THE TRANSISTOR : Selected Reference Material on Characteristics & Applications Contract DA 36-039 SC-5589 (Task 3)
New York: Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. for Western Electric Co., Inc. 1951. First Thus. [1-blank], [7], 792 pages. Large 4to (8 1/2 x 11 inches). Original printed thick grey cardstock covers. Previous owner name "A.E. Smith, Code 434, ONR" written at head of top wrapper. The best copy of this work we have handled - it is notorious for the spine bowing away from the textblock, and copies with provenance are difficult to find. Near Fine. Stiff wraps. [29849]
The previous owner was Albert Eugene Smith, a computer pioneer. He was the Acting Head of the Computer Branch of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in 1949 (see Redmond & Smith), founder of the Digital Computer Newsletter, and a participant in the development of the COBOL programming language working along side Grace Hopper and others. He was ONR's representative at the Moore School Lectures. See Wikipedia and Grokipedia for more information on Smith.
THE TRANSISTOR contains 34 articles plus the introduction covering material given at a symposium on transistors held at the Bell Telephone Laboratories during the week beginning Sept. 17, 1951. It includes work from luminaries like William Shockley (1956 Nobel Laureate in Physics with Bardeen and Brittain for "their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect") who contributed to three articles including "Holes and Electrons" (derived from his similarly named book) and "The Theory of p-n Junctions in Semi-Conductors and p-n Junction Transistors" (published previously in the Bell System Technical Journal).
From the transistor's invention in 1948 through the early 1950s the fledgling electronics industry was encouraged and funded by the military, driving significant research into this startling new technology and it's potential. In retrospect, the transistor was one of the most signficant inventions of the 20th century. Moore's law and the continual shrinking of transistor devices from a single device the size of a pea (illustrated herein) to many many thousands of transistors in the same space have driven the computer revolution and fundamentally changed our society in the process.
This symposium details work conducted by primarily Bell System researchers to share what was then known, much of it conducted under government contracts and previously unpublished. The symposium treats "theory, transistor properties, circuit design principles, applications, and finally, characteristics of different transistor types [then] under development." As the Foreword notes: "It will be recognized that, in a broad sense, this constitutes by a progress report. The art is moving rapidly. There are still many problems to be solved and some of the material [reported] may be soon out of date. It is too early for a full appraisal of the extent to which the transistor may find its place in the field of electronics. Just now it is a promising infant trying to shed its swaddling clothes. It is hoped that this [report] will assist in this effort. Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. Murray Hill, N.J. November 5, 1951."
Important, early work in the field of electronics.
PROVENANCE:
Purchased from Smith's descendants
LITERATURE:
Kent C. Redmond and Thomas M. Smith, "Manuscript Edition, Project Whirlwind Case History"
Price: $750.00