Having done a large amount of research for the book relating to developments at the Bell Telephone Laboratories, the fascination with that institution and its community of engineers and scientists came as an inevitable consequence. Oddly, I was not aware of an eminently written book on the Bell Labs until I was given a used copy while visiting Jeffrey W. Jackson in Rhinebeck, NY last week. I was really absorbed by it and finished it the other night -  and I now have to recommend it to anyone interested in the history of engineering and technology, and of course in particular the history of the unique engineering environment that prevailed at the Bell (Telephone) Laboratories for so many years. The book is called "The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation", written by Jon Gertner

It can be purchased at amazon.com:

The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation