Difference between revisions of "Bell Laboratories"

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'''Bell Laboratories''' (usually '''Bell Labs''') was the research arm of the Bell system. It did basic research in fields useful to Bell (Bells Labs researchers received numerous Nobel prizes in physics), as well as applied research, but its primary purpose was to develop telecommunications gear for the Bell system.
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'''Bell Laboratories''' (technically and fully '''Bell Telephone Laboratories'''; often shortened to '''Bell Labs''') was the research arm of the Bell system. It did basic research in fields useful to Bell (Bells Labs researchers received numerous Nobel prizes in physics), as well as applied research, but its primary purpose was to develop telecommunications gear for the Bell system.
  
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Among notable achievements of Bell Labs were important early work on [[semiconductor]]s (the key technology in all of modern [[electronic]]s - in the late 1930s); the [[transistor]] (in 1947); and [[UNIX]] (in the early 1970s).
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Among notable achievements of Bell Labs were important early work on [[semiconductor]]s, the key technology in all of modern [[electronic]]s (in the late 1930s and early 1940s); the [[transistor]] (in 1947); and [[UNIX]] (in the early 1970s).
  
 
==History==
 
==History==
  
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The roots of Bell Labs date back to 1883, when the Mechanical Department of AT&T was set up; in 1907 the engineering departments of Western Electric (the Bell subsidiary which actually manufactured all the hardware for the Bell system) and AT&T were unified in New York City. Bell Labs as an independent company was set up as subsidiary of AT&T in 1925, and moved to Murray Hill, New Jersey.  
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The roots of Bell Labs date back to 1883, when the Mechanical Department of AT&T was set up; in 1907 the engineering departments of Western Electric (the Bell subsidiary which actually manufactured all the hardware for the Bell system) and AT&T were unified in New York City. Bell Labs as an independent company was set up as subsidiary of AT&T in 1925, and moved to Murray Hill, New Jersey after WWII.
  
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After AT&T was split into three companies in 1996–97 (and even more, shortly thereafter, as the Regional Basic Operating Companies were split off), most of the Labs wound up with one of them, Lucent Technologies, which took over Western Electric's role as a manufacturer of telecommunications equipment; a small part remained with AT&T. In 2006, Lucent Technologies (including its portion of Bell Labs) merged with Alcatel; the combined firm, Alcatel-Lucent; was acquired by Nokia in 2016.
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After AT&T was split into three companies in 1996–97 (and even more, shortly thereafter, as the Regional Basic Operating Companies were split off), most of the Labs wound up with one of them, Lucent Technologies, which took over Western Electric's role as a manufacturer of telecommunications equipment; a small part remained with AT&T. In 2006, Lucent Technologies (including its portion of Bell Labs) merged with Alcatel; the combined firm, Alcatel-Lucent, was later acquired by Nokia in 2016.
  
 
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==See also==
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* [[Bell System Technical Journal]]
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* [[Multics]] - Bell's brief participation was important for UNIX
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* [[Ken Thompson]] - Bell staff member at the time of UNIX
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* [[Dennis Ritchie]] - likewise
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==Further reading==
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* M. D. Fagen (editor; contents by members of the technical staff at Bell Labs), ''A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System: National Service in War and Peace (1925-1975)'', Bell Telephone Laboratories, 1978
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* Jon Gertner, ''The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation'', Penguin, New York, 2012 - covers the evolution of the Labs from the pre-WWII era to the breakup through a focus on a few key figures
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* Narain Gehani, ''Bell Labs: Life in the Crown Jewel'', Silicon Press, Summit, 2003 - covers the period of organizational breakup
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* Michael Riordan, Lillian Hoddeson, [https://books.google.com/books/about/Crystal_Fire.html?id=0bTpcTLCu6MC ''Crystal Fire: The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age''], W. W. Norton, New York, 1997 - a truly wonderful history written by a pair of subject matter experts; contains a great amount of detail on early semiconductor events at Bell Labs
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==External links==
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* [https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/TechReports/Bell_Labs/CSTRs/ Computing Science Technical Reports]
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** [https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/TechReports/Bell_Labs/CSTRs/cstr.bib cstr.bib] - the entire set, listed as a plain text file, in bib format
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** [https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/TechReports/Bell_Labs/CSTRs/readme.html Selected Technical Reports]
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* [https://groups.google.com/g/alt.os.multics/c/1iHfrDJkyyE?pli=1 BTL leaves Multics]
  
 
[[Category: Research Organizations]]
 
[[Category: Research Organizations]]

Latest revision as of 19:47, 30 June 2025

Bell Laboratories (technically and fully Bell Telephone Laboratories; often shortened to Bell Labs) was the research arm of the Bell system. It did basic research in fields useful to Bell (Bells Labs researchers received numerous Nobel prizes in physics), as well as applied research, but its primary purpose was to develop telecommunications gear for the Bell system.

Among notable achievements of Bell Labs were important early work on semiconductors, the key technology in all of modern electronics (in the late 1930s and early 1940s); the transistor (in 1947); and UNIX (in the early 1970s).

History

The roots of Bell Labs date back to 1883, when the Mechanical Department of AT&T was set up; in 1907 the engineering departments of Western Electric (the Bell subsidiary which actually manufactured all the hardware for the Bell system) and AT&T were unified in New York City. Bell Labs as an independent company was set up as subsidiary of AT&T in 1925, and moved to Murray Hill, New Jersey after WWII.

After AT&T was split into three companies in 1996–97 (and even more, shortly thereafter, as the Regional Basic Operating Companies were split off), most of the Labs wound up with one of them, Lucent Technologies, which took over Western Electric's role as a manufacturer of telecommunications equipment; a small part remained with AT&T. In 2006, Lucent Technologies (including its portion of Bell Labs) merged with Alcatel; the combined firm, Alcatel-Lucent, was later acquired by Nokia in 2016.

See also

Further reading

  • M. D. Fagen (editor; contents by members of the technical staff at Bell Labs), A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System: National Service in War and Peace (1925-1975), Bell Telephone Laboratories, 1978
  • Jon Gertner, The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation, Penguin, New York, 2012 - covers the evolution of the Labs from the pre-WWII era to the breakup through a focus on a few key figures
  • Narain Gehani, Bell Labs: Life in the Crown Jewel, Silicon Press, Summit, 2003 - covers the period of organizational breakup
  • Michael Riordan, Lillian Hoddeson, Crystal Fire: The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age, W. W. Norton, New York, 1997 - a truly wonderful history written by a pair of subject matter experts; contains a great amount of detail on early semiconductor events at Bell Labs

External links

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