The Genius of John Bardeen

esthesis is more than often than non metrical by Intelligence Quotient (I. Q. ). This should non be the case. It would be better to attribute the label genius to soulfulness who was fitted to outsmart the odds and used e precisething in his power to dedicate to progress and in making spiritedness a much more b slighted experience. The distinction of be a genius must(prenominal) l peerlesssome(prenominal) be given to those whose body of work has surpassed the test of time. If indeed achievements and big(p) works is the trademark of a man of wide intelligence consequently it would not be difficult to heap accolades and to celebrate the genius of john Bardeen.Not besides is he smart as a whip and possessing a mind that back tooth beat a roomful of supercomputers but he is excessively self-effacing and not cardinal to tell the world of his exploits. In fact it will be shown later(prenominal) that when he learned that he was one of the recipients of 1957 Nobel cla ms for Physics, he could not believe he deserved to receive such a behavior changing award. If this was not enough, Bardeen won the Nobel Prize in Physics less than two decades later. His theory about superconductivity assured him of a place among the sterling(prenominal) scientists who ever lived.Without fast one Bardeens pioneering work on transistors and superconductivity, there would neer switch been a world wide web, interconnectedness in the twinkling of an eye and an ultra-efficient and comfort commensurate lifestyle available for those living in the twenty- starting time century. The world today may very hale be a different place if Bardeen was not born and allowed to develop into a redoubtable intellectual force. The following pages will provide a basic discretion of how one man help pitch the world. Building a CareerA undischarged foundation is the assurance of a solid structure with an integrity that can withstand tremors and other pressures. If this analogy o f building structures can be utilize to life then it can be said that John Bardeen disposed(p) a secure foundation for a great career that would change the feast of recital. All great careers especially in engineer must start with great education. Mr. Bardeen went to the University utmost School in Madison, Wisconsin for a round of age and then went on to alumna from Madison Central High School in the year 1923.Then he took up a course in electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin. In the said university, Bardeen took up the extra challenge of adding in extra work in math and physics. If this is not enough he went to work while still an undergrad student in the engineering department of the Western Electric attach to at Chicago. He graduated with a B. S. in electrical engineering in 1928. But he did not leave his beloved university equitable yet and he continued on as a graduate research partner in electrical engineering, a task which he focused on for th e next two years of his life.In this two years he devoted himself to the plain of mathematical problems in applied geophysics and also the phenomenon of radiation in antennas (see Nobelprize. org). After serving under the U. S. navy in World War II, Bardeen, was hired by Bell Laboratories, a high-tech communications and electronics research plant (Haven & Clark, 1999, p. 22). It is in this environment and in this scientific community where Bardeen was able to showcase his talents.But Bardeen was not only piercing in showing the what he can do he is also very much willing to dish out what he knows to others. He served as a Junior Fellow at Harvard University and also worked as assistant professor of physics at the University of Minnesota (Haven & Clark, 1999, p. 24). Contributions In the beginning of this study the proponent submitted the idea that genius should not be only deliberate through intelligence quotient only but also on the aptitude of the mortal to create something worthwhile in other words to offer to the forward progress of mankind.This will show that the high IQ person is not simply a machine able to crunch tanglight-emitting diode sets of numbers but also a complete clement being able to touch lives and to work with others. In this category of super achievers one can include John Bardeen not only because he has the reflexive prowess to solve complicated problems but also because he was well regarded by his peers and well respected beyond the community where he first nurtured his genius in Wisconsin. The first major contribution of Bardeen was to crack the transistor puzzle.Together with a team of scientists Walter H. Brattain and William Shockley he was able to explain semiconductors and the transistor publication (see Nobelprize. org). Just to show a basic idea of what this discovery has meant to human history here is Bardeens contribution in a nutshell, The transistor has been the backbone of every computing, calculating, communi cating and logic electronics circuit build in the last 50 years (Haven & Clark, 1999, p. 21). For his work he shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.His morsel major contribution was to provide for a very enlightening explanation of superconductivity. In the words of Haven and Clark, Bardeen won his second Nobel Prize for elucidating the theory of superconductivity, which has been called one of the most important achievements in the supposed physics since the development of quantum theory (1999, p. 21). Thus, in 1972 Bardeen became a double Nobel laureate. He shared the award with Leon N. Cooper and J. Robert Schrieffer for the theory of superconductivity.From then on others were able to build on this new understanding and at present allowed galore(postnominal) to experience that, Superconductivity at higher temperatures has led to such feats as frictionless, ultrafast trains lifted magnetically above their rails (Haven & Clark, 1999, p. 21). Conflicts In every major tendency a nd in every significant discovery, controversy and conflicts are almost indispensable as night follows day. More often than not conflicts are feeler from the outside as people unable to fully grasp the new scientific breakthrough would question its relevance to society.In the case of John Bardeen the conflicts he experienced did not come from his external environment but surprisingly it came from indoors from inside himself and from within their own community of scientists. This inner uproar was explained by Hoddeson and Daitch (2002, p. 2-3) as follows 1. Bardeen was unsure of the true worth of transistors in the larger scheme of things. 2. Bardeen was not agreeable to the fact that William Shockley was considered as the co-inventor of the transistor and share the Nobel Prize in 1956.It is interesting to expound on the second command for it would strengthen the thesis that a true man of genius must be able to work harmoniously within a community, within a group of individual s to be considered as a man of great intellectual stature and not merely a flash in the pan talent that would prove useless in real life situations. A deeper look at the issue would reveal that Shockley was not able to contribute a significant theory or solution that led to the discovery of the transistor action. It was purely the work of Bardeen and Brattain.Hoddeson and Daitch reveal that, it was Shockley, rather than Bardeen and Brattain, who receive wide recognition for the discovery. Even today, popular magazines sometimes credit Shockley alone with the invention (2002, p. 2). Even if Bardeen knew the inside information as to what really happened within the Bell laboratories where the transistor phenomena was fully understood, it was a testament to his great consultation that he did not make a scandal out of it and at the end allowed Shockley to share the fame and the glory together with Brattain. LegacyAside from having great mind and the depicted object to touch lives, one of the standards upon which true genius must be measured against is legacy. Legacy is what is left field when the hype dies down and when the passage of time has authentically tested the value of a persons work. With regards to the legacy left behind by Bardeen this is what Jim Turley has to say Few things have altered innovational life as much as the discovery of semiconductors Modern electronics have completely changed the way we talk with each other It has changed medical research, entertainment, volume keeping, travel, and exploration.Theres almost no business, profession, or industry that hasnt changed since the origination of solid-state electronics in the last 50 years (2003, p. 2). If having a brilliant mind, capacity to work under pressure and to share recognition with a group of equally talented personnel, and a body of work that has changed history is the measure of true genius then there are only a few who can match John Bardeen in this respect. whole works Cited Haven, Kendall & Donna Clark. 100 Most Popular Scientists for Young Adults Biographical Sketches and Professional Paths.Englewood, CO Libraries Unlimited, Inc. , 1999. Hoddeson, Lilian & Vicki Daitch. True Genius The Life and Science of John Bardeen. Washington, D. C. Joseph Henry Press, 2002. Nobelprize. org. John Bardeen The Nobel Prize in Physics 1972. Available from Accessed 20 July 2007. Samuelson, Bengt & Michael Sohlman. Nobel Lectures in Physics. tonic Jersey World Scientific Publishing Co. , 1998 Turley, Jim. The Essential Guide to Semiconductors. virgin Jersey Pearson Education, Inc. , 2003.