The first transistor was about half an inch high. That's mammoth by today's standards, when 7 million transistors can fit on a single computer chip. It was nevertheless an amazing piece of technology.

Why are test points a crucial element in developing a successful circuit? Types of test points available, and the different techniques that employ them. Electronic design has always been an endeavor ...

In What’s the point?: The Point Contact transistor I discussed Shockley’s white paper on the theory of the Point Contact Transistor. Let’s look further into this early transistor design. It is ...

The following automatic battery-charger design is created with a circuit that could qualify as the simplest window comparator ever built around a single transistor (see the figure). It starts charging ...

The concept of negative resistance has always fascinated me. Of course, a true negative resistance is not possible, and what is meant is a negative differential resistance (NDR). But of course knowing ...