William Rufus Shafter, born to a pioneer family in the Michigan Territory (1835), rose to prominence during the Civil War and later commanded troops that helped win the Spanish-American War. A hero, by nineteenth-century standards, yet largely forgotten today. Towns across the country are named in his honor, but history…

Whereas the Shafter family dates back to about 1730, they are recent compared to the Webb family who arrived in America on the Mayflower. There are many branches of the Webb family, including one who helped found Yale and one who commanded a regiment in 1776. Col. Charles Webb’s sister…

Shafter may not ring like Vanderbilt or Rockefeller or Kennedy — those classic American dynasties. Today, Shafter is an obscure name relegated to a street sign or long-forgotten court case. Wherever you live in the United States, you might find a street or town named Shafter. I only know of…

How they died and who they were remain a mystery. When they died, James and his baby sister, Molly, suddenly became orphans. When asked his name, James replied “Shafter”. This was likely a mistake. …

On September 10, 1981, Linear Technology Corporation was officially incorporated. That was forty years ago. Forty years before that was 1941 when wireless meant a radio with five vacuum tubes, when computers were people with slide rules, and when robotics was a new science fiction term coined by Isaac Asimov…

Long ago, a shallow, marshy lake existed not far from the front window of my home. Its shores were thick with willows; its reach changed by miles with the seasons. Streams — what the Spaniards called arroyos — trickled down from the mountains to feed the lake. The arroyos meandered…

No matter when you were born, you witnessed a revolution in the use of synthetic chemicals — better living through chemistry. The revolution was slow, barely perceptible, like a drop in the bucket. Drip, drip, over your whole lifespan. The phrase “a drop in the bucket” suggests something insignificant and…

This is what it looks like to cross the tipping point. Over 95% of the kelp forest along the Northern California coast has disappeared in a matter of a few years. If you’ve ever walked the beaches and seen the kelp washed up on the shore; if you’ve ever kayaked…

Robert H. Swanson, Jr., built a company — a culture — that was the most profitable in the semiconductor industry, yet flew below the radar. Its employees famously ‘never left’ in Silicon Valley where job-hopping is applauded. Once called the Toughest CEO in the Valley, he attracted and retained many…