George Dantzig developed the simplex algorithm for linear programming while working for the US Air Force, giving the first efficient method for solving complex multivariable optimization problems and founding the field of operations research. In 1947 at Bell Labs, John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley invented the solid state transistor, replacing vacuum tubes and enabling the modern computing revolution. That same year at Bell Labs, Douglas Ring and Rae Young proposed the cellular concept, arranging towers in a hexagonal pattern so the same radio frequencies could be reused across different geographic areas, laying the conceptual groundwork for mobile phone networks.
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The transistor invention and the cellular frequency reuse concept both emerged from Bell Labs in 1947, marking what the hosts call the start of the Bell Labs era in the timeline.
305 words · auto-generated from the episode video
1:12:55the simplex algorithm. >> Yeah. Um, I don't know much about this because I'm not a mathematician, but apparently this is important. Mathematician George Danig developed this simplex algorithm for linear programming while working at the US Air Force at the Pentagon. And his mathematical method provided the first efficient solution for complex multivariable optimization problems establishing the modern field of operations research, which that I understand. um operations research. I took a few classes in that in uh Princeton. >> For all the mathematicians listening, put your comment down on >> Yeah. Yeah. Tell me what this is about. >> The import of the simplex algorithm. Invention of the transistor. 1947.
1:13:36>> Yeah. This is self-explanatory. >> It's the transistor, baby. >> Um we're moving from vacuum tubes to transistors. John Bardin, Walter Britain, and William Shockley. They invented the solid state transis transistor at Bell Labs in New Jersey. It replaced the vacuum tube. It created the modern computing revolution. And there on the top left, I have a photo of Bell Labs because that's going to now feature a lot in our next few discussions. This is the beginning of the Bell Labs era. Uh 1947, conceptual invention of cellular frequency reuse. Yes, this is Douglas Ring and Ray Young again at Bell Labs. They proposed the
1:14:17cellular concept. This idea that what if we've got a bunch of cell towers and we've got frequencies on those cell towers, but those frequencies only provide the range in a certain geographic area and we arrange them in a hexagonal pattern. Maybe we could reuse the frequencies, the same frequency over and over to create something like a mobile phone network. >> Thank you, Ring and Young, for the brain rot we have today. 1948 discovery of hystocompatibility. >> Yes, hystocompatibility is this idea