Summary
A pattern can be found in the history of semiconductor electronics, which largely appears to coincide with that of scientific revolutions as described by Thomas Kuhn1. However, the history of semiconductor electronics has some characteristics which suggest that Kuhn's model requires correction in important respects.
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References
T. S. Kuhn,The structure of scientific revolutions (Chicago: Univ.Pr., 1973)
E. Braun and S. MacDonald,Revolution in miniature (Cambridge: Univ.Pr., 1978) p. 3.
Ibid., p. 41.
E. Braun and S. MacDonald,Revolution in miniature (Cambridge: Univ.Pr., 1978) p. 48; this in opposition to ‘blind’ experimentation, p. 43.
Ibid., p. 48, 51.
Ibid., p. 53, 56.
Ibid., p. 77.
Ibid., p. 53.
Ibid., p. 60, 90, 102.
Ibid., p. 78, 110s.
Ibid., p. 54.
Ibid., p. 55.
Ibid., p. 56s., 61, 69.
Ibid., p. 62.
Ibid., p. 79.
Ibid., p. 92.
Ibid., p. 73.
E. Braun and S. MacDonald,Revolution in miniature (Cambridge: Univ. Pr., 1978) p. 131, 136; cfr. p. 48.: other examples of Bell Laboratories not giving room for important developments.
Ibid., p. 71.
Ibid., p. 57s.
Ibid., p. 73; cfr. C. A. Hempstead,Semiconductors 1833–1919 (thesis Durham, 1977) p. 2, 5 and note 2, 11.
Ibid; p. 34ss., 44.
Ibid., p. 69.
Ibid., p. 73s., 133, 136.
Ibid., p. 137.
Ibid., p. 72.
Ibid., p. 93.
Ibid., p. 75, 83.
Ibid., p. 78.
Ibid., p. 84, 139s., 167.
Ibid., p. 103, 105, 138.
Ibid., p. 112.
Ibid., p. 95; cfr.: fig. 7.4.
Ibid., p. 129.
Ibid., p. 137, 199.
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Schopman, J. The history of semiconductor electronics — A kuhnian story?. Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 12, 297–302 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01801200
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01801200