Biographical timeline of William Shockley, co-inventor of the transistor and founder of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, which birthed Silicon Valley.
William Bradford Shockley is born in London to American parents. His father was a mining engineer and his mother a surveyor. #physics #biography
The Shockley family relocates to Palo Alto, California, where William spends his childhood. #physics #biography
Shockley enrolls at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to study physics. #physics #education
After one year at UCLA, Shockley transfers to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). #physics #education
Shockley earns a Bachelor of Science in physics from Caltech. #physics #education
Shockley receives his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under John C. Slater. His thesis is on electronic bands in sodium chloride. #physics #education
Shockley begins working at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, as a research physicist. #physics #telecommunications
Shockley marries Jean Bailey, a teacher. The marriage later ends in divorce. #biography
During World War II, Shockley leads a Bell Labs team developing radar countermeasures for the U.S. Navy. #physics #war
Shockley is appointed head of the solid-state physics research group at Bell Labs, focusing on semiconductors. #physics #semiconductors
John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, under Shockley's supervision, invent the first working point-contact transistor. Shockley contributes theoretical insights. #physics #transistor
Bell Labs publicly announces the invention of the transistor at a press conference in New York City, revolutionizing electronics. #physics #transistor
Shockley files a patent for the junction transistor, a more robust and practical design that becomes the standard. #physics #transistor
Shockley decides to start his own company and proposes a semiconductor laboratory in Palo Alto, near his hometown. #siliconvalley #entrepreneurship
Shockley leaves Bell Labs and moves to Mountain View, California, to establish Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory with backing from Beckman Instruments. #siliconvalley #entrepreneurship
Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory officially opens in Mountain View, California, attracting top young scientists. #siliconvalley #semiconductors
Shockley, Bardeen, and Brattain are awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their research on semiconductors and the transistor invention. #physics #nobel
Eight key employees, including Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce, leave Shockley Semiconductor to found Fairchild Semiconductor, marking the birth of Silicon Valley's startup culture. #siliconvalley #entrepreneurship
Shockley accepts a part-time professorship at Stanford University in electrical engineering, later becoming a full professor. #education #siliconvalley
Shockley's company is sold to Clevite Corporation after struggling to compete; Shockley remains as a consultant. #siliconvalley #business
Shockley is named the Alexander M. Poniatoff Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stanford. #education #engineering
Shockley divorces his first wife Jean and marries Emmy Lanning, a psychiatric nurse. #biography
Shockley gives a speech at the American Psychological Association advocating voluntary sterilization to curb 'dysgenic' reproduction, sparking controversy. #controversy #eugenics
Shockley is awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor for his contributions to semiconductor physics and the transistor. #physics #engineering
Shockley testifies before Congress on the heritability of intelligence, supporting eugenic policies. #controversy #genetics
Shockley delivers a controversial speech at the Nobel Conference on genetics and racial differences in IQ. #controversy #eugenics
Shockley publicly debates psychologist Arthur Jensen on the role of genetics in intelligence differences. #controversy #psychology
Shockley suggests creating a Nobel Prize for eugenics, further alienating the scientific community. #controversy #eugenics
Shockley retires as professor emeritus from Stanford, ending his academic career. #education #retirement
Shockley is posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for the invention of the transistor. #invention #transistor
Shockley dies of prostate cancer at Stanford Hospital in California at age 79. His legacy is mixed due to his controversial eugenics views. #obituary #physics