"Brattain decided to try dunking the entire apparatus into a tub of water. It worked ...a little bit."
Ira Flatow, Transistorized!
The development of the transistor was one of the true landmark inventions of the twentieth century. Before their existence, almost all electronic circuits made use of cumbersome and unreliable valves. The transistor was developed in the United States at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey. Scientists John Bardeen (1908-1991), William Shockley (1910-1989), and Walter Brattain (1902-1987) were researching the behavior and suitability of germanium crystals for use as semiconductors that could replace valve diodes. When this was successfully achieved, the same group turned their attention to the considerably more demanding task of creating a solid-state germanium triode—one that could replace the ubiguitous valve equivalents. Since its development and evolution during the early years of the twentieth century, the valve triode had been at the very heart of every piece of electronic equipment. However, valves consumed large amounts of power, created a sometimes unacceptable level of heat, and, like the electric light bulb from which they evolved, they had a short lifespan.
On December 16, 1947, Bardeen, Shockley and Brattain created the first transistor—so named from the "trans" of transmitter and "sistor" of resistor. A week later they gave their first public demonstration: December 23, 1947, is usually cited as the birthday of the transistor The transistor was tiny, consumed very little power, and gave off no heat whatsoever. It was also supremely predictable in its behavior. Within a decade, valve technology in most commercial applications was rendered all but obsolete.
