BRIEF HISTORY OF ELECTRONICS

ALMEDA, ANNE MARGARET B.

ELECTRONICS

a branch of physical science that deals with the behavior of electrons and other carriers of

electric charges as they flow in vacuum, in gases, and in semiconductors.

ELECTRIC CURRENT flow of electric charge
ELECTRIC CIRCUIT closed path that the electric charges can follow
ELECTRIC DEVICES (e.g. components, circuits, systems) manage the flow of the current
ELECTRONIC DEVICES (e.g. components, circuits, system) manage the flow of electrons

BASIC ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

ACTIVE COMPONENTS

devices that can be used for amplification, rectification, or change energy from one form to

another.
examples are:
semiconductor
electron tubes
visual display devices

PASSIVE COMPONENTS

resistors limits the flow of current or divide the voltages in the circuit
capacitor concentrates the electric field of voltage applied to a dielectric
inductor concentrates the magnetic field of electric current in the coil

TIMELINE OF HISTORIC EVENTS

6
18
5
James Clerk
Maxwell
published the first
unified theory of
electromagnetics

7
18
6
Alexander Graham
Bell invented the
telephone

7
18
7
Samuel Morse
development of
wired telegraphy
using the Morse
Code
Thomas Edison
invented the
phonograph

8
18
8
Heinrich Hertz
proved
experimentally that
electromagnetic
waves contain
electric energy

9
18
6
Guglielmo Marconi
transmitted
electromagnetic waves
across the Atlantic
Ocean using a long wire
antenna

VACUUM TUBE ERA

9
9
18 18
5
7

0 0
19 19
4 6

1
19
2

1 2 2
19 19 19
8 0 2

1895 H.A Lorentz predicted the presence of

electrons
1897 Joseph Thompson proved the existence
of electrons
Braun introduced the first CRT
1904 John Ambrose Fleming invented the
vacuum tube diode
1906 Lee de Forest invented the vacuum
tube triode
1912 Edwin Armstrong cascaded the
amplifiers
Lee de Forest
1918 Eccles and Jordan introduced the
multivibrator

3
19
0

4
19
3

4
19
6

1920 first AM radio broadcast (KDKA)

1922 first AM radio broadcast (BBC)
1930 Vladimir Zworikyn devised the first
black and
white TV
1939 commercial FM radio broadcast started
1943 first vacuum tube computer
1946 Jesper Eckert and John Mauchly
invented the
ENIAC (Electronic
Numerical Integrator and
Computer),
18 x 18 in size with 17,486 vacuum
tubes

TRANSISTOR ERA

4
19
7
Bardeen,
Brattain, and
Shockley
launched the
point contact
transistor

4
19
8
A patent was
awarded to the
three doctors

5
19
2
William
Shockley, the
Father of
Transistors,
invented the
junction
transistor