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
Claes Nobel Claes Nobel Claes Nobel (; ; born 1930), a native of Sweden, is grandson of Ludvig Nobel and grand nephew to Alfred Nobel, who established the Nobel Prizes. Founder of the National Society of High School Scholars, Nobel is an advocate of humanitarian and environmental causes, and was honored at the Artivist Film Festival in November 2007 for his work in these areas. He is also Chief Mentor to Cogent EMR Solutions, a company dedicated to research and development of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) safety products and services. In 1974 he drafted The Nobel Laureates Declaration on the Survival of Mankind,