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For our science column
I shall address a
subject concerning the
rapid growth of the
electronic industry
over the past few
decades. And it seems
that this growth is
picking up speed in a
nonlinear fashion as
we go along.
The revolutionizing
effect that had a
tremendous impact on
all facets of the
industry was the
invention of the
transistor. It
replaced the vacuum
tube, which required
space, electrical
power for heating and
therefore, an adequate
amount of ventilation.
Although the vacuum
tube served us well,
it was an inefficient
device that did not
lend itself well to
future growth, new
innovations and
expansion. For
example, the early
computer, employing
vacuum tubes, was a
monster in size,
requiring electrical
power that could be
used to light up a
small town. And who
doesn’t remember the
days of the old radio,
which needed several
minutes to warm up
before it would even
say peep?
The transistor did not
only replace the
vacuum tube, it also
made the old slide
rule, called the
engineer’s slip stick,
obsolete as well.
“What is a slide
rule?” I was asked by
a young engineer who
was born on the day I
started to work at the
Boeing Co. I told him
that it was a
hand-held calculator,
batteries not
included, nor needed.
Nowadays possession of
a modern calculator
precludes memorizing
the multiplication
tables, an essential
exercise in math for
the pupils of years
past.
No doubt, the
transistor, an
energy-efficient
solid-state device,
found in every
conceivable piece of
electronic equipment,
had a major effect on
our life style. It
also provided the
stepping stone for
further development of
components and devices
so small, yet
efficient, that defy
the imagination of the
average person. From
transistor to
integrated circuits to
microprocessors was a
small step, but a
giant leap for
mankind. The
ubiquitous computer in
the home, business and
industry dominates the
stage on which our
daily lives are acted
out. Every electronic
item we buy today
seems to be
computerized.
The transistor was
invented by three
scientists in 1947/48
at the Bell
Laboratories, Walter
Brattain, John Bardeen
and Bill Shockley. All
three received the
Nobel Prize for
Physics in 1956. Their
starting point that
led to the invention
was advancing
developments of
semiconductors, for
which the groundwork
had been laid years
earlier by European
researchers, most
notably the German
physicist Walter
Schottky (1886-1976).
He was known for
introducing the
“Schottky Diode” and
his investigative work
in 1939 into the
application of
semiconductors as
rectifiers. This
rectifying effect had
been discovered by
Nobel Prize winner
Ferdinand Braun
(1850-1918) as early
as 1874. The Bell Lab
Boys continued
research in that
direction which led to
the development of the
transistor.
So much for the past.
But what is the future
of the transistor? Has
the miniaturization of
electronic component
parts, which followed
its application,
reached its limit?
Prediction has it that
transistors on a chip
may become much
smaller yet, but logic
says that there must
be a finite limit,
after all, how big or
small is an atom?
With the appearance of
the transistor and its
offspring we have
entered the
push-button, digital
world, a world in
which science fiction
has become reality.
And research goes on.
Already a cell phone
is not only a
telephone, carried in
your shirt pocket, it
is a camera, a radio,
a TV and with its
super memory, a good
portion of the
telephone book. With
the continued trend
toward shrinking the
size of components it
may become a problem
for fat finger pushing
tiny button.
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