RIP: Morgan Sparks, transistor inventor; former Bell Labs researcher and Sandia Labs Director


Stephanie Holinka of Sandia National Laboratories tells Boing Boing,

We are sad to report the death of former Sandia Labs Director Morgan Sparks. He's best known as the Bell Labs researcher who invented the first practical transistor. His work made possible so many other inventions. Without transistors, one cannot begin to imagine personal computers, cell phones, DVD players and the many other electronic devices we rely on daily. His contributions are pretty humbling to mere English majors like me.

Link to a news story about his passing; here's a profile on PBS.org for the "Transistorized!" documentary.