear Technology Corporation

External links

• Electronic Design website
• The philbrick archive
• Remembering Bob Pease web page with archive of his National website
• Interview with Bob Pease at EEWeb
• How to Drive Into Accidents ... and How Not To at the Wayback Machine (archived June 8, 2001) chapters at Pease's transtronix.com (archive).
• [1] Bob Pease A Tribute to his last challenge (article) .

• Pease, Bob (January 13, 2005). "What's All This Resonance Stuff Anyhow?". Electronic Design. Retrieved August 5, 2012.