16. The semiconductor, and the birth of modern electronics
If it is hard to imagine life without four wheels and an engine, or the light bulb and the plug socket, then electronics must surely come a close third. A semiconductor is a material, such as silicon, that has an electrical conductivity value that falls somewhere between the full conductivity of metals like copper or gold, and insulators such as glass, plastic or wood. They can be manipulated to behave in specific ways, creating semiconductor junctions, which is the basis of diodes, transistors and every aspect of modern electronics.
Who made the first recorded observations of a semiconductor effect, well, more surprise, surprise, none other than Michael Faraday. However, add to that such names as Isaac Newton, Alessandro Volta, André‑Marie Ampère and, of course, Nicola Tesla, and you have not only the origins of the measurements ‘volt’ and ‘amp’, but also a direct line of development from the earliest observations to actual, practical electronics. In 1904, John Ambrose Fleming, a former employee of Thomas Edison, patented thermionic diode, the first functional vacuum tube electronic device, and the journey to Silicon Valley began.