Triode Vacuum Tube: History & Physics

How does a vacuum triode work and why was it invented? This is the story of a smudge in a light bulb, an assistant with a good memory and a con artist working around a patent and one of the most important wires in history! Check it out.

The movie where they extoled the virtues of the vacuum tube is from:

And, as usual, the music is from the amazing Kim Nalley.

[AbhishekYadav-jqzo]

One of the best way to understand a scientific discovery is to understand its development process and your videos provide that perspective. I highly appreciate and thank you for all your efforts.

[devarakondapratyusha]

Been everywhere in the internet to know about vacuum tubes but this video is simple and far better than everything.

[amitpatil]

Madam, I Like Your Work. You have Wonderful Knowledge. Very Few People tell Us History of Science. You are Among those People.

[stephenpuryear]

A fascinating story of a bunch of really smart people stumbling in a generally right direction!

[seanbryant]

Edwin Howard Armstrong was my childhood hero, and is still to this day! Thank you for bringing this all back into a public forum, as this is such important history of early electronics, and the geniuses who made it work, and the charlatans who rode on their coattails.

[ronjon]

AMAZING, Kathy! For years, decades, I wondered on the entomology of "diode, " but not enough to research it myself. Diode - two path. Ode to Joy! See, this is why your method of combining science and history is so perfect.

I still have my Dad's Heathkit radio and amplifier - one step closer towards opening it up and see how it tics.

[timjohnson]

I'm a mechanical guy working in a place with a lot of big tubes (megawatt output each). This helps.

[amritpatel]

I love the way you start from the "beginning" and authentic supporting document images.. That set you apart from "Hollywood story".

[lawrencecohen]

Kathy
Thank you so much for this video. I have been an electronics engineer for almost 47 years but would like to know more about the developments that propelled the electronics revolution. I think your videos have greatly enhanced my discovery.

[PeterMoses]

Kathy, love this video. You've done a really great job explaining this. Great to see.

[gristlevonraben]

They could make movies from your stories! Thank you for sharing all of this with us.

[dammitdad]

I am so pleased to have found your channel. Your presentations are well thought out with good common sense flow. I expect your children are blessed to have been brought up in an enquiring and interesting home.

[FrankScotsman]

This was really interesting. I've heard bits and pieces of the history before and getting the details was great.

[Chris_at_Home]

I love learning the history of things I worked on. I first learned about tubes in high school in the late 1960s. At 16yo I had an apprentice license for TV repair. I wasn’t supposed to make house calls till 18 but the two men I worked for considered me qualified to do so. Imagine a 16 yo kids with a tube caddy and test equipment showing up at your house. I went into the Navy in 71 and they taught us both tubes and transistors. We’ve come a long way since then.

[greghampikian]

Great explanation! Thanks for explaining the grid input in the amplifier so clearly.

[klausziegler]

This is just fascinating. Thanks, for your stupendous research on the history of electricity.

[NotMarkKnopfler]

Superb! Thank you for this brilliant historical summary. So interesting! I thought there was some science to the design of the vacuum tube - but it looks like (at least initially) it was random experimentation. Only later, when the engineers understood the physics taking place within the tube did the design lend itself to optimisation. Fascinating! Thank you, Kathy!

[trespire]

In multi kilowatt industrial lasers, we use vacuum tubes / triodes to switch 9 to 12 KV resonating at 80 Mhz, on and off to control the CO2 laser source. The tubes are from Thales, anode voltage is up to 12.5 KV, grid is at -200V and switched at 60Khz. The tube is cooled with deionized water running through it, the ceramic insulation glows a bright orange when run at full power.

[LuciFeric]

I remember going with my Dad to Radio Shack and using their tube tester. Dad kept all our TVs running DIY style.

[stuckpstuckp]

Excellent explanation of how vacuum tubes evolved!