Histories of semiconductor and computing technology in the United States have emphasized the supporting role of the U.S. state, especially the military, in answer to libertarian denials of state aid that are influential in Silicon Valley today. Somewhat implicit in that historiography, though, is the leading role of actors and organizations that blur any distinction between public and private. Some industries of this sort—telecommunications, aerospace, auto manufacturing—do figure in the historiography, but the class should be expanded further. One such industry—oil—has been exceptionally but almost invisibly influential in the development of computing and semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. Oil firms invested heavily in semiconductors and computing. There was also an “oil spillover” of personnel and technology from oil firms to computing and semiconductor manufacturing. Oil shows up in the biographies of many prominent individuals and organizations in the history of those technologies, from Fairchild Semiconductor to Edsger Dijkstra. These ties potentially hold important implications for the much-needed transition to a more sustainable energy regime.

美国半导体和计算技术的历史强调了美国政府，特别是军队的支持作用，以回应自由主义拒绝国家援助的做法，这种做法在当今硅谷颇具影响力。然而，这段史学中隐含的一点是，参与者和组织的主导作用模糊了公共和私人之间的区别。一些此类行业——电信、航空航天、汽车制造——确实在历史编纂中有所体现，但该类别应该进一步扩大。其中一个行业——石油——对美国计算机和半导体制造业的发展产生了异常但几乎无形的影响。石油公司在半导体和计算领域投入巨资。人员和技术也出现了从石油公司到计算机和半导体制造的“石油溢出”。石油出现在这些技术历史上许多杰出个人和组织的传记中，从 Fairchild Semiconductor 到 Edsger Dijkstra。这些联系可能对急需的向更可持续能源体制的过渡产生重要影响。