Aldrin C.

Bernardo BSME 3A History of Electronics

date: July 6, 2011

Military equipment, toys, communication, home electronics, computing, cars, satellites and others. This is only a partial list of products, which contain electronics. Actually electronics won our world. It is hard even to think that only a hundred years ago our world seemed different at all from this point of view. But how did the electronics revolution begin? Theoretical and experimental studies of electricity started in the 18th and 19th centuries enabled the development of the first electrical machines and the wide use of electricity. During that time the first theory was founded and the rules of electricity was formulated. The event of identification of the electron in second half of 19th century by the English physicist J.J. Thompson and the measurement of its electric charge in 1909 by the American physicist A. Millikan were the point of turning the electronics evolution separately from that of electricity. Another coarse of interest to electronics was the observation of the American inventor Thomas A. Edison. He noticed that the current of electrons would flow from one electrode to another, if the second one was with relatively positive charge. This discovery led to the development of electron tubes. Electron tubes became very useful for manufactory at that time. X-ray tube, the radio signal detectors and transmitters, and the first power systems were based on electron tubes. The development of the vacuum tube and later the three-electrode tube by adding the grid between the anode and the cathode (Negative and positive electrodes in the tube) improved the characteristics of the tube by far and made it more useful for different electronic applications. The first half of the 20th century was the era of the vacuum tubes in electronics. Using the tube permitted the development of radio, long-distance telephony, television and even the first computers. The most known one was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) completed in 1946. The first and the second World Wars gave a considerable boost to the way the electronics science has advanced. Governments of rival countries invested a lot of money in the technology of military industry. On other hand they wanted the quick solution and were looking for long-range developments. Therefore the varieties of vacuum electron tubes were the central device in the electronics system of that time. There are several limitations to the tube. Its big size, slow working paces, bad accuracy, and very hard and high cost of production it. These limitations of the tube motivated to the Solid-State revolution with the invention of the transistor in 1947 by Bell Laboratories scientists: John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain, and William B. Shockley. The vacuum tube hasnt disappeared from the world until today. All kind of displays (except the liquid crystal one), laser systems, some measurement equipment include the tube and there is no alternative product to be used instead of the tube until now. Recently we have witnessed the biggest event in the history of electronics the invention of the semiconductor devices. It made a real revolution in the world of electronics. The semiconductors are small, accurate and low cost devices. Transistors and diodes are made of crystalline solid materials, which have electrical properties that are capable of variations, an extremely wide range, by the addition of little quantities of other elements like resistors, inductors and capacitors. Early semiconductors were produced using germanium as the material, but since 1960 silicon quickly became the preferred material, because it was less expensive and it could operate in wide range of the temperatures. For instance, silicon diodes work at temperature up to 200C (392F), whereas germanium diodes cannot work above 85C(277F). Since 1960 transistors have quickly supplanted vacuum tubes. Electronic system became more complex and smart. Computers included hundred of thousands of transistor each (This without counting of other devices). This fact, together with the need for compact, lightweight electronic missile guidance systems, led to the invention of the integrated circuit (IC). This invention was the result of independent research of Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments Incorporated in 1958 and of Jean Hoerni and Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation in 1959. Early ICs contained about 10 individual semiconductor elements but the their number rapidly increased

during next ten years. In 1970 the number was 1,000 in a chip and the result of hard work of physicists, electronics and mechanical engineers was developing and producing of first microprocessor with memory interface in 1971. This event was the beginning of computerization and smart digital electronics. 0 and 1. Those two small numbers changed our world. Computers, data communication, the Internet understand only two numbers, 0 and 1. Digital electronics (Microprocessors and its surrounding) based on Boolean algebra that represent the numbers to the base of two. Since 1970 until today the digital ICs have been in constant development. Everywhere we hear about new microprocessor, which are that quicker, more complex, smarter and less expensive than the previous one. We can state that ever since the first computers electronics were improved it self. The calculation became simpler. The measurement equipment becomes more accurate. In conclusion, I can say that the science of electronics is one of most important science today. We all witness the influence of electronics on our life in good and bad side as well. The process of development was relatively quick and interesting. The best brains of 20th century were the of this process. But the history of electronics has not ended, as we see, and our using of electronics is the best evidence for it.
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Electronics is one of the most important branches of science till date. With its advancement the world has completely changed into a different thing. It has given a complete make-over to our life, from being a sluggish one to a rapid fast life. It has influenced our life in each and every way. From the time we wake up in the morning till the night when we go to bed. Electronics is touching our life in every aspect. We use them for all purpose, either as a necessity, or just for the entertainment purpose, for example television, i pods, etc.

If we go back into the history of electronics, then we will come to know that there were three major components in electronics. The first was Vacuum tubes, which was invented by Thomas Alva Edison in the year 1883. He made the invention when he discovered that through vacuum, electrons can flow from one metal conductor to another. Later this discovery was given the term of Edison effect. With the invention of vacuum tube it became possible to manipulate the electrical energy; hence they were used for transmitting and amplifying purposes. In those days, the vacuum tubes were used to be very big in size, which easily gets heated-up. After the invention of vacuum tubes, in the year 1904, John Fleming invented a two element electron tube called Diode. It was based upon the Edison effect. Eventually, in the year 1906 Lee De Forest invented the three-element tube, the Triode. It was in 1896 when the first application of the electron tubes was made. They were used in radio communications by Guglielmo Marconi. By 1906, he finally made an impact by creating long-distance radio communication. It proved to be revolutionary step in the field of electronics.

Prior to World War II, the development in the field of communication technology took at a very fast pace. According to the needs, various specialized tubes were produced. It was the period when radio was thought to be the primary source of entertainment, and also a form of education. In the year 1920, Bell Laboratories made an impact in the field of electronics, when the invented the television. By the year 1927, television finally became widely available. During the course, Bell Laboratories introduced the cathode ray picture tube and color television.

After the World War II, the first computer was developed through the electron tubes. But because of their bulky size, they were of not use. As necessity is the mother of invention, hence it resulted in the

invention of transistors. A group of scientist from Bell Laboratories made the invention of transistors during the year 1947, for which they also received a Noble Prize. The invention of transistors gave a boost to the development of the world. They were smaller, lighter, cheaper, and more efficient in comparison to the vacuum tubes. Soon the concept of integrated circuits was introduced in the year 1952 from the Royal Radar Establishment. Since then, electronics has completely changed our life.

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Electronics History ( 1745 1996)

Here I explain the history, origin and development of electronics and technology and some great inventions and contribution of some of the greatest scientists and inventors of all times. Cuneus and Muschenbrock, in Leyden (Netherlands), discovered the Leyden jar in 1745. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Cuneus and Muschenbrock to Electronics Ben Franklin (1746-52 ) flew kites to demonstrate that lightning is a form of static electricity (ESD). Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Ben Franklin to Electronics Charles Augustus Coulomb (1736-1806) invented the torsion balance in 1785. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Charles Augustus Coulomb to Electronics

In is 1800 Count Alessandro Volta (1745-1827) announced the results of his experiments investigation Galvani's claims about the source of electricity in the frog leg experiment. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Count Alessandro Volta to Electronics In the year 1820 Hans Christian Oersted (1777-1851) in Denmark demonstrated a relationship between electricity and magnetism by showing that an electrical wire carrying a current will deflect a magnetic needle. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Hans Christian Oersted to Electronics 1822-27 Andr Marie Ampre (1775-1836) in France gave a formalized understanding of the relationships between electricity and magnetism using algebra. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Andr Marie Ampre to Electronics 1826 George Simon Ohm (1787-1854) wanted to measure the motive force of electrical currents . Read More on Inventions and Contribution of George Simon Ohm to Electronics Michael Faraday (1791-1867). 1820s Faraday postulated that an electrical current moving through a wire creates "fields of force" surrounding the wire. 1821 Faraday built the first electric motor--a device for transforming an electrical current into rotary motion. 1331 Faraday made the first transformer. The unit of capacitance is named after him. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Michael Faraday to Electronics Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) Wilhelm Eduard Weber (1804-1891). Gauss is known as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. The CGS unit of magnetic field density in named after Gauss. Weber, a German physicist, also established a system of absolute electrical units. The MKS unit of flux is named after Weber. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Karl Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Eduard Weber to Electronics Joseph Henry (1799-1878) was a professor in a small school in Albany, New York. In 1830 he observed electromagnetic induction, a year before Faraday. The unit of induction is named after him. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Joseph Henry to Electronics 1832 Heinrich F.E. Lenz (1804-1865), born in the old university city of Tartu, Estonia (then in Russia), was a professor at the University of St. Petersburg who carried out many experiments following the lead of Faraday. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Heinrich F.E. Lenz to Electronics Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791 - 1872) brought a practical system of telegraphy to the fore front using electromagnets, and invented the code named after him in 1844. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Samuel Finley Breese Morse to Electronics Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824-1887) was a German physicist. He announced the laws which allow calculation of the currents, voltages, and resistance of electrical networks in 1845 when he was only 21. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Gustav Robert Kirchhoff to Electronics

James Clerk Maxwell (1831 - 1879) wrote a mathematical treatise formalizing the theory of fields in 1856: On Faraday's Lines of Force. In the year 1873 Maxwell published Electricity and Magnetism, demonstrating four partial differential equations that completely described electrical phenomena. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of James Clerk Maxwell to Electronics Hermann Lud-wig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821 - 1894) was an all around universal scientist and researcher. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Hermann Lud-wig Ferdinand von Helmholtz to Electronics Sir William Crookes (1832 - 1919) investigated electrical discharges through highly evacuated "Crookes tubes" in the year 1878. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Sir William Crookes to Electronics Joseph Wilson Swan (1828 - 1914) Joseph Swan demonstrated his electric lamp in Britain in February 1879. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Joseph Wilson Swan to Electronics

Thomas Alva Edison (1847 - 1931): In 1878, Edison began work on an electric lamp and sought a material that could be electrically heated to incandescence in a vacuum. 1882 Edison installed the first large central power station on Pearl Street in New York City in 1882; its steam-driven generators of 900 horsepower provided enough power for 7,200 lamps. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Thomas Alva Edison to Electronics Oliver Heaviside (1850 - 1925) Worked with Maxwell's equations to reduce the fatigue incurred in solving them. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of liver Heaviside to Electronics Heinrich Rudolph Hertz (1857 - 1894) was the first person to demonstrate the existence of radio waves. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Heinrich Rudolph Hertz to Electronics Nikola Tesla (1856 - 1943) devised the polyphase alternating-current systems that form the modern electrical power industry. The unit of magnetic field density is named after him. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Nikola Tesla to Electronics Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865 - 1923) discovered the mathematics of hysteresis loss, thus enabling engineers of the time to reduce magnetic loss in transformers. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Charles Proteus Steinmetz to Electronics Guglielmo Marconi (1874 - 1937) Known as the "father of wireless", was an Italian national who expanded on the experiments that Hertz did, and believed that telegraphic messages could be transmitted without wires. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Guglielmo Marconi to Electronics Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (1845 - 1923) discovered X rays, for which he received the first Nobel Prize for physics in 1901. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen to Electronics Sir Joseph John Thomson (1856 - 1940) is universally recognized as the British scientist who discovered and identified the electron in the year 1897. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Sir Joseph John Thomson to Electronics Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955): In the year 1905, Einstein elaborated on the experimental results of Max Planck who noticed that electromagnetic energy seemed to be emitted from radiating objects in quantities that were discrete. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Albert Einstein to Electronics Sir John Ambrose Fleming (1849 - 1945) made the first diode tube, the Fleming valve in the year 1905. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Sir John Ambrose Fleming to Electronics Lee De Forest (1873 - 1961) added a grid electrode to Flemings' valve and created the triode tube, later improved and called the Audion. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Lee De Forest to Electronics Jack St. Clair Kilby developed the integrated circuit while at Texas instruments. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Jack St. Clair Kilby to Electronics Robert Norton Noyce (1927 - 1990) also developed the integrated circuit with a more practical approach to scaling the size of the circuit. He became a founder of Fairchild Semiconductor Company in 1957. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Robert Norton Noyce to Electronics Seymour Cray (1925 - 1996) Also known as "The Father of the Supercomputer", along with George Amdahl, defined the supercomputer industry in the year 1976. Read More on Inventions and Contribution of Seymour Cray to Electronics

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