Amplifier by their physical placement in the signal chain; a preamplifier may precede other signal processing stages, for example. The first practical electrical device which could amplify was the triode vacuum tube, invented in 1906 by Lee De Forest, which led to the first amplifiers around 1912. Today most amplifiers use transistors. The first practical device that could amplify was the triode vacuum tube, invented in 1906 by Lee De Forest, which led to the first amplifiers around 1912. Vacuum tubes were used in almost all amplifiers until the 1960s–1970s when the transistor, invented in 1947, replaced them. Today, most amplifiers
David Davies (electrical engineer) David Davies (electrical engineer) Sir David Evan Naunton Davies , known as Den Davies or David "DEN" Davies, (born 1935) is a British electrical engineer and educator. He was knighted for services to science in 1994. 1985-1988: Head of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at University College London (UCL), and holder of the Pender Chair, having already been lecturing there, in "Communications Systems", for many years prior to that. 1986-1988: Vice-Provost of University College London 1988-1993: Vice Chancellor of Loughborough University 1993–1999: Chief Scientific Adviser for the Ministry of Defence 1994-1995: President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers