Photos: The transistor turns 60

The inventors of the transistor (in a 1948 photo): William Shockley (seated), John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain. Don't let the smiles fool you: they fought over who got credit. Since the 1930s, Bell Labs had been looking to replace vacuum tubes with an electronic switch.

The invention was almost called a triode. Here's the ballot that Bell Labs scientists used to vote on the name (PDF).

Photo by Courtesy of AT&T