In December 2007, my friend Chris Mack published a book called “Fundamental Principles of Optical Lithography: The Science of Microfabrication.” This might seem like an unusual topic for an internet marketing blog, but it is a window into my other life as an engineer in the semiconductor industry.
The Book
Chris Mack is one of the foremost experts on optical lithography, which is the process used to pattern the incredibly tiny features on computer chips. His book became a definitive reference for lithography engineers worldwide. If you work in semiconductor manufacturing and need to understand how light is used to create circuits measured in nanometers, this was the book you reached for.
Chris is not just a brilliant engineer. He is also a genuinely interesting person who ran a popular blog at LithoGuru.com where he shared insights about the semiconductor industry, photography, and life in general.
Why This Matters
I shared this post originally because I was proud of my friend and thought the book deserved attention. But looking back, this post also reveals something about the early days of this blog: it was personal. I wrote about whatever interested me on any given day, whether that was internet marketing, tech gadgets, weight loss resolutions, or a friend's technical book.
That willingness to be genuinely personal turned out to be one of the strengths of the blog. Readers connected with the fact that I was a real person with a real day job and real interests, not a faceless content machine.
Optical Lithography in 2026
The semiconductor industry has advanced dramatically since 2007. Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, which was still in the research phase when Chris published his book, is now the standard for manufacturing the most advanced chips. Feature sizes have shrunk from 45 nanometers in 2007 to 2 nanometers and below in 2026. The fundamental principles Chris wrote about still apply, but the technology has pushed far beyond what anyone imagined possible.
Chris Mack's contributions to the field remain widely respected, and his book continues to be recommended reading for students and engineers entering the semiconductor industry.
