James Meyer wrote:
Of course, there's always the possibility of building point contact
transistors out of silicon in the comfort of your garage or kitchen. With a
flouride etchant to thin down a silicon wafer in the right spots and some indium
solder you could probably make a passable junction transistor.


Or you could buy one for $0.10



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/ O O \
\_____/ FTB. For email, remove my socks.

In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know
that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,'
and then they actually change their minds and you never
hear that old view from them again. They really do it.
It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists
are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens
every day. I cannot recall the last time something like
that happened in politics or religion.

- Carl Sagan, 1987 CSICOP keynote address