The Most Important Invention of the 20th Century: Transistors

[@michman2]

My grandfather studied and grew Germanium crystal before WWII. After the war he was hired by Bell Labs, Murray Hill (he lived within walking distance) to work with Shockley's team. I have a working model of his transistor from the period. He holds (signed over to The Labs) patent #3,122,817. It's the process for photo-engraving semiconductor devices, the basis of the integrated circuit. He also made the antenna array for Telstar. Technology advanced at a fast speed back then and as a kid, it was amazing to hear him talk about all the innovations that were being worked on.

[@circusitch]

That’s great. Good for all of us. Within walking distance to me was where John Mauchly lived. The co-inventor of the ENIAC computer. Unfortunately I never met him, but I knew some of his kids.

[@alastorwyst9027]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/kKncf2aYZsemY9k

[@ZUGTFO]

I worked in the Electronic Industry and was a Radio Operator in the Canadian Army, seeing the changes over the last 30 years has blown my mind. But with all this technology, and access to MORE information than any other point in Human history, our IGNORANCE astounds me. But channels like yours help :) Keep up the great work!

[@masterimbecile]

Like he said, "what hath God wrought?"

[@bigrob966]

The transistor brought about the democratizing of information. So, while we now have access to more sources than we could possibly imagine, we have also made it easier for INCORRECT sources, or irrelevant/inane information sources to gain legitimacy. By increasing the flow of knowledge, we have inadvertently increased the flow of ignorance.

[@FYMASMD]

Never underestimate the ignorance of mankind. Infinite in its breadth. Sadly.

[@donaldstanfield8862]

@@bigrob966 Well said!

[@ZUGTFO]

Now wait for the Era of QUANTUM COMPUTING launch us into another era never imagined . . .

[@marylavado3963]

As an electrical engineer, I realize that the invention of the solid-state transistor is the basis for the acceleration of technology that continues. I was fortunate enough to go to the Holy Grail, Bell Labs, about 1984, if I recall correctly. I was called upon as a consultant to design a circuit board used with a new zif socket to hold the new Bell integrated circuit with leads on 4 sides for testing. There I met a team of engineers including a kindly white-haired man named Walter Brattain who shook my hand. I was shown the transistor model and the plaque for the spot where history was made. I, Neil Lavado, met one of the trio that modern electronics is founded on. I tell that to non-technical people and get a blank stare.

[@jeffsutherland1602]

I have the same experience when I tell people I knew the late N. David Larky, the inventor of the NTSC color television system at RCA Labs. The invention of color TV would have made a good History Channel episode. Dave told me a story about some issues they had with the system when they were trying to demonstrate it to the FCC in Washington, DC, by transmitting from studios in New York City over the only coaxial network cable AT&T had at the time. But, that story shall be saved for a possible History Channel episode...

[@fatboyrowing]

I was a mechanical engineering student at Penn State in the mid 1980s. I had an EE class with a quintessential looking professor. He was older, dressed in polyester and horned-rimmed glasses. He prominently displayed his pocket protector. I remember my jaw dropping when he said “when we invented the NPN junction”. He talked about it casually and almost in passing. I wish I would have had the stones to ask him about it after class. I have no idea what role he played, but he apparently was part of the team that made it happen. These profound discoveries have been made by men that walk among us… and largely go unnoticed.

[@davewallace8219]

@@jeffsutherland1602people...need to be re educated....continually....

[@fergusonto-2032]

Yours is truly an amazing story , no blank stare from me & im sure others , while most people are in awe of movie stars & celebrities , my hero’s are first & foremost Jesus Christ, then folks like Buzz Aldrin , sergeant York , Winston Churchhill , well the list goes on & on , but Thankyou for posting your comment, very inspiring , Blessings.

[@tommost1]

I did a bunch of work at the Murray Hills Bell Labs building, I took my picture next to the plaque outside the lab where the transistor demonstration took place. I also took a picture next to the bust of Claude Shannon who invented the concept of representing analog signals numerically. True giants.

[@richb313]

Outstanding presentation. I have studied and worked in electronics my entire working life and before. This is as fine a presentation with enough depth to bring perspective and clarity a rare combination. Bravo Sir.

[@thegeneralist7527]

@@PATTHECATMCD Technically the definition of electronics includes things relating to electrons. Its may have been more accurate to use the term 'electric communication', but that is not a term commonly used. I thought the episode was rather good.

[@PATTHECATMCD]

@@thegeneralist7527 "Electrical" communication. When you start being able to manipulate electrical values, it becomes electronic. The conccept of "relays" was long understood in semaphore communication. Morse just applied it to existing telegraphy.

[@thegeneralist7527]

@@PATTHECATMCD I'm not saying you are wrong in your criticism. The transistor is a simple switch. On. Off. What makes it special is it has no moving parts - hence the term solid state. The principle of modulating the flow of electrons is the same. What is different is the scale of what is possible with the technology.

[@thegeneralist7527]

@@PATTHECATMCD Looking to the future there have been great advances in photonics and quantum computing, the most recent being Google's achievement of quantum supremacy. The transistor is only one of many technological achievements in a long line, but it is a significant one.

[@PATTHECATMCD]

@@thegeneralist7527 TRANSfer of resITOR values is not really a switch. That's why they're called TRANSITORS. As for Google, they haven't demonstrated any practical applications except selling your data to the highest bidder. Progress? Good joke. :)

[@RobRidleyLive]

Sir, your post today stands for me as simply one of the greatest expositions of technology I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. The quality of your work is always high, your analysis and expression on subjects both humble and profound is informative, enriching and entertaining. Today however has seen you reach a new milestone in profundity. I have never before seen anyone so clearly and concisely show how from the efforts to solve a series apparently unrelated discrete technical problems, a revolution whose consequences we have only begun to understand has been wrought. And yet, almost at the beginning, there where some who could glimpse the tide about to bring a change to humanity greater than all preceding it. Even now it seems few of us have really grasped the huge consequences of this new world. Your post, explaining its origin and early development through to where we are now once again showcases your ability to present a subject as complex and important as the information revolution with both professional rigour and passion. This is the best youtube video I have watched this year, and for that, the *History* *Guy* *Deserves* *to* *be* *Remembered* Thank you for this wonderful piece of work.

[@mikehenson819]

Bravo! Bravo......

[@icyfyer]

I completely agree with you, Rob. And thank you for putting my sentiments into words far better than I could.

[@thegeneralist7527]

It will and is doing both. It is undermining traditional society and laying the groundwork for a new society to emerge.

[@kennethbransford820]

@@thegeneralist7527 Like, BIG BROTHER.

[@dehoedisc7247]

Fascinating. A treatise on THG and his illustrious and marvelous presentations. And not one word or thought on the actual Subject matter, the huge and definitive Invention of the Century,.......Transistors. You are distracted, and have made your admiration for THG the real subject, not an electronic device of 100 year time slot. I like THG, too. I was here for the lecture, I already admire THG.

[@DoyleHargraves]

My God, sir... you have summed up our continuing problem better than anyone. The more we communicate, the more we disagree. It's a human problem, not a tech problem.

[@georgeplagianos6487]

Indeed he sum it up very well.. but Samuel Morris brought people closer together. But now you're right all this continuing of new advance science it's creating a Tower of Babel. The more we know the more confusing things get cuz we don't know how to humanly process all this instant information truthful or deceptive coming our way.. there's no way we can cipher it out. Probably happening too fast A simple minds to understand

[@Rocketman88002]

So true Doyle, it's a lost skill and the biggest challenge to mankind. Great comment!

[@geomicer]

Disagreement is not a problem, Disagreement exists whether aware of it or not

[@xxtwnz2919]

It is a year since your comment and we are year worse off and more divided than ever. One candidate, who wants to be the leader of our country, thinks it makes sense to demonize more than half of the citizens as if they are second class to the uneducated country bumpkins he lies to hundreds of times each day. We are that much closer to CWII, thanks to communications and the transistor. How sad.

[@leaderspeakusa]

Your summation at the end of this dissertation was, quite frankly, the best I've heard in all the videos you've produced on this channel. Your passion and concern strikes a resounding chord with me and, most likely, countless others. Indeed, "What hath God wrought?"

[@patrickgiroux7596]

Well put.

[@clairekholin6935]

What you need to calculate the impact of the transistor is, of course, a computer :)

[@mbellizia75]

Nevermind god, this is the poetry of science.. Just amazing.

[@leaderspeakusa]

@@mbellizia75 "Without God, tis only guesswork."

[@BobCampbelldev]

Well said, indeed, both to you and THG. The scale and speed of change really is almost impossible to comprehend.

[@curtisconrad3668]

That was the most impassioned speech I have ever witnessed someone make about technology. What a great orator.

[@maryerb6062]

Yes!!

[@shadetreemech290]

I agree, I thought he would have made a great attorney, making an impassioned closing argument, right down to the bow-tie .

[@lv3609]

Obrigado!

[@xiaodongwang7753]

I’m 57, got my Ph.D. in history last century, enjoy listening and watching every one of your episodes, and want to say what a great job you’ve been doing. From that family feud of corn huskers at the Virginia North Carolina border, to the marines under Evans Carleton raiding the Maikon island, to the transistor. How, unless a born genius, can anyone know so much so well? You are certainly a historian, sir, who’s worth remembered. Thank you, sir.

[@chachadodds5860]

You were so passionate in your delivery, that it gave me chills just listening to you. Being in my 60's, I feel like I've witnessed a lot of advances in science and technology, but not near as many as my 83yr old parents.

[@sandrastreifel6452]

ChaCha Dodds: My Granny, born in 1899, witnessed so much change in her life! We’ll always remember her awe, when we all saw the Americans step onto the moon!

[@raydunakin]

I'm 65, and remember how astounding it was when pocket transistor radios became widely available in the early 60s. I also remember the mechanical calculator my dad used when shopping, that worked something like an abacus. Then electronic pocket calculators came along in the 70s.

[@sandrastreifel6452]

raydunakin: I fondly remember going with my Dad to the corner store, using the “tube tester” on the vacuum tubes from our big old B&W TV.

[@raydunakin]

@@sandrastreifel6452 Me too! And waiting and waiting for the TV to warm up every time we turned it on.

[@karlgohl5669]

The Coronavirus pandemic happening as I write this reminds me that advances in medicine, such as vaccination, may be far more important than the invention of transistor.

[@thomasfinegan2642]

Fantastic! As a professional Electrical Engineer, it makes me so happy to hear a non-technical homage to what I've always thought is such a profound topic.

[@hello-cn5nh]

It is a profound topic as well as a technical one.

[@arlendavis]

In 1988-89 I took a Computer Teck course. I was astounded, at that time, that computers ran at all, after learning how signals (1s & 0s) were created and processed. How critical the timing was, when and how the voltages were sampled to determine whether it was a 1 or a 0 that was being "read" at any moment in time. That was when the fastest PCs were operating at around 12MHz. Now they run at 4+GHz. It is truly miraculous what has been accomplished. Indeed, "What hath God wrought?"

[@joesantamaria5874]

Non technical? Hardly to the average person.

[@robertjennings397]

God holds the patent, but everyman holds the license.

[@peterwhite507]

Amazing passion, maybe your best video to date.

[@randycrocker9459]

I agree sir

[@charlesseymour1482]

I agree best yet

[@blueboats7530]

Whoa, the passion, at the end there I wanted to run out and hug a transistor

[@VosperCDN]

@Lats Niebling I can imagine the usual class on this ... people would be snoring in their chairs - then you have THG's version and those same people would be riveted by the presentation, even cheering by the end.

[@dj-kq4fz]

Yeah, this was great, wasn't it!

[@profharveyherrera]

The invention of the transistor is as important as the invention of the written language and the print. Few people realizes that, we are so used to use them that we give them for granted. The invention of the transistor is, for sure, history that deserves to be remembered. By the way, I'm an electronics engineer. Merry Christmas to you all!

[@stefanschleps8758]

The transistor, as you know it today. Will be replaced before the end of the century. Theres something better coming. With far greater capacity for data compression. And greater conductivity. I authored 2 nanometer DC. The European Bioinformatics Institute developed it. Next is atomic level. Quantum? Maybe, but thats a challenge. Peace.

[@QuizmasterLaw]

nah we could do it all with vacuum tubes and relay switches

[@richb313]

I'm just the guy that takes what was designed and built and actually makes it work. Great presentation.

[@lancerevell5979]

In Navy ET Tech School in 1981, I had trouble understanding transistor theory, until my instructor said, "Transistors are like sailors, they are basically stupid. They only do what they are told!" Bingo! Suddenly it became clear. Most of my Navy time was spent working on tube radios though.

[@richb313]

@@lancerevell5979 Were they still teaching hole flow? If so, no wonder you had trouble understanding. A hole is not filled but this empty hole moves because it was filled?

[@flowertrue]

Wow, seeing him get so passionate gives me a warm feeling in my heart. It's always a pleasure to see historians who care deeply about history, what sometimes can seen like a dry topic when presented without passion. To have him show the relevance of the history of electronics on our modern era but in such a way that we see the deep philosophical ramifications rather than just the socio-economic ones is a beautiful accomplishment that not every teacher can reach. Well done, history guy. You moved me to tears.

[@TheShawna1]

As a Amateur radio operator i enjoyed this presentation very much .i enjoy working with vacuum tubes aka known as Valves by our UK companions.also use Morse aka CW to us ham radio operators.73’jim KB1PFL and merry Christmas.

[@michaelcerkez3895]

73 OM AI4JN

[@anchorbait6662]

That got really intense at the end.

[@Everetttango1]

One of his best, methinks-

[@iamthepeterman54]

Love the passion!

[@hipzipper1]

Obviously a very important subject in his eyes.

[@michaelmccrickard6178]

The History Guy was going off!! Gotta love that.

[@DawnOldham]

I’ll admit, after seeing your comment, I forwarded a bit so I could get to the intense part. You’re right. It WAS intense. I love what a good storyteller can communicate not just with words, but with pacing and timing and volume changes. Mr. History is a master storyteller.

[@MrJoopDeWit]

Here I am, sitting in my garden in semi-rural Australia, watching a video, uploaded only a couple of hours ago by someone who lives many thousands of kilometres away. My iPad is wirelessly connected to a local network, which itself has a wireless connection to a tower which has a fibre-optic connection with the rest of the world. Yep, the transistor has definitely revolutionised communication.

[@jeffmartin3406]

Here I am, sitting on my couch in semi rural United States, sharing information halfway around the world in only seconds when only a few decades ago my grandfather used a horse to plow his fields. Hang on, technology will only move faster, but I hope for the betterment of everyone.

[@kkfoto]

And it has happened very fast. There are still quite a few people around who were born *before* the transistor was invented. And billions of people have access to the same information, due to the astonishing cost reductions in processing, storing and transmitting it over the past decades.

[@ulrikschackmeyer848]

@@jeffmartin3406 Well surely the fact that (presumably) desent people can share such wonderful information worldwide, again and again 'falling OUT of the supposedly endemic hate (of the social media), MUST be a force for Good? I, for one choose to believe so. I keep falling short of NEW wonderful things to say to and about THG, as I see in the comments that others have beat me to it. Awestruck, standing ovations, sublime (that WAS new!), like James Burke in agitation, mind sweeping.

[@mspysu79]

For the Audion, it was Edwin Howard Armstrong that discovered it's the ability to amplify radio signals. The circuit was called the regenerative receiver and it is still used today. Also, it was AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph) that bought the rights to the Audion, DeForrest really had no idea how his invention worked. While Bell Labs invented the transistor and Western Electric invented the first processes to manufacture it, it was not until a smaller electronics firm over in Japan cofounded by Akio Morita discovered a better way to make the transistor and was able to turn out thousands per day then per hour, that the transistor became truly practical, that company's name is Sony.

[@MrWATCHthisWAY]

mspysu79 - the channel Cold Fusion had a video covering this same information you have just mentioned. The Transistor company was located in Silicone Valley in Palo Alto.

[@kensmith5694]

Early tube based radios were not intentionally regenerative. For those who don't know what "regenerative" means here. Imagine you have an amplifier that makes an output signal that is simply 5 times the input signal. Those who like equations can see: Y = 5 * X (Using "*" for multiply) That may not be quite enough of a gain. To make the gain higher, we can take some of the output and feed it back into the input adding its signal to the one you started with. That could be something like Y = 5 * (X + 0.1 * Y) We can do a bit of math and see: Y = 10 * X Thus with just a bit of effort, we now have a gain of 10 instead of 5. It gets really interesting when you make that "0.1" into a number closer to "0.2" Y = 5 * (X + 0.199 * Y) We can do a bit of math and see: Y = 1000 * X .

[@MrWATCHthisWAY]

Ken Smith - then we created the amplifier circuit and all was forgotten. But tube circuits were used in Russian fighter aircraft into the late 80’s and early 90’s because of their reliability and ability to function at high altitudes. And I always thought that it was because of availability.

[@CheezyDee]

@@MrWATCHthisWAY Raw power also had a lot to do with it; the MiG 25 radar could throw out something like 500,000 watts, enough to punch through most jammers of the time. MiG 25 pilots were also forbidden to energize the system while on the ground for fear of cooking any personnel within range.

[@demef758]

@JohnPaulLafferty: please don't confuse silicone (breast implants) with silicon (semiconductors). It hurts my eyes.

[@edschermer]

Maybe it is because I a “tech geek” in addition to a “history nerd”, but I think this is BY FAR one of the best episodes! The way you go back and lay the foundation for the invention, crescendos to its discovery. Well done!

[@jackdernorsek7986]

Ed, this reminds me of Burke's 'Connections' episodes that used to be on PBS.

[@andrewfoerster6895]

You did a masterful job covering not just a wide range of technologies but their historical impact. I am an electrical engineer, so I am pretty familiar with all of these technologies. They way you so clearly summarized them, and your accuracy in doing it, is amazing. I did not pick up any inaccuracies, but I did pick up a lot of interesting nuances. Usually even really good historians struggle to put highly technical things into perspective. You just made it look easy. Great work!!!

[@koantao8321]

Delivered with passion as seldom seen, by the History Guy. This is an episode which deserves to be remembered!

[@randycrocker9459]

True words sir

[@rpelleti]

Thanks!

[@zvonkom]

"Will all that bring us together or ... tear us apart ..." That line hit me like a ton of bricks...

[@kevinroylancephotography9437]

It all depends on what you use it for

[@whalesong999]

It will do both as I see it, it's an ongoing exposure of the human condition to it's diverse and sometimes hostile underpinnings.

[@NilsJakobson]

I wanted to write a comment, but I scrolled down to see if someone had something similar to say and I found it.

[@kennethbransford820]

@@whalesong999 Mankind seems to ruin everything they touch. "sometimes hostile underpinnings." is an understatement.

[@travisrainey1171]

Upon reflecting on Facebook I would have to go with the tearing us apart.

[@kc360awareness]

When I hear you say about a truth of history .... “They deserve to be remembered”. It gives me a fond memory of the late and even greater, one of a kind orator of yesteryear..... (insert pregnant pause for emphasis and intrigue) ..... Paul Harvey. It’s like saying, “now I’m going to tell you... the rest of the story”. Except you tell us up front instead of leaving us on the edge of our screens. Thank you Mr & Mrs History guy. Merry Christmas

[@ChadWSmith]

Paul Harvey and Charles Kuralt influences. And one anchor who would tell stories at the end of a show in a very similair fashion whose name I can't remember, but his hair was very white - not gray, white. And he was like a grandfather sharing wisdom each week.

[@edmorse3982]

You GO Jistory Guy!!! I spent 20 years in the military learning electronics. This is an excellent tie-it-all-together-background summary. One of my favs!

[@rc5989]

Fortunately, The History Guy is among that which God hath wrought!

[@ProNorden]

R C, 👍.. #WilliamShockley kool✌.

[@iamTheSnark]

All hail Thor! Or Odin? I'll be magnanimous. Both.

[@StanislavG.]

speaking of inventions...

[@fordprefect80]

@@StanislavG. Invention indeed.

[@tohopes]

and he deserves to be remembered!!

[@tqnohe]

For my sixteenth birthday, my dad presented me with a gift. An extreme rarity for Dad. In the box was a tie tack consisting of a small gold square inside an acrylic cube. He tapped it, “That has *sixteen* transistors on it!” My portable radio only had twelve. “That one failed testing. But the ones that work are going to the moon next month!” That was my first encounter with an integrated circuit. And we depend on them for nearly everything, including how my dishwasher works.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

Your father gave you a rejected sample of the small-scale-integration RTL integrated circuits that were intended for the Apollo guidance computer?

[@tqnohe]

@@gregorymalchuk272 He did indeed. And after fifty some years, I cannot find it. I am thinking one of my children has it now.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

@@tqnohe Did your dad work at Fairchild Semiconductor? I believe that was the source of the integrated circuits for the Apollo guidance computer.

[@tqnohe]

@@gregorymalchuk272 He worked for Honeywell. They were also intimately involved in the space program. And they had contracts with Bendix. No idea if his source, but they were all in there. And the space program was such a waste of taxpayer dollars. Not.

[@hydrolifetech7911]

@@tqnohe I find it very difficult to even gather the courage to argue with people who think that the space program is/was a waste of taxpayer dollars. We owe most of the technologies we have today to the space program

[@TheJoefussGarage]

Again, another incredibly sublime installment here.. My early childhood was spent taking apart any device I could get my hands on.. I made much progress this way, untill around 8 or so. Then I got an "Archer" Electronics Experiment kit, from Radio Shack, introducing me, formally to all of the basic electronic components. The transistor was the most exciting of them all. I soon learned how to diagnose failed transistors in discarded amplifiers and DC power supplies. Your passion, while telling this story was truly inspiring.. Thank you sir. Well done...

[@eponymousmann5088]

Your passion comes through by your work. No need to be overly demonstrative. Your almost- wry delivery is as distinctive as the bow tie and glasses. I always admired your reserve and genuineness, and will continue to love the content. Top of my list, as always!

[@mr.iforgot3062]

Far off from a domestic product realities. Ask friends to comply by visiting their post office.

[@jajahgadis]

The most underrated channel on YT.

[@Wiencourager]

One minor correction, the Collossus machines were to break the Lorenz ‘Tunny ’ encryption machine used by the German high command, which was at least 10 times harder to crack than the enigma codes. The enigma could be broken by electromechanical devices , but the Lorenz code need the additional computation speed only achievable electronically. The KZbin channel Computerphile has good videos about how it worked.

[@bruceadler-9410]

Colossus, not Collossus

[@joef5008]

You have to love the ending; gave me goose bumps from the passion of the delivery.

[@zr1sparky1]

The history guy takes a seemingly mundane subject such as electronics history with its vast details and otherwise painfully boring minutiae and breaks it down with passion that rivals Shakespearean thespians. I was riveted!

[@mr.iforgot3062]

I think oranges are good. Biblical trivia. Ironically my dad missed lunch yesterday. See you tomorrow. Tell Bob.

[@donc9751]

He sure did that!

[@henrythegreatamerican8136]

I thought the greatest invention of the 20th century was the birth of Donald Trump. MAGA 2020!!!!

[@69Phuket]

Yes! Rivets are Iron Age. There's an argument we should've stayed there. We're on the point of transistorising our souls. Deeply disturbing!

[@MegaKopfschmerzen]

Well that's your opinion. I think electronics history is interesting.

[@leemurrah278]

The next great step in solid state electronics was the integrated circuit invented by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments. When Kilby was hired, TI had a mass vacation policy--everyone took their vacation at the same time. Kilby did not have enough service to merit a vacation. So he was left alone in the TI labs for several weeks without a job assignment. So he decided to tackle the connections problem--the more transistors in a circuit, the more wires were required to connect them, leading to a tangled mess. Kilby decided that the problem could be solved by etching all electronic components--resistors, capacitors, transistors--on a single piece of silicon. He was able to do so and thus created the integrated circuit that led to a dizzying descent in circuit, and thus electronic equipment, sizes. It was key to our entry into the microcomputer age.

[@russellcannon9194]

This is one of your best, but I would like to point out that Colossus was not used to break Enigma ciphers but Lorenz which were vastly more complex. Enigma was attacked with an electro-mechanical device called The Bomb. Colossus was the first fully electronic computer and was used to help break Lorenz cipher traffic between Hitler and the German high command. Cheers, Russ

[@scowell]

Beat me by 46 minutes! The Bombe was originally invented by the Poles, who were the first to start on the Enigma cipher... the machine was vastly improved by Turing. The Lorentz cipher was used to encrypt teletype traffic, and much more data, and much higher-level traffic, was available. Churchill thought this sounded like cheating, so after the war he commanded that Colossus should be broken up so that 'no piece larger than a man's fist' remained. Thankfully there is now a recreation at Bletchley Park in the UK.

[@rogerwhittle2078]

Got to agree about THG, it is one of his best, but is that because he became passionate about a subject familiar to you? Tiny bit of pedantry, if I may? Enigma was broken with the aid of 'The Bombe' - or rather, rows and rows of them, operated by WRENS (Women's Royal Naval Service.) at Bletchley Park. And indeed, Colossus was used for Lorenz traffic, the enciphered messages on a high speed teletype machine - the Schlüsselzusatz SZ40 - which we Brits called 'Tunny'. I believe Colossus was the first 'programmable' digital computer? As far as I remember, Bardeen, Brattain and Schockley didn't get on very well and went their separate ways shortly after their world spanning invention.

[@pentuplove6542]

@@scowell Churchill thinks starving millions to death in war isnt cheating but electronics is cheating? He would do anything to win and did anything and everything. Same went for Federal USA who planned to go to war with England after the Germans were beaten. USA hoped the Germans would beat USSR. USSR beat Germany with little help from USSR's allies USA and England. Do Operation Bagration. USSR's version of D-Day that blitzed through to Germany.

[@pentuplove6542]

*Bombe not Bomb

[@pentuplove6542]

@@scowell Bomba was invented by Poles. Bombe based on the Bomba was invented by Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman.

[@jonathanwholohan8522]

An image of a C64, followed up with one of a 5 1/4" floppy drive. Gold. Definitely one of your best ones yet.

[@thamessinclair2010]

Also remarkable that Konrad Zuse is mentioned, who in many stories about the development of computer technology is left out, although he was the one who built the first digital electronic computer. Furthermore, truly nerd style, much on his own, not military driven, unlike many other early examples.

[@theannoyedmrfloyd3998]

By all rights, the computer shown should have been an Altair.

[@douglasstrother6584]

Bit-for-bit, the best personal computer ever.

[@TheAtlanticwarrior]

Impossible to imagine how the world has changed so much with the invention of a "switch", excellent, informative and well presented Sir, thank you.

[@xxtwnz2919]

Don't forget the amplification part. The ability to amplify signals may not have had as profound an impact as the switching capability but imagine a cell phone requiring vacuum tubes to amplify the speaker and microphone. That's why they didn't have cell phones or computers in the 1950's.

[@AgnostosGnostos]

Robert Noyce should have be mentioned too. He invented the way of massively and cheaply producing intergraded circuits with transistors. His invention of microchip (monolithic integrated circuit) opened the road to digital era. Before him transistor was used mostly for amplification or very large computers. Robert Noyce was the main founder of Intel.

[@karlgohl5669]

Agree. Moore is always mentioned because of his "law", but he was one member of the team led by Noyce that invented the way to fabricate large numbers of transistors AND THEIR INTERCONNECTION at very small size and low cost. (TI's Kirby also gets some credit, but the way today's ICs are fabricated is based on Noyce's solution). During the Cold War, the Air Force was paying around $100 per transistor (to use in ICBMs), equivalent to over $800 today, when with that amount you can buy a phone, laptop, or TV with a billion transistors already interconnected into a useful device. That's why I think the invention of the IC was a bigger inflection point than the invention of the transistor.

[@franknewling1139]

@@karlgohl5669 I certainly agree but without the transistor, there would have been nothing to integrate!

[@Hopeless_and_Forlorn]

@@karlgohl5669 Priority matters. Kirby built and demonstrated a working monolithic IC before Noyce.

[@karlgohl5669]

@@Hopeless_and_Forlorn My understanding is that Kirby's ICs were "hybrid ICs", not "monolithic ICs". Wikipedia's "Invention of the integrated circuit" article states "The first monolithic IC chip was invented by Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor", citing two sources. Perhaps it's a difference in the definition of "monolithic IC". I'd be interested in seeing documentation that Kirby's were monolithic. Or perhaps Kirby DID succeed in building and demonstrating a monolithic IC before Noyce, but Noyce patented it first (you don't have to have a physical implementation to patent an idea.) Again, I'd appreciate pointers to information about the issue -- it's entirely possible I have a skewed view from living for many years within a few miles of the site of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, where Noyce devised the monolithic IC. (Sadly, the cider block building was torn down a few years ago).

[@pauleohl]

@@karlgohl5669 Ideas are not patentable. Inventions are. You don't need a working model, just a physical description that convinces the patent examiner that your invention would work, if built.

[@walttrotter535]

Brought back memories of going to the supermarket with my Dad and going to the 'Tube Stand" where Dad would match up a new tube with his old one. Had an old Zenith black and white TV and a "HiFi" am/fm stereo system with a record player and a reel to reel tape player.

[@oceanhome2023]

I remember very well! You would bring in a lunch bag of tubes and test them if they showed bad or weak you could find a replacement ! What a hassle it was !

[@virginia7125]

Sure it wasn't AM / shortwave? I had one with 3 different shortwave bands my parents owned.

[@idahosagebrush5662]

When I was in 7th or 8th grade I hung out at the neighborhood TV shop and tested tubes for the owner. Here it is about 58 years later and I have my own tube tester in the Ham Shack.

[@richardtravalini6731]

Me too.

[@richardtravalini6731]

@@oceanhome2023 a hassle for sure. But back they, we actually had the satisfaction of fixing things. Today, we just throw it out and buy another one from our enemy, CHINA.

[@MOK433]

We see every year that the microprocessor revolution has "just begun" as they fundamentally change every faucet of our lives. And it all began with the invention of the transistor. Great presentation HG

[@demef758]

That picture of Brattain, Bardeen, and Shockley at 12:32 is worth a video of its own. Shockley was enraged that the other two had devised a transistor that was NOT of the type that Shockley wanted them to originally work on. Shockley is sitting at Brattain's microscope only because he pushed aside poor Walter for the photo. Shockley NEVER used a microscope! Brattain later said that he despised this photo. Shockley did all he could to rewrite the narrative (lab notes) so that the Two Bs would be excluded from all of Bell's patents, but fortunately the Bell patent lawyers saw through his shenanigans. They all three got the Nobel. I subscribe to the notion that Shockley should never have been credited as a party to the transistor's invention. Shockley's original idea would best be described as a FET transistor, while Brattain and Bardeen ended up making the point-contact transistor. Shockley's idea did not work. The other two's did. It's a great story, history that deserved to be remembered.

[@jefflewis4]

In the end Shockley was a brilliant but awful person. The integrated circuit development largely benefitted from a need to get away from Shockley. Shockley's later obsession with eugenics in the end just about completely ruined his reputation.

[@TypoKnig]

Yes, Schockley was reputed to be such a jerk that he drove away many brilliant people from the company he founded to produce transistors. Many of them went on to found their own companies. That is why we have a semiconductor industry. If Schockley had behaved better he could have maintained a semiconductor monopoly.

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

@@jefflewis4 Thanks. Didn't know that.

[@stevehead365]

Yes, Shockley was an awful person but he did invent the junction transistor, still in use today. The original point contact transistor was unreliable and difficult to produce.

[@Yes-ok1tl]

William Shockley was a difficult man who did not work well with others and didn't like to share credit. The friction that he created at Bell Labs eventually led to his quitting and returning home to Palo Alto California where he eventually found a backer and started the very first high tech company dedicated to producing transistors: Shockley Semiconductor in Mountain View CA. But his abrasive personality quickly led to most of his engineers quitting en masse and forming a new company just a couple miles down the road: Fairchild Semiconductor. From there hundreds of high tech companies, large and small, were born. Had it not been for Shockley's singularly difficult personality, the "Silicon Valley" as we know it never would've arisen in the sleepy suburbs south of San Francisco, and northern California would be a very different place today.

[@bradleydbusse]

I'm an old Electrical Engineer and I often think about the impact transistors have made on humanity. It's difficult to imagine because of the astounding variety of applications in which they're used. Thank you so much for devoting your time to this topic. The ending of your video brought me to actual tears.

[@tracytrawick322]

RIP Grandpa, EE Master. He would have loved this video! If there wasn't a shop in our state - or bordering states - that could troubleshoot a particular problem (1950s - 1970s) with a radio, TV, or even repair shop testing equipment, it was sent to Forrest Partridge in Jacksonville, AR. And his shop was a grandkids' dream! Anyway, a rise of great memories via a great video! Thanks to THG!

[@schack]

What a truly amazing episode. It's truly amazing to sit here at the other end of this amazing technological history and look back. And realise that I'm doing it with almost a 150.000 other humans all across the globe, through the electronic miracle of the internet. The pinnacle of the creation of the transistor. It truly made me shiver.

[@fulkonto1222]

Wow. What a great story - and star quality delivery. Came full circle with the Morse quote.

[@mr.iforgot3062]

I think spaghetti was easier to make than bread.

[@marksjohn2687]

Back when I was a full-time trial lawyer, I handled some patent disputes (infringement cases, or, cases seeking invalidation of someone else's patent). An older lawyer (a real Old-World Gentleman... who was also a competitive Ballroom Dancer) was "Of Counsel." His father had been a patent lawyer at the famous patent-law firm of Penney & Edmonds in NYC. His father prosecuted the patent application for... the Transistor. Great channel, thanks! john

[@caturdaynite7217]

I have always been fascinated by electronics, so much so that I received my degree in electronics in 1988. I have watched our progress with wide eyed optimism, until social media came around. Now, the problem isn't electronics, the problem is with people. I hope Humans as a species can learn how to use the medium responsibly. You, history guy and gal, are an example of how the medium can be used for good.

[@jeffreystone3380]

Oh my, what an incredible video. I got a degree in physics but ended up with a career as a computer programmer. You have expressed my life experience with fantastic clarity.

[@JH-ex6mb]

Great Job! I love learning history from you. I am 68 and as a kid I was very interested in history but my teachers just made it a memorization task of matching dates with events. You bring it to life. Thank you.

[@johninwaynenewjersey5253]

Wow, thank you for putting that into perspective. A lot of younger people don't realize the advances we have seen the last 50 years or so and how quickly they have advanced. I like to tell them how difficult it was to plan a vacation when i was a kid. Nowadays, you can compare and book airfare, hotel, car rental, meals and shows virtually anywhere in the world and pay for it all in minutes in your underwear, lol. Without transistors we would have none of that.

[@babydriver8134]

Yes, we are advancing.....straight to hell, at an ever accelerating rate. When God reaches His limit and pulls the plug, and make no mistake, He WILL pull the plug, I hope we are all ready. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

[@rev.davemoorman3883]

This episode is your BEST. (I was going to say "one of," but as I re-watched it just a minute ago, settled on a straight binary result. And...While Moore's Law began as "double every year," it soon was recalibrated to "double every 18 months." Change has been the constant in all of human history. But we moved to "Delta (change) squared" to "Delta Cubed." Your thoughts on the divisiveness of is bang on - and thanks to the doubling power of change, we are being swept into a new era of human interaction.

[@peterwexler5737]

Best closing in his series, for sure.

[@lancescott7257]

Out of all the History videos I've seen.. This is the best of them all...

[@raydunakin]

Great episode!

[@172-e5s]

Funny that as a kid I would study the encyclopedia we had at home with laughably limited information and now we have light-speed internet. All in under 50 years. Thanks for the reminder, History Guy !

[@chrisharmon]

Thanks for including a picture of Country Music pioneers the Carter Family. I live only two hours from Bristol VA where Ralph Peer made his historic recordings of the Carter Family, Jimmy Rodgers and others. It's a event considered "the big bang" of Country Music.

[@bigfoottoo2841]

I owe the invention of the transistor for a life time of playing with and prospering from the world of electronics.

[@WA1LBK]

Even more excellent than your usual presentations! I retired from as a career as an electronics technician (for about 45 years) just over a year-&-1/2 ago; first getting interested in electronics via amateur (ham) radio in my teens, & starting my electronics career in my 20's in a small family radio & TV shop, I eventually moved on in my career through the specialties of 2-way radio, industrial control electronics, & finally retiring after a 20 - year stint in very-high end computer data storage equipment manufacturing. Starting my career in the late 1960's ~ early 1970's, at the "tail end" of the vacuum tube era, I saw first-hand the evolution of modern technology transistioning from tube to early discrete transistors, early integrated circuit technology (which was just starting to come in when I graduated from tech school), early microprocessors (I still own the first computer I built in the late 1970's / early 1980's), and eventually modern surface-mount technology which makes equipment like modern smartphones possible. The rate of technological progress the invention of the transistor enabled is especially astounding to someone who was intimately involved with it first hand; now in retirement, I still enjoy restoring 1950's era vacuum tube ham radio equipment, but the comparison of modern electronics in size, energy efficiency, performance, & capabilities is astounding (perhaps even more so!) to someone who literally grew up watching the technology evolution first hand. I applaud the passion that you concluded the segment with!

[@bluepen61]

This is one of your best episodes! Thank you!!!!

[@armyrabb1]

The use of non-electronic computers (abacus, slide rule, etc.) might prove an interesting topic.

[@GraemePayne1967Marine]

Also, "computer" used to be a job title for a person.

[@jimsimpson1006]

I still have my Aristo "Scholar" slide rule and occasionally use it just for fun. It does have the benefit of never needing batteries!

[@bigblue6917]

In the world of the Internet we often do not realise the impact of the invention of the telegraph. During the Crimean War, 1853 to 1856, the telegraph allowed the British Army command to send ad receive messages in a matter of hour. Whereas the Russians, without the telegraph and very poor roads, assuming there was a road, it could take days or even weeks for the Russian commander to get and receive messages from Moscow. The British newspaper, The Telegraph, came about because it could get stories from anywhere in the world into the paper within 24 hours of it happening. Some parts of London had telegram deliveries of 13 times a day, letter where 12 times a day. And for some it had a huge social impact. Middle class women with a good education would be employed because they proved better telegraphists then most men. Prior to that options were limited. Interesting that you showed a picture of the old Commodore 64 as its return has just been announced. Even more interesting is that it was reputed to have the same computing power as the Apollo Lunar Lander. Wonder if the plans are on Wikipedia.

[@scowell]

Napoleon was actually the first to use a telegraph... not electric, but visual... a system of towers, on mountaintops, with movable semaphore flags attached.

[@allangibson8494]

You can build a C64 emulator on a Raspberry Pi. I am aware of one working Apollo Guidance Computer - it was resurected this year (it had three diode faults on one card due to a bad batch of diodes). The AGC is basically the ancestor to the modern Programmable Logic Controller. CuriousMarc had a series on it.

[@knightowl3577]

@@scowell Not the first the Roman army were known to have used a similar system of banners and sign poles during campaigns.

[@bigblue6917]

@@scowell True

[@bigblue6917]

@@knightowl3577 I've seen some of their guard towers on Hadrian's Wall and they used those items. They also had fire at night time.

[@paulbrantley5212]

WOW! You did an outstanding presentation. I've loved electronics since I was 10 (51 now) and my first vehicle of my own was a rebuilt 1947 pickup me and my dad rebuilt. Transistors have been a fascination for a long time and now see a new connection with 1947. LOL In my teens made projects from broken radio components from disposed electronics found in the dumpsters. I used Radio Shack educational project guides and just winged it with stuff I found. Thank You!!!

[@bartricky5894]

In the mid 60s electronic schools were still teaching vacuum tube theories and just touching on transistors. Good if you were repairing T.V.s but going into aerospace I didn't see another tube.... Great video!

[@John-ru5ud]

In the early 60s the FCC First Class Radiotelephone Exam had many more questions on vacuum tubes than on transistors.

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

"I didn't see another tube.... " Up to KZbin being founded? :D

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

@@Ugly_German_Truths He quipped, accurately, that when he started going into the Aerospace field he didn't see another tube.

[@pfadiva]

I went to electronis tech school in 1976 and got taught both. I still have a tube manual laying around somewhere.

[@mikeslater6246]

Actually, up until the early 2000s every time you looked at anything video, which wasn't employing a projection device, you were looking at a vacuum tube. It is commonly called the picture tube and technically known as the cathode ray tube. That's what televisions and computer monitors used as displays until flat screen technology became cheap enough to use universally.

[@amilcaralzaga]

My favorite episode so far of my favorite KZbin channel. The emphasis on “at the speed of light” is fantastic!

[@VoCodebcv]

Sir, you are perhaps, if one existed, the most worthy of the Nobel Prize of narration. Your research, scripting, delivery and production values shine from your presentations. Already knowing the material in this presentation, it is wonderful to have you get it all right, and break it down so logically and clearly for those who might not have a clue about the technology and path of its development. From telegraph to transistor was a great way to build to the impact made by the tech on civilization. If only more people can understand the handheld miracles they use every day, and the massive infrastructure that supports our modern world. Kudos to you for your astounding work.

[@l-l]

Congrats on 600k! You’re genuinely an amazing person and I can’t wait to see you hit 1 million!

[@agolftwittler1223]

I agree. Merry X mas 😁

[@XmarkedSpot]

I love it when you cover the history of science. Thanks and merry christmas from Germany!

[@stevedowney3739]

Hey History Guy: Great lesson and even better presentation ! Man are you getting great at what you do. All great history teachers get you to remember the lesson by how they taught it.

[@carolynhotchkiss4760]

When my dad enlisted in the Navy in 1946 (he tried to enlist in 1944 but the recruiter hauled him home by his ear because he was underage lol), my grandfather encouraged him to aim for becoming an ET. "Learn electronics and you'll always have a job". My dad became very, very good at electronics. In....vacuum tube electronics. By the time he got out of the Navy in 1951 (extra year courtesy of Korea), everything was rapidly transitioning to transistors, which he had zero knowledge of. So he went to college on the GI bill instead and went a totally different direction. The development of the transistor at that precise time in history changed the trajectory of his entire life (and possibly mine, who knows? He met Mom in college, after all...)

[@mbrant4973]

I couldn't help but think he wanted him to become an ExtraTerrestrial (: Thanks for his service and everyone else that serves in the armed forces.

[@woopimagpie]

I love the passion in this vid, it really made me think about just how important the transistor is. Brilliant as always.

[@davidpaulcarlson8763]

History Guy... you and your staff did an EXCELLENT job of explaining all the confluence into the invention of the transistor. Only now do I understand why the transistor is a big deal. THANK YOU!!!

[@trevor311264]

What a powerful presentation, that leaves one alone with their thoughts for a moment or two.

[@kerikson5524]

I was born into the world of computers, but my father remembers all these advancements. He described it all to me with the same passion. Thank you for this synopsis; it makes me hopeful to see history is still relevant to some.

[@idahosagebrush5662]

As always, great presentation... Good point on using communications technology to either bring together, or divide people. The transistor was about 12 years old when I built my first radio, a crystal set with one germanium diode as a detector, no batteries required. I lost a lot of sleep listening to AM stations all over the country. Got my first (Japanese) transistor radio when I was about 13 or 14 from money earned delivering newspapers before school.

[@tedphillips2501]

Would like a video on the evolution of precision. How can a tool make something that is more accurate than the tool that made it? Including a segment on how the Wilkinsons, by making a more accurate tool that could make a "perfect" bore for a canon, made all piston engines possible.

[@flashback8954]

I was thinking almost the same thing, I think what you're asking for is the history of the screw, without which no machine would be possible.

[@A_Man_In_His_Van]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nX-1n6Wkaql4a5o Ask and you shall receive a link!

[@ayokoangela]

Check out Simon Winchesters book on the history of precision It is excellent

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

" Would like a video on the evolution of precision. How can a tool make something that is more accurate than the tool that made it?" Not to rain onto your parade, but that is LITERALLY how tools started. Flintknipping works with a rough rock used to precisely beat off corners of flintstones and end up with a knife or axe or any other neolithic tool, many times as precise as the original hewing rock...

[@1pcfred]

The origins of precision come from comprehending logic. Like the rule of three. If you take three surfaces and lap them against each other each will end up flat. There is no combination of convex and concave that works among three surfaces. So they all must be flat. With a flat surface you have a precision reference plate. Three of them really.

[@troynewly]

I've been watching you for several months and feel you are most passionate in this production than any. Kudos to you!

[@mcgam2000]

This is by far one of your best "histories' that I have seen... Really enjoyed it...

[@paulbaker6729]

Suggestion for a future episode, present the life of John Henry Patterson, who invented the modern corporation in the National Cash Register Corporation. He took a product that now one wanted and turned it into an indispensable tool of retail sales. Along the way invented the modern sales force, the annual sales convention, paternalistic corporation, and trained so many CEO’s of other companies after he fired them for trivial reasons, like not riding a horse properly. He also saved hundreds of lives in the great Dayton flood of 1913 by turning his company at a moments notice into a giant relief organization.

[@11jazzygd11]

@Peter Rogan Agreed. That would be an excellent trilogy!

[@scottchapple588]

Being an electrical engineer myself, I fully appreciate everything in this monumental post. Thank you, THG for sharing this (and all your other posts about... well... everything). You are a National Treasure. 😀👍

[@MichaelLivingston-me]

I'm impressed with your presentation. Since you're not a trained technologist, one could assume your presentation might be a bit vague or even slightly flawed. When you explained vacuum tube theory or the basics of a semiconductor junction, I was once again impressed with your abilities. I've seen quite a number of your videos, and no matter the topic, you present it with complete clarity. If there were a gold statue to give for someone on KZbin, you would most certainly be deserving.

[@marksmadhousemetaphysicalm2938]

As a HAM radio operator, I will confess to a bit of bias, and a history nerd too...but this has to be one your best...and I definitely agree...the transistor was the greatest invention of the 20th century...though antibiotics are up there too...😁

[@seatedliberty]

Agreed, but the problem with antibiotics is resistance- something we *do* want in our circuits :)

[@gary6449]

"As a HAM radio operator, I will confess to a bit of bias" - I see what you did there, Mark! Do you have "grid leak", or "cathode" bias? Heh!

[@jimlambrick4642]

Personally I'd say the bomb... as in Atomic bomb... was right up there too as it effectively eliminated mass wars. Also the birth control pill, that dramatically changed the lives of half the world population

[@bobmclaughlin7276]

Bias is important, as my father said once. (a ham radio operator).. "I learned quickly wha happens when you switch on the high voltage B+ on a pair of transmitting tubes without having the correct negative grid bias present... Poof.. A big flash and no more output tubes... He only did this once, he said... Now a 'silent' key...... Rip VE3WC...

[@nigelmattravers5913]

A tour de force from the History Guy, so much information delivered with so much passion.

[@labla8940]

I have NEVER seen a more impassioned speech with genuine heartfelt passion and reverence. If I were on a jury and you were the counsel for the defense I would find the plaintiff guilty.

[@bobhagopian888]

This is perhaps the best and most passionate presentation you have made this far, Sir! Outstanding! I particularly resonated with what you presented about the telegraph's potential contribution to creating a socio/political environment in which the Civil War could foment. I have never heard this theory before! It makes sense! The brilliant way in which you connected the telegraph with the transistor and the question you posed about how today's technology can threaten our social fabric is troubling as it is genius. I believe we are already witnessing the rending of said fabric. Thank you for who you are, your passion and energy, all you and your wonderful wife do for all of us in putting history in context with the present!

[@d.jensen5153]

Underrated reply.

[@alcelaya1365]

The telegraph allowed instantaneous and communication during the US Civil War, allowing the leadership to make rapid decisions and communicate them to the troops in the field. Almost as important was the development of the rail road which allowed rapid execution of these orders due to the ability to move large numbers of troops, equipment and supplies.

[@MikeyD8716]

Dude, the last 2 min were pretty awesome. I love bringing back “what has god wrought”.

[@spikespa5208]

The best was the question, will it tear us apart?

[@SeanPorio]

This was a fantastic video! As an audio electronics designer, I have transistor circuits flying through my mind every minute of the day and it was great to learn more about their invention and think about their impact on our society and how EVERYTHING has chanced since then. Semiconductors make the world go round!

[@purplerunner1715]

I will now use some of the Transistors to spread a message and well wishes to you all: Merry Christmas to everyone.

[@jimlewis6743]

I love how passionate he gets at the end! Fun Fact: In a book called 'The Chip' by T.R. Reid, he told a story about the earliest vacuum tube "super computers". These computers were set up for the U.S. military. The computers were so massive, and created so much heat that they attracted many moths and other flying insects. This caused problems like electrical short circuits and miscalculations. The military would have a team of people periodically go through the machine to clean out the dead bugs. Hence the phrase "debugging".

[@scowell]

I got to meet Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, finder of the first 'bug'... lit her cigarette in the Atlanta airport around 1984. She unfortunately didn't have one of her 'nanoseconds' (a 9" piece of wire) to give me... but meeting her was a lifetime achievement for me.

[@ulrikschackmeyer848]

Really? Wow!

[@craigwall9536]

@@scowell LOL I met her, too. She came to our Fortran class at Oklahoma State University in her uniform toting her "one nanosecond" delay line... a pretty unforgettable figure. She spent an hour telling us how she devised the first Compiler. Absolutely a fascinating lady, no bullshit. (There was a war on, after all... people were a lot more dedicated and serious back then because there were lives at stake, and it suited her for the rest of her life.) Oh, and BTW: she said the legend of the term "bug" dates back to the days of relay calculators; technicians kept a bottle of dead flies and when they wanted a break every so often they would feign an operating problem and then produce a dead fly for the supervisors, saying "we found it between the relay contacts". So THAT whole thing was bullshit, and I got that from the horse's mouth. She was on to them.

[@sludgefactory241]

This is your finest episode imo. Fantastic bruddah!

[@dave_dennis]

As an electrical engineer with a degree in physics who works for a semiconductor company, this was my most favorite video thus far. I’m glad to see that even though you don’t work in the industry as I do, you see the importance and impact the transistor has on the lives of literally every person on the planet. You mentioned a topic I’d like to see you dig deeper into and that is how the Telegraph hastened the beginning of the Civil War. I’d love to learn more about that. Thanks for your passion on these topics.

[@DoyleHargraves]

I fear we will be saying the same thing about social media and our looming civil war

[@BenNotheis]

GREAT VIDEO!! Only nit I had: Moore’s law is typically described as the doubling of transistors every 1.5-2yrs. Thank you for making a great encapsulation (if that were even possible) of this technology!

[@Oddman1980]

These guys are as important as the people who invented the wheel and figured out how to light something on fire.

[@charlesmoore456]

This episode was awesome...literally.

[@jmitchell6094]

Your opening monologue sheds some light on perhaps why we find ourselves in the current social climate. Not only are we able to communicate across vast distances, but now it happens instantaneously, accompanied by live video of the situation, often without context, but destined to ignite people passionately, for better or worse.

[@fatwillie7854]

OK, gotcha! The device pictured at 13:58 is NOT a transistor, although it has some inside it. That device is an LM7905, an integrated circuit which functions as a negative 5-volt regulator. And I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this video, especially the pictures of all the old vacuum-tube computers and other devices. I happen to be a vacuum-tube specialist (there are still a few of us around; I'm 71) and I'd like to point out that (as I believe you implied) the vacuum tube was the forerunner to the transistor; all of the circuits (well, most of them, anyway) which use transistors today were originally built with vacuum tubes. And - contrary to popular opinion - vacuum tubes are not obsolete, and they are still manufactured today, with their principal applications being guitar amplifiers, high-end audiophile playback systems and high-end studio signal processing devices (EQs, preamps, compressors) etc. There are also some military and medical applications. Vacuum tubes are currently produced in Russia, China and Serbia, with some limited production in the USA and Canada. Indeed, they've been working on the transistor for 72 years now, trying to get it to sound as good as a tube. So far, no luck. ;-)

[@roberthiggins8098]

I enjoy listening to my 1941 Zenith and having a cold one from my 1939 GE refrigerator and writing a letter with my 1944 Parker Vacumatic fountain pen. My 1940 something Bulova watch works perfectly and food tastes so much better when served on my green depression glass dishes. I have told my friends if I get a wringer washer please get me committed. 😅

[@CheezyDee]

Don't forget radio broadcast transmitters. I believe the upper limit for "solid state" RF amplifiers is several thousand watts, vacuum tube transmitters can go beyond a megawatt. VOA/Radio Marti comes to mind, and although not a broadcast transmitter, The Russian Woodpecker (A.K.A. Duga 3, NATO "Steel Yard", C.O.D. Black Ops map "Grid") was an over the horizon radar in the HF range and made a lot of Shortwave listeners curse.

[@fatwillie7854]

@@roberthiggins8098 All of the devices you've named would still be functional after a nuclear or solar EMP, since there are no solid-state parts in any of them. If there is ever an EMP attack (or a natural one from the sun) old gear is going to be worth a fortune, since it will be the only stuff that still works. Especially your 1941 Zenith radio - tubes, you see, are naturally immune to EMP. In fact, there is a tertiary backup vacuum tube comm system used by the US military for just this reason. Of course, all this may be moot, as there probably won't be any AC power available from the grid. Small backup generators, however, will run - as long as they have no transistors or integrated circuits in them.

[@demef758]

"Indeed, they've been working on the transistor for 72 years now, trying to get it to sound as good as a tube. So far, no luck." It's the old transistors vs. tubes argument. Good quality transistor audio amps achieve virtually immeasurable distortion., Tube amps do not. I would love to see your best high-end tube amp put on an Audio Precision tester and run through its paces. Is the end goal to achieve zero distortion, or to add distortion that is more pleasing to your ears? If you are going to claim "better sound," can you quantize it? :-)

[@fatwillie7854]

@@demef758 Since 'sound' is completely subjective, there is, of course, no answer to the "which is best" question. All anyone can do is tell you what they like, and if you disagree, then you're free to buy something different. I'm far from an audiophool; in fact, I don't give a rat's ass for any of 'em, so I'm not at all troubled by folks who don't like tubes. Most of the time, we're talking about hobbyists anyway. My association with tubes is on the professional end: I build (and service) vacuum-tube guitar amplifiers. (Chances are pretty good that your favorite guitarist uses one...) I've always found it amusing to listen to people argue about the superiority of solid-state power amps (and I freely admit that, specs-wise, they are indeed superior) while listening to (say) the Rolling Stones grinding out blues through their tube amps. So, we need the superior specs of the SS amps to faithfully reproduce the sound of the tube amps used by musicians in the recording studio. ;-) The difference - and this is something people on both sides of the argument often ignore completely - is that one type of amp is used for music *reproduction*, while the other is used for music *production*. That killer tone produced by Joe Bonamassa, Derek Trucks (I've built two amps for Derek), Clapton, etc., is a result of the tube guitar amps those players use responding in a fashion that makes the amps actually part of the instrument...they are not designed for flawless reproduction of the electric guitar, they are designed to produce good guitar tone, and their overload characteristics and dynamic performance are under the direct real-time control of the musician. On paper and in the lab, tube amps look like crap. On stage, well... 'nuff said. If you like them squirrely three-legged fuses, by all means - you go on ahead and use 'em. As for me, make mine glass. ;-)

[@MrCraigulator]

Got a little misty there at 17:00. Wow, an amazing piece!

[@steveb6103]

Important is a understatement. How else could I get my History Guy fix. Your passion is what keeps me coming back. Marry Christmas to you and Ms. History. May your New Year be blessed with greater success.

[@heronimousbrapson863]

The reason vacuum tubes and transistors can be used as switches is due to the fact that they can modify currents as amplifiers only to a certain point; at a certain voltage they go into a cut-off state, impeding the further flow of current. This property allows them to be used as switches under the intended circumstances.

[@calidude1114]

Actually the amplification is a result of voltage and not current. You amplify voltage not current.

[@kevinaustin5342]

Hence the British name "valve"

[@kensmith5694]

@@calidude1114 You can amplifier either or both. In most cases, the voltage on something controls a current in another part. However to make that voltage generally some sort of current is needed. To charge and discharge the grid of the tube or the gate of a MOSFET requires a current.

[@timharig]

@@calidude1114 There are four kinds of amplifiers. Some react to voltage and some to current. Some modify voltage and some modify current. So you have four combinations. Voltage to voltage, current to current, voltage to current, and current to voltage.

[@calidude1114]

​@@kensmith5694 - Obviously current is need as part of the circuit, however, I was talking about the input and output of the amplifier, not the internal workings, the most common transistor amplifiers amplify voltage V-Gain = V-output / V-input. That is how you can amplify a radio signal received from an antenna into a much higher voltage signal that you can listen to.

[@Sonicfoxtrot]

Holy smokes this is my favorite conclusion to any video period not just from this channel. I felt chills

[@MrHandy1]

Once again your passion has overwhelmed me. BRAVO indeed.