Silicon Earth: A Historical Perspective on the Invention/Discovery of the Transistor

This article traces the history to the invention/discovery of the transistor. Seventy-six years of the transistor. My, my, time flies. Such a remarkable little piece of quantum physics in action. The transistor was invented/discovered on 16 December 1947, then introduced to the world on 23 December 1947
[2]
, an Earth-changing moment. It was roughly the size of your thumbnail. In 2023, transistors are virtual sized and speed-of-light fast, and, importantly, they cleverly possess, just like the original, that unique golden attribute of amplification, making tiny voltages and currents larger. There are over 10
²⁴
transistors on Earth in 2023, made possible by the jaw-dropping exponential growth patterns embodied in Moore’s law. It is instructive to compare the first transistor with a contemporary embodiment (
Figures 1
and
2
).