Sidney Darlington (July 18, 1906 – October 31, 1997) was an American electrical engineer and inventor of a

transistor A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch electrical signals and electric power, power. It is one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics. It is composed of semicondu ...

configuration in 1953, the Darlington pair. He advanced the state of

network theory In mathematics, computer science, and network science, network theory is a part of graph theory. It defines networks as Graph (discrete mathematics), graphs where the vertices or edges possess attributes. Network theory analyses these networks ...

, developing the insertion-loss synthesis approach, invented chirp radar, and contributed to the designs of

bombsight A bombsight is a device used by military aircraft to drop bombs accurately. Bombsights, a feature of combat aircraft since World War I, were first found on purpose-designed bomber aircraft and then moved to fighter-bombers and modern tactica ...

s and gun and rocket

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. Darlington was awarded a B.S. in physics, magna cum laude, from Harvard in 1928, where he was elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. He also received a B.S. in E.E. from MIT in 1929, and a Ph.D. in physics from Columbia in 1940. In 1945, he was awarded the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...

, the United States' highest civilian honor, for his contributions during World War II. He was an elected member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

, which cited his contributions to electrical network theory, radar, and guidance systems. In 1975, he received

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

's Edison Medal "For basic contributions to network theory and for important inventions in radar systems and electronic circuits" and the

IEEE Medal of Honor The IEEE Medal of Honor is the highest recognition of the American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It has been awarded since 1917, and is presented to an individual or team of up to three who have made exceptional contri ...

in 1981 "For fundamental contributions to filtering and signal processing leading to chirp radar". He died at his home in

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, USA, at the age of 91.

Patents

* — Wave Transmission Network * — Semiconductor signal translating devices.(ed., "Darlington Transistor") * — Bombsight Computer * — Tracking Device * — Fire Control Computer * — Pulse Transmission(Chirp) * — Rocket Guidance * — Two-Port Network Synthesis * — Chirp Pulse Equalizer

References

External links

IEEE Biography

Darlington’s Contributions to Transistor Circuit DesignIrwin W. Sandberg and Ernest S. Kuh, "Sidney Darlington", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2004)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darlington, Sidney 1906 births 1997 deaths IEEE Medal of Honor recipients IEEE Edison Medal recipients American electrical engineers Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Scientists at Bell Labs People associated with radar Scientists from Pittsburgh Engineers from Pennsylvania 20th-century American engineers MIT School of Engineering alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Harvard University alumni