Even as we tentatively enter the nanotechnology era, we are now encountering the 50th anniversary of the invention of the IC. Will silicon continue to be the pre-eminent material and will Moore's Law continue unabated, albeit in a broader economic venue, in the nanotechnology era? This monograph addresses these issues by a re-examination of the scientific and technological foundations of the micro-electronics era. It also features two visionary articles of Nobel laureates.