Alcatel-Lucent 1947, John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, William Shockley of Bell Labs invented the transistor. In 1956, they received a Nobel Prize for their invention. The transistor led to an electronics revolution during the post-war boom. The transition from vacuum tubes to transistors enabled all technologies to be built on a smaller scale and use less electricity. Items that before required large dedicated spaces, could now fit into a home or even on a kitchen counter. In 1954, Gerald Pearson, Darryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller invented the solar cell. Telstar, the first active communications satellite also developed by Bell Labs and launched
Nobel family Nobel, the inventor of dynamite who left the major part of his estate to the creation of the Nobel Prizes. The Nobel family originated from the village of Östra Nöbbelöv in Scania, hence the name. The first member was Petrus Olai Nobelius (1655–1707) who married Wendela Rudbeck (1668–1710), daughter of the famous Swedish scientist Olaus Rudbeck the Elder, also known as Olof Rudbeck. Members of the Nobel family are known not only for their interest in art but also for their inventive ability, which is sometimes referred to as a "Rudbeckian" trait, inherited from their ancestor Olaus Rudbeck, the elder.