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
Board of Invention and Research working in six science and technology divisions, which assessed and evaluated invention proposals from the public, with a view to applying them to naval technology and tactics. During its operation from 1915 to 1918, the board evaluated over 41,000 submissions. In 1918, the BIR was superseded by the Scientific Research and Experiment Department, which operated until 1946 and was then re-organised into the Royal Naval Scientific Service. Board of Invention and Research The Board of Invention and Research (BIR) was a British expert-level committee, initiated by the Admiralty of the Royal Navy. Established in 1915, the board was responsible for