Walter Houser Brattain Biography, Age, Weight, Height, Friend, Like, Affairs, Favourite, Birthdate & Other

Walter Houser Brattain was an American physicist who jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956 with fellow scientists John Bardeen and William Shockley for their landmark invention of transistor. While Brattain and Bardeen were recognised for their invention of the point-contact transistor, Shockley was credited for inventing junction transistor. Brattain dedicated most of his research career in investigating surface states, especially atomic composition of a material’s surface that generally differs from atomic composition of its interior.

He along with Bardeen worked on a project at the Bell Laboratories to comprehend semiconductors in a better way so that these can be applied properly in amplifying signals. Investigations of the duo led to the path-breaking discovery of the first transistor in 1947. They shared credit with William Shockley, their supervisor who almost right away invented the junction transistor. In no time transistor became a replacement for bulky and expensive vacuum tubes leading to its widespread application in electronic devices.

This breakthrough invention paved way for a virtual revolution by way of other developments in the field of electronics like fax machines, computers, satellites and cell phones. Brattain served as visiting lecturer at Harvard University and at Whitman College and upon retirement from Bell Laboratories he served as adjunct professor at Whitman College. He also jointly received the Stuart Ballantine Medal (1952) and the John Scott Medal (1954) with Bardeen.