Diode

[gar]

221118-1041 EST

I started searching the Internet for the inventor of the Zener diode.

The result for the most part was a bunch of junk. Really, the results, for the most part, were useless. I never found a good discussion. Somewhere there has to be something useful. But how to find the information is the big problem.

Then I tried looking for the invention of the diode. Only slightly better results. Although I did find ----

https://www.idc-online.com/technical_references/pdfs/electronic_engineering/History_of_diode.pdf

This does generally correspond with my prior knowledge on the subject,

If most people's learning comes from the Internet, then we are headed in the wrong direction, and a very poorly educated population.

,

 

[JRW 70]

If most people's learning comes from the Internet, then we are headed in the wrong direction, and a very poorly educated population.

An additional consideration is many individuals are not able to sort out the results that are, in fact, erroneous. There seems to be alot of information that is actually fairly close to believable, so it’s no wonder that many who are unfamiliar with a subject are confused.

 

[gar]

221118-1158 EST

A little more searching and I found this ....

History Of The Diode

The history of the diode is a fun one as it’s rife with accidental discoveries, sometimes having to wait decades for a use for what was found. Two examples of that are our first two topics: t…

hackaday.com

.

 

[steve66]

What about this? It’s the first hit I get doing a search.

Zener Diode Invention History & Story - Who Invented Zener Diode ?

This article narrates Zener Diode Invention History & who invented Zener Diode. Explains the story behind invention of Zener Diode with photos.

www.circuitstoday.com

 

[drcampbell]

... If most people's learning comes from the Internet, then we are headed in the wrong direction, and a very poorly educated population.

We're already there, and it's not solely the Internet's fault.

One example: There is an avalanche of advertising on the Internet (and late-night television) for weight-loss quack remedies.

If one of them worked, the word would get out, doctors would recommend it, everybody would use it, and there wouldn't be any more fat people. (except for the poorest quartile) Clearly, this is not the case, but a majority of Americans lack the critical-thinking skills needed to put cause & effect together like that. Advertising isn't cheap and somebody is supporting it.

Next semester: prayers for world peace. Until then, your reading assignment is https://xkcd.com/808/

 

[RumRunner]

. . . . majority of Americans lack the critical-thinking skills needed to put cause & effect together like that. Advertising isn't cheap and somebody is supporting it.

Critical thinking is (in most cases ) an acquired trait that is developed by upbringing.

It becomes more pronounced through association--whose peers haven’t developed it—because of lack in support system and quality education to enable for it to flourish.

For most people, the proliferation of INTERNET and its accompanying unreliability of the available information, are relied mostly by the uninitiated-- and the lack of formal education..

For them, internet is their formal education.

Arrogance has a profound effect in developing this critical thinking skill.

We Americans always look for an easy way out when faced with a problem. Thinking thoroughly is lacking.

No matter how intelligent a person is-- if he/she is not willing to listen to other people’s concern-- the barrier in acquiring this skill becomes harder to overcome.

We see it here all the time.

………………….

 

[gar]

steve66:

That was a good reference.

.

 

[drcampbell]

Critical thinking is (in most cases ) an acquired trait that is developed by upbringing. ...

Critical thinking can't be "acquired" without first teaching the fundamentals: logic, precision of rhetoric, cause & effect, negative results, (learning to observe things that didn't happen, such as the weight-loss example above) independent verification, concealed loyalties, conflicts of interest, ulterior motives, and so forth.

 

[RumRunner]

. . . . learning to observe things that didn't happen. . . . .

That’s an interesting phrase reminiscent of an event prophesied by the French seer, Nostradamus in the fifteenth century.

He prophesied that a great earthquake could separate California from the mainland and the big chunk would drift out into the Pacific Ocean

This is the interpretation by noted Nostradamus scholars that was supposed to have happened on November 2015.

But, still something to worry about though. . . . these scholars moved the goalpost to December, 2044.

I’m getting ready.. . . filling up my gas tank

 

[topgone]

We're already there, and it's not solely the Internet's fault.

One example: There is an avalanche of advertising on the Internet (and late-night television) for weight-loss quack remedies.

If one of them worked, the word would get out, doctors would recommend it, everybody would use it, and there wouldn't be any more fat people. (except for the poorest quartile) Clearly, this is not the case, but a majority of Americans lack the critical-thinking skills needed to put cause & effect together like that. Advertising isn't cheap and somebody is supporting it.

Next semester: prayers for world peace. Until then, your reading assignment is https://xkcd.com/808/

O/T:
IMHO, it's not exclusively an American problem (critical thinking problem). It's a worldwide problem. The mind of a human these days is bombarded with gazillions of information (some from the internet, etc) and nothing gets done if the human mind collects all of that info and calculates what right responses need to be done! The quick way the mind does this is to remember the experiences in the past that worked and act accordingly with a solution aka "common sense" (as you have mentioned). But it is seldom that people get updated, hence the people make wrong decisions.

 

[GoldDigger]

That’s an interesting phrase reminiscent of an event prophesied by the French seer, Nostradamus in the fifteenth century.

He prophesied that a great earthquake could separate California from the mainland and the big chunk would drift out into the Pacific Ocean

This is the interpretation by noted Nostradamus scholars that was supposed to have happened on November 2015.

But, still something to worry about though. . . . these scholars moved the goalpost to December, 2044.

I’m getting ready.. . . filling up my gas tank

There is a great Golden Age SF story about a geoscientist who calculated a prediction of a great earthquake that would separate CA from the continent and submerge it in the Pacific Ocean. Other scientists ridiculed his work.
As the moment of the earthquake approached (very precise time prediction) and the population was in panic, he double checked his calculations and found that he had made a sign error in one equation.
The time came and a great earthquake detached CA from the continent and the continent submerged.

 

[PaulMmn]

There is a great Golden Age SF story about a geoscientist who calculated a prediction of a great earthquake that would separate CA from the continent and submerge it in the Pacific Ocean. Other scientists ridiculed his work.
As the moment of the earthquake approached (very precise time prediction) and the population was in panic, he double checked his calculations and found that he had made a sign error in one equation.
The time came and a great earthquake detached CA from the continent and the continent submerged.

The sign was negative after all!

 

[ggunn]

There is a great Golden Age SF story about a geoscientist who calculated a prediction of a great earthquake that would separate CA from the continent and submerge it in the Pacific Ocean. Other scientists ridiculed his work.
As the moment of the earthquake approached (very precise time prediction) and the population was in panic, he double checked his calculations and found that he had made a sign error in one equation.
The time came and a great earthquake detached CA from the continent and the continent submerged.

Read Kim Stanley Robinson.