How many transistors are there in the processor in your computer? A Platinum Jubilee Fact.

I have an Intel i7 processor in my laptop – and a quick Google search on the model of chip did not give an exact answer, but it must be billions – so quite a lot. The modern computer age owes it’s birth to the discovery of the transistor – which was licensed for general use in 1952 by Bell Labs.

1952: Bell Labs Licenses Transistor Technology | The Silicon Engine | Computer History Museum

However Bell Labs missed out on transforming this technology into the integrated circuit also known as a microchip. An integrated circuit is an efficient collection of transistors, assembled into a single package and configured to carry out specific tasks. This could be a complete transistor radio on a chip – the first radio I build used one of these – to the CPU in your computer.

References

Morton, J. A. (1964). From research to technology. International Science and Technology, 29(9).

Riordan, M. (2006). How Bell Labs missed the microchip. IEEE Spectrum, 43(12), 36-41.

Further Reading

Making a Transistor Radio – Ladybird Book (petervis.com)