7 William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain 7

Bardeen was awarded his second Nobel Prize for Physics,
for development of the theory of superconductivity.
Bardeen was also the author of a theory explaining certain
properties of semiconductors. He served as a professor
of electrical engineering and physics at the University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, from 1951 to 1975.

Walter Brattain

Walter Houser Brattain earned a Ph.D. from the University
of Minnesota, and in 1929 he became a research physicist
for Bell Labs. His chief field of research involved the surface
properties of solids, particularly the atomic structure of
a material at the surface, which usually differs from its
atomic structure in the interior. He, Shockley, and Bardeen
invented the transistor in 1947. After leaving Bell Labs in
1967, Brattain served as adjunct professor at Whitman
College, Walla Walla, Wash. (1967–72), then was designated
overseer emeritus. He was granted a number of patents
and wrote many articles on solid-state physics.

Wernher von Braun

(b. March 23, 1912, Wirsitz, Ger.—d. June 16, 1977, Alexandria, Va., U.S.)

W

ernher von Braun was a German engineer who
played a prominent role in all aspects of rocketry
and space exploration, first in Germany and, after World
War II, in the United States.

Early Life

Braun was born into a prosperous aristocratic family. His
mother encouraged young Wernher’s curiosity by giving
him a telescope upon his confirmation in the Lutheran
church. Braun’s early interest in astronomy and the realm