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
Double beat valve the double beat valve was known as the Cornish Valve, a synonym that persisted until the early 20th century. The Cornish Valve, as used on early beam engines, was invented by Murdock, an assistant of James Watt, in 1820. Double-beat poppet valves became widely used during the nineteenth century. Francis Stevens invented the Stevens valve gear, a double beat poppet valve, in 1839. It was used throughout the nineteenth century and in the early years of the 20th, on side-wheel paddle steamer engines, including the grasshopper engine, in the United States. The Lentz gear, of German origin, was first applied