THE TRANSISTOR'S 20th ANNIVERSARY

The nuts and bolts of modern electronics, transistors lie at the heart of our rockets, computers, radar, radio, TV, and a thousand other devices
By W. STEVENSON BACON
The time: December, 1947. The place: Bell Telephone Laboratories at Murray Hill, N.J. The event: the invention of a new kind of electronic "valve" that can amplify signals—an invention so basic that it will virtually remold all science and technology.
Unlike the vacuum tube, it will not need a power-consuming hot filament, nor will it require a vacuum. Is it an impractical dream? Many skeptics think so.
After years of experimenting, Bell scientists, faced with repeated failures, have turned back to basic research.