Some Notes on the History of Parametric Transducers

This paper summarizes briefly the chronology of the development of parametric transducers. The early works of Michael Faraday (1831), F. Melde (1859), and Lord Rayleigh (1883) are cited as mechanical examples and the pioneering work of L. Kühn, J. Zenneck, E. F. W. Alexanderson and R. V. L. Hartley are cited as electrical examples. A very brief résumé of selected contributions follows, dating from the work on H. Q. North's diodes in 1945 to the present flurry of excitement beginning in 1954, created by the development of the Signal Corps-Bell Laboratories Task 8 varactor diodes. A list of 200 selected references is included.