RIP: Morgan Sparks, transistor inventor

via Boing Boing

"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.'"

Report on his passing
Profile on PBS