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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.
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 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
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