Bell Telephone Laboratories - Sidney Darlington
October 1961 Radio-Electronics

October 1961 Radio-Electronics [Table of Contents] Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles from Radio-Electronics, published 1930-1988. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.

Anyone who has taken electronics design courses is familiar with the basic Darlington amplifier construct featuring two cascaded transistors having the collectors of both transistors tied directly together, and the emitter of the first transistor connected directly to the base of the second. The Darlington transistor is fabricated on its semiconductor substrate, and is packaged like a standard three-terminal transistor. Its advantage is high gain due to the multiplication of beta (current gain) values. The device's inventor, Sidney Darlington, worked at - no surprise - Bell Telephone Laboratories. This 1961 promo for Bell Labs appeared in a 1961 issue of Radio-Electronics magazine. Its primary intent was to highlight the importance of mathematics in all research and development endeavors, using Mr. Darlington's accomplishments as an example.

Bell Telephone Laboratories

At Bell Telephone Laboratories, mathematician Sidney Darlington has contributed notably in developing the art of circuit analysis.

. . . It is essentially a thing of the mind for 1t works through concepts, symbols and relationships . . . it helps man to analyze and synthesize the complex phenomena of the universe and himself . . . it works in many ways to advance electrical communications:

IT IS CALLED MATHEMATICS

At Bell Telephone Laboratories mathematics works powerfully to solve problems involving complex data. For example, engineers must design and synthesize complex systems to process specific signals in precisely controlled ways. At the same time the technology provides a wide choice of circuits and components. Mathematical circuit analysis reveals the circuits which can do the job most efficiently and economically.

Intriguingly, too, the mathematical approach leads to basically new knowledge. For example, it led to the invention of the electric wave filter . . . disclosed a kind of wave transmission which may some day carry huge amounts of information in waveguide systems . . . foretold the feasibility of modern quality control . . . led to a scientific technique for determining how many circuits must be provided for good service without having costly equipment lie idle.

In the continuing creation of new devices, technologies and systems, Bell Laboratories utilizes whatever serves best - mathematical analysis, laboratory experimentation, simulation with electronic computers. Together they assure the economical advancement of all Bell System communications services.

Posted July 26, 2024