Walter Houser Brattain (February 10, 1902 – October 13, 1987) was a physicist who, along with John Bardeen, invented the transistor. The two and their project director, William Shockley, shared the 1956Nobel Prize in Physics for their invention. February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1902 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years). ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Bardeen (May 23, 1908 – January 30, 1991) was an American physicist. ... Through hole transistors (tape measure marked in centimeters) The transistor is a solid state semiconductor device which can be used for amplification, switching, voltage stabilization, signal modulation and many other functions. ... William Bradford Shockley (February 13, 1910 – August 12, 1989) American physicist, eugenicist and co-inventor of the transistor with John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. ... 1956 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ...
Brattain's first job out of graduate school was at the National Bureau of Standards as a radio engineer, but after a year there he wanted to get back to physics.
Brattain, raised on a working ranch with a rifle in his saddle bags to shoot rattlesnakes, laughed.
Brattain, who at first thought it was a practical joke, gave an off-the-cuff explanation that electrical current was being generated at a barrier inside.
Walter Houser Brattain discovered the photo-effect that occurs at the free surface of a semiconductor and was co-creator of the point-contact transistor, which paved the way for the more advanced types of transistors that eventually replaced vacuum tubes in almost all electronic devices in the latter half of the 20th century.
Brattain was born to Ross Brattain and Ottilie Houser on February 10, 1902, in Amoy, China, where the elder Brattain worked as a teacher.
Brattain decided to continue his education, resulting in a M.S. from the University of Oregon in 1926 and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1929.
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