John Bardeen

American physicist who co-invented the transistor at Bell Labs in 1947 — the most consequential invention of the 20th century — and who won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice (transistor and superconductivity), the only person to do so in the same field.

Co-invented the transistor — the foundational component of all modern electronics — making every computer, smartphone, and digital device in the world a descendant of Bardeen, Shockley, and Brattain's work at Bell Labs.