A few days ago Bob Davis sent
me a link to a YouTube video documentary, "Transistorized," of the development of
the transistor. It was originally produced in 1989. Narrator Mr. Ira Flatow
begins by saying that the story behind the transistor, arguably one of the most
important inventions of the 20th century, was one of "clashing egos and top secret
research." Anyone familiar with the collaborative effort of Drs.
John Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain, at Bell Telephone Laboratories
(aka Bell Labs) knows of the strain between them at times. I
will not attempt to embellish the huge amount of information presented; you will
get all you want to know from the film.
As you might expect, in addition to the "Transistorized" video there are other
videos telling the story of the transistor's history. A couple really good ones
are also embedded below. One covers Japan's successful climb to the top of the electronics
product food chain based on their early adoption of transistors into many common
household and commercial items. Another was done in 1953, only a handful of years
after the 1947 pre-Christmas announcement of the transistor's invention. Of
course there are also people who claim the Bell Labs Trio were not the first to
build a semiconductor junction transistor, so one of those videos is included as
well.
"Transistorized" c1989
"A Video History of Japan's Electronic Industry" Part 1
- "Birth of the Transistor" c1980
"The Most Important Invention of the 20th Century: Transistors"
"The Inventors of the Transistor Discuss Their Success"
AT&T Archives
"The Transistor" c1953
"A Video History of Japan's Electronic Industry" Part 2
- "Electronic Circuits in Stone" c1980
"The Genesis of the Transistor" AT&T Archives
"Who Stole the Invention of the Transistor" ...someone
else always claiming credit
RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools"
in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide
me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing
my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet)
was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity.
Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line,
and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...
This archive links to the many video and audio
files that have been featured on RF Cafe.
A few days ago Bob Davis sent
me a link to a YouTube video documentary, "Transistorized," of the development of
the transistor. It was originally produced in 1989. Narrator Mr. Ira Flatow
begins by saying that the story behind the transistor, arguably one of the most
important inventions of the 20th century, was one of "clashing egos and top secret
research." Anyone familiar with the collaborative effort of Drs.
John Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain, at Bell Telephone Laboratories
(aka Bell Labs) knows of the strain between them at times. I
will not attempt to embellish the huge amount of information presented; you will
get all you want to know from the film.
