2.1 THE BASICS OF ELECTRONICS 32 These means of communication were developed in the first two decades of 1900s by Guglielmo Marconi. A similar computer, called Colossus, was created in Britain during World War II. It was a machine which was built to decrypt the German Nazi code and prevent attacks. ONLINE RESOURCES Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce barcode: codice a barre bulky: ingombrante cash dispenser: bancomat CT scanner: tac to date back: risalire to deal with: occuparsi field: campo household: domestico (agg.) ENIAC 76 ELECTRONICS What is electronics? The word electronics derives from electricity . It can be defined as the field of activity that studies how to control the flow of electricity and transform it into signals that carry information. It deals with components and circuits that use electricity at very low voltage. A short history of electronics The birth of electronics dates back to 1904, when J. A. Fleming invented a two-element electron tube called the vacuum diode. In 1906, following Fleming s invention, Lee De Forest developed a three-element tube called the triode. These devices made amplification and transmission of electricity possible, helping to make weak radio signals stronger; for this reason, they were first employed for long-distance communications in early radio telegraphs and telephones. In 1945 the first computer, called ENIAC, was invented in the USA. It employed thousands of vacuum tubes and was very bulky, but it was one of the first programmable machines capable of solving quite a wide range of problems . In 1947, the transistor, another key electronic component, first appeared in American laboratories, replacing vacuum tubes. This invention made it possible to develop integrated circuits between 1958 and 1959, and then microprocessors in 1971. These components rapidly led to the development of modern computers and digital electronics. Today, most of the appliances and devices we use every day work on these electronic components. Applications of electronics Everyday life. Applications of electronics are really common in almost all fields of everyday life: household appliances: washing machines, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners; office devices: calculators, PCs, scanners, printers; audio and video: TVs, microphones, loudspeakers, MP3 players; medical devices: CT scanners, pace-makers, various types of monitors and meters; security systems: radars, body scanners, missile and rocket launching systems; other applications: barcode scanners, cash dispensers, POS terminals, smartphones. Industry. Electronics is also very important in industry. Automated systems, for example, have replaced human workers in dangerous jobs or in tasks that require high precision; 3D systems have contributed to the evolution of graphics and 3D printers are making a big revolution in the production processes. elecTroNics Elettronica-Informatica.indb 76 25/01/24 16:08