The history of Electrical Engineerin ae 1950 & Electrical phenomena oceupied European thinkers as early as the 17 century, but the frst notable developments in this field were made the frst half of the 19% century. Ohm quantified the zelationship between electric current and potential difference for a conductor, and constructed an early electrostatic machine in the 1830s. Also around this time, Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction and developed the homopolar generator. The first practical application of electromagnetism was the telegraph, invented by Henry, and exploited commercially by Morse in 1837. However, many people believe that Electrical Engineering can only be said to have emerged asa discipline in the second half of the 19% century. This happened when it was associated ‘with the tools of modern research techniques. ‘The Scottish physicist Maxwell summarized the basic laws of electricity in mathematical form in 1864, He predicted that radiation of electromagnetic energy would occur. The radiation later beeame known as radio waves AS a result of the discoveries in electricity, there was a dramatic increase in work in the area, Bell inveated the telephone in 1876, and Edison invented the incandescent lamp in 1878, Edison provided the world’s first large-scale electrical supply network with direct current (DC), while Tesla offered a rival form of power distribution known as alvernasing current (AC). AC eventually replaced DC for generation and power distribution, which allowed for the expansion of the electric power industry throughout the world, improving the safety and efficiency of power distribution. ‘The rivalry between AC and DC systems helped advance electrical engineering. Tesla's work on induction motors influenced the field for years to come, while Edison's work on ‘elegraphy and the stock ticker helped his company expand. It eventually became General Electric, All these applications meant an increased demand for people trained to work with electricity ‘The discovery of the Eilison effect and clecteon theory laid the foundations of radio engineering. The Edison effect is the name given to the phenomenon of a hot metal cathode emitting clectrons and isthe principle behind vacuum tubes, Many scientists and inventors were involved in the radio technology that followed as.a result of experiments in the Edison effect and electron theory, Hertz transmitted and detected radio waves using electrical equipment in 1888, Tesla, in 1895, was able to detect, signals from transmissions ata distance of over 80 km. In 1896, Popov made wireless transmissions over a distance of 60 m, and Marconi, around the same time, made a ‘transmission across 2.4 km. By the end of 1906, Fessenden had sent the first radio broadcast In 1930, the term electronics was introduced to include radio and the industrial applications of clectron tubes. However, prior to the Second ‘World War, the subject was still commonly known as radio engineering and was mainly restricted to aspects of communications, ‘commercial radio and early television. At this time, the study of radio engineering at universities could only be undertaken as part of physics degree, ‘The Second World War saw tremendous advances inthe field of electronics. Key advances were made in radar, as well in the magnetron developed by Randall and Boot in Birmingham in 1940, Radio location, radio communication and radio guidance of aircraft vere all developed in Britain at this time. An cay electronic computing device, Colossus, ‘was built by Flowers to decipher German coded messages. Advanced hidden radio transmitters and receivers for use by secret agents were also developed at this time, All these developments ensured that electrical engineering had come of ‘age, and was atthe forefront of modem scientific advancement. 95, 7The history of Electronic engineering The discovery of the electron in 1897 emerged from Edison’s work on the electric light bull ‘and marked the beginning of electronics. In his experiments, Faraday noticed that a small ‘metal plate placed in front of one of his experimental bulbs picked up an electric current that had crossed the bulb’s vacuum from the hot filament. The current passing through the vacuum ahvays travelled in the same direction, from the filament to the plate, even when the filament carried an alternating current. The existence of microscopic particles ~ electrons - was proposed. The theory was ‘that these particles were moving through the vacuum at high speed. ‘A series of experiments led to the invention of the triode. Within the vacuum tube, a grid-like wire was inserted between the filament and the plate. This functioned as an amplifier, meaning that changes in a very small voltage applied to the grid produced corresponding changes in the flow of the much larger current between the other two elements, This three- element tube - or triode ~ had many applications, including long-distance ‘telephony, record players, radio and television. Triodes can also work as @ switch by using the grid voltage to turn a current on or off. Rapid switching between on and off positions was Identified as a way of carrying out complex calculations using the binary numbering system, with different arrangements of switches sufficient to perform any mathematical or logical operation. Vacuum tubes were therefore quickly enlisted for the new computing machines. But, because a very large number of switches are required, the first models of computers were extremely large and expensive to run. By the middle of the 20" century, scientists were searching for an alternative to vacuum ‘tubes. Crystalline materials known as semiconductors, in which current flows in only one direction, were investigated. It was known that the presence of certain impurities, such as phosphorus, strongly affected the electrical behaviour of semiconductors. The impurities provided a surplus of electrons that were free to contribute to a current. Some researchers were convinced that semiconductors could have the properties of a triode. In 1947, that goal was met in the form of a three-layer semiconductor sandwich, known as a transistor. An impurity was added to the outer layers to supply extra electrons, and the middle portion of the sandwich functioned like the grid in a triode, controlling a sizable current flow between the outer layers. This was the beginning of solid-state electronics. ‘There were pros and cons to the first transistors. They used much less power than vacuum tubes, did not need to warm up, and were compact. However, their main ingredient was germanium: an expensive, hard-to-handle element, with performance limitations. A turning point came in early 1954, when a transistor was made fram silicon, an element of sand. The Silicon Age had arrived. Silicon transistors led to the creation of integrated circuits. An integrated circuit is an assemblage of different components that are wired together and work as a unit. In 1958, it was discovered that a wafer of silicon could be given all the elements necessary to function as a circuit. The design of the wafer was developed and it became better protected and insulated. It also became much easier to connect the circuit elements together. By the ‘mid-1990s, some chips the size of a fingernail contained 20 million components. Today, transistors are much cheaper and are often organized in circuits that can perform complex functions or tasks. They can provide electronic memory and carry out particular tasks, such as manipulating audio signals or graphic images. Other uses are in general-purpose computing devices called microprocessors, Which are not designed to do one specifc task. Instead, they can follow software instructions ‘to perform a range of tasks. ‘The first microprocessor was produced in 1971. Faster versions soon followed, and prices dropped. Microprocessors are now everywhere, operating in every household appliance and in every mode of communication and transportation. This rate of development shows no sign of slowing Comouting power will continue its incredible expansion and change our future in ways which we cannot imagine at present. 19