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(See “Remember December 16, 1947,” April 21, 2008)
May 09, 2008
I’m a fact checker. That elusive paper clip—was it or wasn't it a part of the first transistor?—has been bothering me. So I’ll show you what fact-checkers do. (Never mind what we did before there was Google—it’s too harrowing even to think about. I vaguely remember being in a library, toting heavy bound volumes of magazines to a Xerox machine. At least there were Xerox machines. But then, there were also (shudder) microfilm machines. I’ve repressed the rest.)
I Google “first transistor paper clip.” Usually two or three Wikipedia entries come up first. Usually I ignore them—sorry, guys. Wikipedia is inconsistent. Some entries are awesome, but even I have found errors in others.
But in this case, I must've done something right—not a sign of Wikipedia! These are the top results:
- The History Channel had a special called “History’s Lost and Found.”
In an historical treasure hunt, we locate objects and reveal the often-murky truth surrounding them. In this installment, we track down: the Cowardly Lion costume worn by Bert Lahr in The Wizard of Oz; the first transistor (shortened form of “transfer resistor”), which was made in 1947 by a team of scientists at Bell Labs from a paper clip and two slivers of gold for contact points; and a 4-inch scrimshaw (carved whale’s tooth) given by President John F. Kennedy to Greta Garbo.
So the object is preserved somewhere, and THC actually has footage of it? Score one for the paper clip.
- At nobelprize.org’s Educational Games, yet another account of Bardeen and Brattain’s 1947 invention of the transistor, with the following illustration caption:
The first point contact transistor made use of the semiconductor germanium. Paper clips and razor blades were used to make the device.
Now why didn’t I see that the first time around? Probably because I was “just” writing a blog post, not checking a fact that was going to appear in incriminating, archivable print. (You bet I occasionally miss things. The only consolation is that it always makes some sharp-eyed twelve-year-old feel really good.) Two cheers for the paper clip!
That source had a drawing, but the next one has incontrovertible proof—a photograph! (See the sidebar.)
- It’s not much to look at—the overriding impression is of several mangled paper clips clumsily soldered onto some chunky scrap metal—but really, the whole of modern digital life stems from it.
This was the very first transistor, invented at Bell Labs in December 1947.
Seeing is believing. OK, it’s official. No urban legend. The first transistor was made from a paper clip. Now, was it one or more paper clips... ? And is it true about the chewing gum?
If you spotted other inconsistencies among the different accounts of the birth of the transistor, you have the makings of a fact-checker. And you are well on your way to knowing our guild’s secret motto: There is no such thing as a fact.
(Annie Gottlieb) |
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