December 23, 1947
It was December, 1947, and I was less than three months old. The world was still trying to emerge from the effects of the modern day dark ages of World War II. On December 23, of that year, three men, John Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain, were working at the Bell Telephone Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey.
They were conducting an electrical experiment to explore the little known physics of semi-conductors using a tiny bit of impure germanium crystal. Suddenly Brattain shouted "This thing's got current gain!" They would call their invention the "transistor" and the world would never be the same again.
At the time, few people realized what the invention really meant. Popular Mechanics magazine, always a visionary publication, predicted that, in the future, "computers would contain fewer than 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh less than 1-1/2 tons." Well, they were right.
We no longer have to stand by and let others be our voice. We find out that people, once thought to be enemies, are just like us, and we become friends. We make friends all over the world and can talk with them whenever we choose, and learn from each other. How much is that worth?
In 1947 three men gave us a new world. As this year comes to a close I'd like to dedicate this image to them, and all the countless others who worked so hard to put this power in our hands, thank you!
steffen s... 02/02/2008 15:47
stunning sceneTamara Trejo 12/01/2008 6:50
Great image and story. TTHD - Henri 09/01/2008 20:52
Thx for this story and the picture dedicated to these 3 men.rgds - Henri
Isabel2 Cruz 04/01/2008 17:58
Excellent work!Greetings
isabel
Giorgos Fidanas 27/12/2007 17:53
Bravo, Dough...! Sometimes i feel very lucky that i'm in FC, not only about the photographs...:-)rgds, Giorgos
archiek 22/12/2007 6:11
Interesting photo and your comment is so correct. E-mail was being done by very few 20 years ago. The internet was exploding only 12 years ago. I worked for a company that put together a 1 GB drive in 1989. Today we probably all have at least that much in our digital cameras. Seasons greetings from Silicon Valley. -archieManfred Vaeth 21/12/2007 12:56
Vladan Doslic 21/12/2007 10:17
Great image !I like it !
Best wishes
CsomorLászló 20/12/2007 11:25
REMEK!bw
CsL
Michael MM Marx 19/12/2007 17:34
Here again a very great Work!So great and nice - perfect!
All the best from Germany
Mike
Alexandra Baltog 19/12/2007 8:28
WOW! Great story & picture !!!Thank you for all your beautiful works ...
Merry Christmas ,
Alex
Véronique Soulier 19/12/2007 8:02
beautiful work and nice tribute to the transistor,, you're right, something changed on this day ! Best wishes Doug VéroniqueStefan Burkard 19/12/2007 5:05
+++Canan Oner 19/12/2007 1:31
Fantastic work Doug and wonderful words......Thanks a lot for sharing...
Best wishes,
Canan
Nicole Casutt 18/12/2007 22:25
Wow ! Wonderful text and picture ! Really great.Thanks for sharing this.
Many greatings.
Nicole