Analog engineering legend Bob Pease remembered
By Paul Rako, Technical editor -- EDN, June 20, 2011
Read the first part of this story, Analog engineering legend Bob Pease killed in car crash, here.
EDN's Paul Rako and fellow engineers take time to share their favorite memories of Bob. EDN encourages its readers to share their own Bob stories in the below comments field.
This
is one week I will never forget. Two
analog icons are now gone, but both have left a legacy of quality work and a
passion for their craft. I first met Bob
35 years ago when he joined National and I was a very young engineer well down
the learning curve. I had just written
the draft for a thick app note on my third chip, a precision monolithic light
sensor. Somehow Bob got hold of a copy
and the next morning it was bleeding red ink.
I had flashbacks to my 7th
grade English teacher! But as I
read the "Peasian" markings the
meaning became apparent. Bob was using
his considerable proofing skills to help me.
That little episode got us off to a good start. I made sure he was invited to my mask-set
"beer checks" because his inputs were always valuable and he never
failed to earn at least one beer. Bob
was generous with his time, his expertise, his humor, and also with his
money. For example, if he received an
author or patent award it was commonplace for him to treat the lab to beer and
pizza after work on Friday. His legendary office simply grew more and more
legendary as time went by. An early modest version of his office won
"Messiest Desk in Northern California," a contest sponsored by the
local radio station. The entry photo was
taken from the top of a 10-foot ladder by Fran Hoffart with a wide angle lens
after 7:00pm when most everyone had gone home. We told Bob about it the day we
handed him the first prize check of $500. Of course, he took everyone out for
beer and pizza. Much later I found
myself in the odd position of managing Bob (now there's an oxymoron for
you). One day the fire marshall gave me
flack over this fire trap called Bob's office. I negotiated a compromise with
the fire marshal and then approached Bob with the new rules. Bob loved to beat rules and I knew that. My deal was that all papers had to be inside
his cubicle and piled no higher than the walls.
I reserved the right to drag a 2x4 over the top of the cubicle walls at
end-of-day Friday and anything caught would go in the trash. However within the cubicle, anything
goes. Bob thought that was
reasonable. As you may imagine the
cubicle's overgrowth pattern was periodic, resetting every Friday at 5pm. When Bob retired from National, we threw a
big party for him on campus. I can still
visualize him on stage flashing "analog PowerPoint" and with a stack
of signed books & posters "holding court" with his subjects. I'll leave it to the others to tell funny
stories about Bob's many shenanigans.
What I choose to remember most is his intellect, gregarious nature,
generosity, broad interests, and true love of analog circuits. Bob, you are gone now, but you will live on
in the many writings, circuits and fond memories that you left with us. --Dennis
Monticelli, fellow, National Semiconductor
[When
I heard the news of Jim's death] sadness fell upon me so hard and fast that it
is hard to understand. It was nearly as bad as when I heard my own dad had died.
Bob was an inspiration to me and to a lot of people and a great friend. He was
a rare breed of an engineer, a thinker, an innovator and one to look up to. The
entire analog engineering world will miss him. We should all celebrate the fact
that God blessed the world with him. I am lost for words and can think of
nothing else to say. --Nick Gray, retired National Semiconductor
applications engineer
This
is tragically sad news about Bob. I can't count the number of entertaining
conversations Bob instigated about things like the Taguchi method, Laws of
Form, the many virtues of FR4 (it's both a floor wax and a dessert topping),
and the use of neon bulbs as level shifters in the K2-W ("neon bulbs can do
lots of things, none of them well - they're even crappy lights"). I always
learned something when talking to him, even if we disagreed. We've lost an
irreplaceable resource and link to the "golden age" of analog design. No more
installments of "What's all this [insert topic here] stuff, anyhow" columns? Unthinkable.
RIP, RAP. --Tom Lee, Stanford professor
Another
great analog guru is gone. I sat next to
Bob from 1992 to 1996. What a character
he was. I first met him in person in 1990 when I join NSC. There was never a
dull moment with him. If you wanted an
opinion on anything (and I mean anything) he would give it and back it up with
facts. But his great point was all of us
nerdie analog engineers could relate to Bob.
We all aspired to be like him.
Reading his columns in EDN was both educational and entertaining. Only
Bob could yell at upper management and get away with it. The rest of us would have been fired. I will sadly miss him. --Ed Fong, engineer,
Space Systems Loral; instructor, Stanford and UC Berkeley
What terrible news! There are no words that can describe my pain for the loss of
Jim and Bob. I often worried about Bob Pease as he looked so fragile lately and
was still driving. May Bob rest in peace. -- Siu Williams
We
are losing the old wise ones and it is a sad thing. I hope you are correct that
others are filling in the positions. My dad, Hermann, who worked at Interdesign
(Plessey Semi etc.) and passed in January, was not one of the published analog
greats, but he worked with them. I'm afraid I see the old group of analog wizards
heading out. --Otmar Ebenhoech, Café Electric founder and inventor of the Zilla
electric car controller
When
I was printing Jim Williams' memorial booklet, I started thinking about Bob,
and when will I be starting his booklet? While I was waiting for the printer, I
decided to check my email, and I couldn't believe what happened to Bob Pease.
We left Jim's celebration around 4:30 and we passed Bob's VW on the way down.
It's really sad. --Fran Hoffart, application engineer, Linear Technology
I knew of Bob Pease
from reading his articles in EDN and Electronic Design. Then Steve Ohr, the
editor of EETimes, asked me to participate in an analog seminar. Bob was at
that seminar and we sat on a panel together. We hit it off right away. I saw
him at the next EETimes analog seminar, as well. Once I was in Fry's
electronics and saw Pease with his video camera. He was filming the long lines
at the checkout counter. I said hi and we spoke for a half-hour about analog
electronics. Around 1999 I was tired of being a consultant. I had lost both HP
and Schlumberger as clients and I wondered if it was better to just work a
steady job. I called Bob up and asked if there was anything at National
Semiconductor. In a couple of days I was interviewing with Fred Hamilton and
Emmy Denton for an application engineering job in the temp sensor group. I
thought that it seemed pretty easy to get in and get an offer. It was only
years later that I heard that Bob had greased the skids for me and given me a great
reference. Rather than take a good job at a great analog company, I got stars
in my eyes and joined an Internet startup. By 2000 that startup had tanked and
I went to another. That one was looking shaky when I called National again. I
was too embarrassed to talk to Bob, since I figured he had helped me the first
time and I turned National down. The HR people told me both power applications
jobs were filled but there was an un-posted application opening in the
amplifier group. It turned out that this was Bob's group. Even though I did not
ask Pease for help, the first thing Al Kelsch, the hiring manager did was ask
Bob if he knew me. Bob once again gave me a great recommendation and that time
I was smart enough to take the job. Bob worked in a different building, even
though we were in the same group. We all joked that it was because his office
was too cluttered for anyone to consider moving. Bob would drop by my cubicle
weekly and leave five to 20 sheets of paper, usually copy paper he had salvaged
from the wastebasket and made clipping copies on the unused backside. They were
always interesting and I began to do a line-by-line commentary on them in
e-mails back to Bob. I think that endeared me to him, that I took the time to
not only read his clippings, but to comment on them. I suspect Bob recommended
me to go on the analog seminars, where we became even closer friends, as is
often the case with "road warriors." I must have held my own on those seminars
since Bob recommended me to help him on his Bob Pease web-cast shows. It was
those shows that caught the eye of EDN and ultimately led to the job I have
here as technical editor. So I think it fair to say it was Bob Pease that not
only got me two job offers at National, he was directly responsible for getting
me the exposure that led to my current job. Once I took the job at EDN five
years ago, I didn't see Bob on a daily basis but we would try to have lunch or
a beer at least every month or so. It was one of those situations where I would
promise myself to get together with Bob, even if I had to drive up to San
Francisco. I was happy when EDN was bought by UBM, because they had offices up
in San Francisco and it would give me an excuse to be up there where I could
call on Bob. Now it is too late. You can bet I will forever remember that
quirky gentle soul that so helped me, not just with career moves, but also with
the fundamental understanding of analog electronics, as well as a goodly bit of
human philosophy. I will miss you Bob. I am sure you will be keeping fit
running up and down the stairway to heaven. --Paul Rako technical
editor EDN
EDN encourages its readers to share their own Bob stories in the below comments field.
(Please note that as more comments come in, existing comments are moved to a "talkback" page for this article that houses all comments posted. Click on any comment to see the full listing of comments.)
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My father introduced me to Bob Pease several years ago back in the early 90's via his columns. As an aspiring Electrical Engineer, I looked at Bob as a model of what was expected as an Engineer. Know your theory and be able to actually put it into practice in the “real world”.
There are too many lessons and memories of Bob from reading his column. Much too many to list here, but I do remember one email from him around the time when he was writing about his office. I wrote in to ask him if his desk was still flooded with papers after his manager urged him to make some progress in a clean up effort...Bob wrote back “Desk...what desk, I can not even see my desk”. I also remember that he stood up for us Technicians when he said he had seen his share of “Technicians that made for good Engineers”! This was not a trivial statement from Bob who was after-all the Analog Guru!
Thank you Mr Pease....You will always be at our workbench with your wisdom, generosity and unparalleled insight.
Tim Camarda, NY
Tim Camarda - 2011-22-9 12:35:38 PDT -
I also knew Bob, but not from the engineering side that many others did. At the time, I worked in the NSC University, also known as NSU. I maintained the facilities rooms and apparently Bob’s nemesis, the executive briefing room. Bob recorded some lectures that others could check out on video. He would bring his own video camera so he could record what others were doing during the lecture, and, as he said, “I’m going to record you recording me”. We however, were in another room running the cameras remotely. I always enjoyed it when Bob would come to NSU. He would pretend there was something wrong with our equipment, threaten to put his camera in place of our own $10,000 ones and generally keep us running back and forth from the control room to the executive briefing room. Then suddenly he was ready to go and everything would be just fine. It has been some years since I have left NSC but I have often thought of Bob. He was one of those guys who leaves a memorable impression.
Vern Adermann - 2011-16-7 21:03:44 PDT -
"I wish I'd done that!" Bob's comment on the P2 operational amplifier. I'd asked him to sign my copy of Analog Circuit Design, the Jim Williams book that Bob (among others - thank you all) contributed to. He found the page with the P2 schematic and wrote his wish - humble enough to point out the good work of others, passionate enough to wish it had been his own.
I got Jim to sign the book too: "Good luck, good circuits, and hope you like our work-"
Yes to both of you - we love your work.
Jim Honea - 2011-7-7 08:18:10 PDT -
I never got to meet Bob Pease but through his articles his personality and deep understanding of the principles of analogue design beamed from every page. That he was 'old school' and wholly dedicated to imparting truth was very clear and I had somehow a picture of Bob which has been very much confirmed by the words of those that knew and worked with him personally. Thank you Bob you have been a great example.
Peter Bradbeer - 2011-4-7 08:22:36 PDT -
A sad day, no more porridge.
jim bridgeman - 2011-28-6 09:32:04 PDT
