LESSON 1: History of Electronics
The introduction of vacuum tubes at the beginning of the 20th century was the starting point of the rapid growth of modern electronics. With the vacuum tubes the manipulation signals became possible, which could not be done with the early telegraph and telephone circuit or with the early transmitters using high voltage sparks to create radio waves.
Example:
weak radio and audio signals can be amplified, audio signals such as music or voice can be superimposed radio waves. The development of a large variety of tubes designed for specialized functions made possible the swift progress of radio communication technology before World War II and the development of early computers during and shortly after the war.
The transistor invented in 1948, has now completely replaced the vacuum tubes in most of its application. Incorporating an arrangement of semiconductor materials and electrical contacts, the transistor provides the same functions at reduced cost, weight and power consumption and with higher reliability.
Subsequent advances in semiconductor technology, in part attributable to the intensity of research associated with the space exploration effort led to the development of the integrated circuit.
Integrated circuits may contain hundreds of thousands of transistors on small piece of material and allow the construction of complex electronic circuits, such as those in microcomputers, audio, and video equipment and communication satellites.

1745 – Cuneus and Muschenbrock - in Leyden Netherlands, discover the Leyden jar. The first electrical capacitor, a storage mechanism for an electrical charge.
1746-1752 – Benjamin Franklin flew kites to demonstrate that lightning is a form of static electricity.
1785 – Charles Augustus Coulumb (1736 – 1806) invented the torsion balance. Coulomb showed electrical attraction and repulsion