Commentary: Farewell, Mr. Moore--and Thanks  By Otis Port  It's
time to say goodbye to Gordon E. Moore, who will soon step down
as chairman emeritus of Intel Corp. (INTC) at age 72. Moore
isn't as famous as Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or even Andy Grove,
who replaced him as chairman of Intel. But he pioneered the
microprocessor, managed the rise of Intel, and helped create the
culture of Silicon Valley. Along the way, he gave us Moore's
Law, the seminal insight that microchip power would double every
18 months while prices plummet.  Indeed, it has been a
remarkable ride--one that began in 1956, when Moore, not long
after earning a PhD in chemistry, signed on at Silicon Valley's
first semiconductor company, Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory.
It had been founded in Palo Alto, Calif., the year before by
William B. Shockley, leader of the Bell Labs team that, in 1948,
had invented the transistor. Moore quickly realized that the
company's prospects were dim, and in 1957, he marched out with
Robert N. Noyce and six ot