One thing we were pleased to see is the smiley-faced electrons don’t frown when they are doped like on the bipolar transistor. We hate to think of our friendly electrons being unhappy.

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.

But, they said, no one should expect a silicon transistor for years. Then Gordon Teal of Texas Instruments stood up to give his talk. He pulled three small objects out of his pocket and announced ...