Abstract
Large computing machines have been built from relays, vacuum tubes, and transistors. Strenuous efforts to develop computing technology based on other devices have failed. The relay, vacuum tube, and transistor are three-terminal devices, and the essential physical factors that account for their success are described and used to discuss the reasons for the failure of other devices.
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.61.279
©1989 American Physical Society
