Comments on AAAS science lesson?

[Bill Beaty]

Take a look at this site.

THE LITTLE TRANSISTOR THAT COULD, AAAS sciencenetlinks
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?BenchmarkID=3&DocID=140

The author suggests that teachers print out some pictures of
transistors. Only trouble is... they give links to pictures of
*portable radios,* not to pictures of three-lead semiconductor devices.
Yes, the lesson is about transistors, not about radios. And note
that the page has been there since Sept 2000. Also note that the page
has supposedly been checked by someone on their large board of editors
at http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/board.htm

Hmmm. If "Sciencenetlinks" has this big a goof, I wonder how many
other science errors it contains? I find such searches to be both fun
and enlightening. The transistor page was the first one I inspected,
and I haven't looked at others. Maybe I got lucky and found the only
ridiculous error. Or... perhaps the large board of editors isn't
enough, and it needs a thorough going-over by a few people with
expertise in the topics covered. (But lots of the lessons are
non-physics though.) See:

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/matrix.cfm


(((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) )))))))))))))))))))
William J. Beaty SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
billb(O)amasci com http://amasci.com
EE/programmer/sci-exhibits amateur science, hobby projects, sci fair
Seattle, WA 206-789-0775 unusual phenomena, tesla coils, weird sci

 

[Winfield Hill]

Bill Beaty wrote...

THE LITTLE TRANSISTOR THAT COULD, AAAS sciencenetlinks
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?BenchmarkID=3&DocID=140

The author suggests that teachers print out some pictures of
transistors. Only trouble is... they give links to pictures of
*portable radios,* not to pictures of three-lead semiconductor
devices. Yes, the lesson is about transistors, not about radios.

Well, surely you remember that in the late 50s all the pocket
transistor radios were simply called, "transistors." Everybody
used that terminology. I'll bet you did too.

 

[Tim Wescott]

Bill Beaty wrote...



Well, surely you remember that in the late 50s all the pocket
transistor radios were simply called, "transistors." Everybody
used that terminology. I'll bet you did too.

Not me! I didn't say anything at all until 1962, and by the time that I
knew what a radio was I just called them "radio".

 

[Sam Wormley]

Take a look at this site.

THE LITTLE TRANSISTOR THAT COULD, AAAS sciencenetlinks
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?BenchmarkID=3&DocID=140

The author suggests that teachers print out some pictures of
transistors. Only trouble is... they give links to pictures of
*portable radios,* not to pictures of three-lead semiconductor devices.
Yes, the lesson is about transistors, not about radios. And note
that the page has been there since Sept 2000. Also note that the page
has supposedly been checked by someone on their large board of editors
at http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/board.htm

Hmmm. If "Sciencenetlinks" has this big a goof, I wonder how many
other science errors it contains? I find such searches to be both fun
and enlightening. The transistor page was the first one I inspected,
and I haven't looked at others. Maybe I got lucky and found the only
ridiculous error. Or... perhaps the large board of editors isn't
enough, and it needs a thorough going-over by a few people with
expertise in the topics covered. (But lots of the lessons are
non-physics though.) See:

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/matrix.cfm

As a kid, I had a transistor radio that had just *one* transistor.
Basically a crystal radio with a single transistor amplifier.

 

[Ben Bradley]

In sci.electronics.design and sci.physics, On 28 Dec 2005 16:12:28

Take a look at this site.

THE LITTLE TRANSISTOR THAT COULD, AAAS sciencenetlinks
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?BenchmarkID=3&DocID=140

The author suggests that teachers print out some pictures of
transistors. Only trouble is... they give links to pictures of
*portable radios,* not to pictures of three-lead semiconductor devices.
Yes, the lesson is about transistors, not about radios. And note

Not that this in any way excuses it, it's still a ridiculous error,
but perhaps this EXPLAINS it: A few decades back (probably the 1950's
and/or 1960's), transistor radios were often called by the shortened
name "transistors." Perhaps the task of finding a couple of websites
showing "transistors" was given to someone with this layman's
understanding of the word.

 

[Ben Bradley]

Not me! I didn't say anything at all until 1962, and by the time that I
knew what a radio was I just called them "radio".

I was born in the late '50's, and as a child in the '60's was
annoyed when I heard that misuse of the terminology. My father was a
ham radio operator, I built my first Heathkit at age eight, I'd seen
and touched both transistors and tubes, and I knew (generally) what
they were.
It was a transistor RADIO, NOT a transistor. And it's STILL a
transistor radio, even if all the active devices are FET's on a single
piece of silicon and there are no bipolars.

 

[Pooh Bear]

Take a look at this site.

THE LITTLE TRANSISTOR THAT COULD, AAAS sciencenetlinks
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?BenchmarkID=3&DocID=140

The author suggests that teachers print out some pictures of
transistors. Only trouble is... they give links to pictures of
*portable radios,* not to pictures of three-lead semiconductor devices.
Yes, the lesson is about transistors, not about radios. And note
that the page has been there since Sept 2000. Also note that the page
has supposedly been checked by someone on their large board of editors
at http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/board.htm

Hmmm. If "Sciencenetlinks" has this big a goof, I wonder how many
other science errors it contains? I find such searches to be both fun
and enlightening. The transistor page was the first one I inspected,
and I haven't looked at others. Maybe I got lucky and found the only
ridiculous error. Or... perhaps the large board of editors isn't
enough, and it needs a thorough going-over by a few people with
expertise in the topics covered. (But lots of the lessons are
non-physics though.) See:

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/matrix.cfm

Feedback sent.

Graham

 

[Bob Cain]

Bill Beaty wrote...

Well, surely you remember that in the late 50s all the pocket
transistor radios were simply called, "transistors." Everybody
used that terminology. I'll bet you did too.

No, nor did anyone I knew back then. Where did you hear this usage?


Bob

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

No, nor did anyone I knew back then. Where did you hear this usage?
Bob

It was common enough that it has found its way into dictionaries:

http://www.bartleby.com/61/88/T0318800.html
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/transistor


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[Ken Taylor]

I was born in the late '50's, and as a child in the '60's was
annoyed when I heard that misuse of the terminology. My father was a
ham radio operator, I built my first Heathkit at age eight, I'd seen
and touched both transistors and tubes, and I knew (generally) what
they were.
It was a transistor RADIO, NOT a transistor. And it's STILL a
transistor radio, even if all the active devices are FET's on a single
piece of silicon and there are no bipolars.

I took a load of BC108's to high school one time and said to a few mates
that I had a pocketful of transistors. They were gob-smacked until they
saw what I meant (then I was, um, gob-smacked).

Ken