‘Silicon Valley’ documentary debuts tonight at 9PM ET on PBS, watch a 16-minute preview now

The latest episode of PBS’ documentary series American Experience is airing tonight, and it should be an episode of particular interest for those who follow the history of technology. Silicon Valley debuts tonight at 9PM ET, and instead of focusing on more modern-day tales, the documentary digs into the story of eight chipmakers who broke off to start their own transistor business way back in 1957. The leader of this group was 29-year-old Robert Noyce — known as the “Mayor of Silicon Valley” and the co-founder of both Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel just over a decade later. While these Silicon Valley pioneers may not be quite have the same name recognition as a Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, there’s no doubt that their work affected our industries for decades to follow. The documentary airs tonight on PBS, and you can watch the first 16 minutes of it below.