Some of the earliest work on semiconductor amplifiers emerged from Eastern Europe. By the 1920’s inventors began to investigate the use of semiconductors for amplifying and switching signals. These point-contact diodes could change an oscillating signal to a steady signal and found wide use as detectors in crystal radio receivers.

And as this blog describes, it was repeated in the development of the next great leap forward in semiconductor devices, the transistor.Įarly in the last century scientists knew how to make a two terminal diode by placing a sharp metal probe in contact with a semiconductor crystal. Merton also paraphrases Bacon’s observation that “once the right path is followed, discoveries in limitless number will arise from the growing stock of knowledge.” This pattern was readily apparent in the history of the diode. Merton, traces this understanding back to Elizabethan philosopher, statesman, and scientist Sir Francis Bacon.

On reading my recent blog “ Who invented the diode?” CHM senior curator Dag Spicer pointed me to a fascinating scholarly treatise, “Singletons and Multiples in Scientific Discovery: A Chapter in the Sociology of Science,” that describes how multiple independent discoveries of scientific phenomena are the norm rather than the exception.

First transistor download free