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Morris Tanenbaum, inventor of the silicon transistor, has died

spectrum.ieee.org

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Re: Morris Tanenbaum, inventor of the silicon transistor, has died

#41

Post by [deleted] »

phkahler wrote: post #21
woodruffw wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we would have ended up here anyways: to assume that the silicon transistor would not have been invented without Morris Tanenbaum is to succumb to the Great Man theory[1]. The reality is that Morris was a brilliant man whose life intersected in the right place and time with the arc of history; we should celebrate his life and contributions for that, and not because we think that we'd be stuck in 1950 without t…

Not sure but I think the question is more like "what if physics didn't allow transistors?" rather than if one guy didn't invent them. What's the next best thing, and how far would we have pushed it?

[deleted]

Re: Morris Tanenbaum, inventor of the silicon transistor, has died

#42

Post by kens »

cubefox wrote: post #10
woodruffw wrote: post #6

It's incredibly humbling to be reminded how young this field of our is: this site and everything its presence implies (about the Internet, global communication, computers) would not exist were it not for the work of a very-recently-deceased engineer. Very few other fields (aerospace and modern pharmacology, among them) can say the same thing.

It is interesting to think about about alternative history here: If microchip technology had never been invented for some reason, what would we have developed instead? What is the next best computing technology?

Nowadays, people think of just vacuum tubes and then transistors, but in the 1960s there were a lot of different technologies being used. For example, superconducting cryotrons, magnetic core logic, parametric-phase-locked-oscillator logic, microwave logic, electroluminescent-photoconductor logic, and tunnel diodes. If transistors didn't pan out, there were lots of other technologies that could have taken over. Magnetic core logic (not to be confused with magnetic core storage) in particular was used in several computers and seemed poised for success until advances in transistors killed it off.

More: https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-vacuum-tubes-forgotten-rival

Re: Morris Tanenbaum, inventor of the silicon transistor, has died

#43

Post by dang »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #40

It seems the headline is a bit editorialized with 'Microchip' as he does not seem to have been involved with subsequent developments of the integrated circuit, what microchips commonly refer to. Though, after checking, there apparently are no clear cut 'inventors' of the integrated circuit, which strikes me as a bit odd.

The article seems to imply that "silicon transistor" would be more precise than "microchip" so I've put that in the title now, at least until someone explains how it's wrong.

Re: Morris Tanenbaum, inventor of the silicon transistor, has died

#44

Post by jakjak123 »

solar_warehouse wrote: post #2

Morris Tanenbaum (American, physical chemist / transistor researcher) [1], not to be confused with Andrew Tanenbaum (American-Dutch, CS professor who was responsible for MINIX) [2]. Both had great significance in what we call "computers" today, in their respective fields. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Tanenbaum [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_S._Tanenbaum

Hah, I read many books by Andrew Tanenbaum. I remember him putting in dry comments like 'It is not known whether CPUs have dreams during their deepest sleep states.'

Re: Morris Tanenbaum, inventor of the silicon transistor, has died

#45

Post by mdiesel »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #14
cubefox wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is interesting to think about about alternative history here: If microchip technology had never been invented for some reason, what would we have developed instead? What is the next best computing technology?

Vacuum tubes was the thing, I'd imagine there would be more of that. That, or mentats.

Mentats would be cool, but don't think it's possible until after the butlerian revolution. Before then computers are just easier

Re: Morris Tanenbaum, inventor of the silicon transistor, has died

#46

Post by shever73 »

solar_warehouse wrote: post #2

Morris Tanenbaum (American, physical chemist / transistor researcher) [1], not to be confused with Andrew Tanenbaum (American-Dutch, CS professor who was responsible for MINIX) [2]. Both had great significance in what we call "computers" today, in their respective fields. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Tanenbaum [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_S._Tanenbaum

Thanks for the clarification, I was wondering if they were related.

Re: Morris Tanenbaum, inventor of the silicon transistor, has died

#47

Post by bee_rider »

13of40 wrote: post #32
helloooooooo wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is calling any permanent resident who is not a citizen Dutch reasonable?

If he was born there but lived in the US for 50 years, would it be fair to call him a Dutch-American?

Why is everyone just responding with further rhetorical questions in this thread? It is annoying.

Re: Morris Tanenbaum, inventor of the silicon transistor, has died

#49

Post by kkarakk »

jakjak123 wrote: post #44
solar_warehouse wrote: post #2

Morris Tanenbaum (American, physical chemist / transistor researcher) [1], not to be confused with Andrew Tanenbaum (American-Dutch, CS professor who was responsible for MINIX) [2]. Both had great significance in what we call "computers" today, in their respective fields. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Tanenbaum [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_S._Tanenbaum

Hah, I read many books by Andrew Tanenbaum. I remember him putting in dry comments like 'It is not known whether CPUs have dreams during their deepest sleep states.'

i loved those comments, felt like a mentor talking to you instead of a person passing on info

Re: Morris Tanenbaum, inventor of the silicon transistor, has died

#50

Post by deepnotderp »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #40

It seems the headline is a bit editorialized with 'Microchip' as he does not seem to have been involved with subsequent developments of the integrated circuit, what microchips commonly refer to. Though, after checking, there apparently are no clear cut 'inventors' of the integrated circuit, which strikes me as a bit odd.

In so far as the modern monolithic integrated circuit is concerned, it’s pretty indisputably Bob Noyce imo
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