But alas, as ever so often, the article turns this into a hyperbole. The premise from the title does not check out at all.
>The Russian who invented semiconductors 25 years before the USA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor#Early_history_of...
has quite a bit on it checking out:
> He used these junctions to build solid-state versions of amplifiers, oscillators, and TRF and regenerative radio receivers, at frequencies up to 5 MHz, 25 years before the transistor. He even built a superheterodyne receiver.
That one calls them "negative resistance diodes" but I don't see how you can make a functional solid state amplifier and the like without it being a transistor.
Maybe Wikipedia needs some edits.
Yeah, that pattern can be seen everywhere in semiconductors. E.g. the transistor invention vs. Lilienfeld, Heil, Matare etc. So the scope is more narrow than "Inventend Semiconductors".
Generally, there seems to be a tendency to disregard discoveries from outside the US. I think this pattern can still be observed today...
Other examples: Invention of light bulb, telephone.
This applies not just to the semiconductor industry but almost every industry, especially the ones that don't exist yet.
And to this list I would add: a social and economic system that provides a fertile ground for research, experimentation, immigration and entrepreneurship.
While the US has built up such advantages over the years that they can't all be lost in a manic overnight tweet storm, it's sad and a bit scary to see the current environment, which is much more hostile to all of these things.
China, with heavy state subsidies, has also proven to be pretty effective. Interestingly, it hasn't had to embrace immigration because it has over a billion people.
I wish the article had a reference for that claim.
I remember from my childhood that my father told me that in the old soviet system, publications from were invented and dated back in order to demonstrate the superiority of their science. Both sides might have done it.
Now, a story from my father is not strong data point. But falsification of scientific theories, statistics and publications was a thing in the Soviet Union [1,2].
Then again, the guy might have really done it.
[1] https://communistcrimes.org/en/falsification-memory-history-... [2] https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/33071/how-often-...
