National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame: William D. Coolidge: Vacuum Tube (X Ray)
This site provides a brief biography on William D. Coolidge, inventor of the X-ray tube, also known as the "Coolidge tube."
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Siegmund Loewe
Siegmund Loewe was a German engineer and businessman that developed vacuum tube forerunners of the modern integrated circuit. He pioneered both radio and television broadcasting, and the company he established with his brother, David...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Lee De Forest
American inventor Lee De Forest was a pioneer of radio and motion pictures. He received more than 300 patents over the course of his lifetime, the most important of which was for a three-electrode vacuum tube, or triode, that he called...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: John Ambrose Fleming
John Ambrose Fleming was an electronics pioneer who invented the oscillation valve, or vacuum tube, a device that would help make radios, televisions, telephones and even early electronic computers possible. A brilliant innovator,...
Other
Lee De Forest, American Inventor: The Complete Lee De Forest
An extensive site covering all aspects of Lee de Forest, his inventions, writings, and personal life. Find drawings and pictures of his audion tube and find out about his legacy, especially in the world of electronics.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Audion 1906
Two years after Englishman John Ambrose Fleming invented a two-electrode vacuum tube, American inventor Lee De Forest one-upped him by developing a tube with three electrodes.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: William Crookes
English scientist William Crookes was very innovative in his investigations with vacuum tubes and designed a variety of different types to be used in his experimental work. Crookes tubes are glass vacuum chambers that contain a positive...
History of Computing Science
History of Computing Science: Eniac
The ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator and Computer)was a large computer based on vacuum tubes and introduced in 1946. This lecture gives a brief presentation of the ENIAC.
PBS
Pbs: Transistorized!
This site provides a tour of the discovery and development of the transistor form PBS, including video and lesson plans.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Walter Brattain (1902 1987)
Walter Houser Brattain discovered the photo-effect that occurs at the free surface of a semiconductor and was co-creator of the point-contact transistor, which paved the way for the more advanced types of transistors that eventually...
Other
Sri: Erma and Micr, the Origin of Electronic Banking
Discusses the history of electronic banking, banking problems, vacuum tubes vs. transistors, magnetic ink character reading, handling paper at high speed, and the ERMA.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Invention of the Week: Lee De Forest
This website provides information on the life and inventions of Lee DeForest, the man who invented the audion tube, which made commercial radio broadcasting practical.
PBS
People and Discoveries: Lee De Forest
A biography on audion inventor, Lee de Forest, from childhood on. Hyperlinks to additional information about the radio and broadcasting.
PBS
Outline of the History of the Transistor: Lee De Forest
Part of a larger site about the history of the transistor, this brief biography of Lee de Forest, the inventor of the audion, includes a QuickTime movie that shows how it worked.
National Academy of Engineering
Greatest Achievements: Computers
Computers are one of the top 20 engineering innovations of the 20th century. Read the history behind this great invention.
Energy for Sustainable Development
Esd Bulgaria: Kids & Energy: Energy Pioneers: Lee De Forest
A profile of Lee de Forest who lived from 1873 to 1961. He was one of the most important inventors of radio and electronic technology, whose inventions touch everyday life.
University of Houston
University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: Fleming's Electric Valve
Provides background information on the Edison Effect and then discusses Fleming's invention.
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Lee De Forest
This Wikipedia encyclopedia article on Lee de Forest discusses his life and his invention of the triode (or audion), which laid the foundation for radio.
Curated OER
Science Kids: Science Images: Xray Diffractometer
A labeled photo of a 2D xray diffractometer located at the University of Helsinki. The labeled parts include the beamstop, slits, sample, vacuum tube and image plate detector.
Curated OER
Science Kids: Science Images: Filtration Diagram
This diagram labels the typical parts of a filtration experiment. Included in the equipment labeling are: buchner funnel, moistened filter paper, porous plate (plate with holes in it), rubber tubing, buchner flask and rubber bung....