John Bardeen

Lore & Background

From 1938 to 1941, Bardeen was an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. During World War II, from 1941 to 1944, he headed a group at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory working on magnetic mines and torpedoes. In October 1945, he joined Bell Telephone Laboratories as part of a solid-state physics group led by William Shockley. On December 23, 1947, Bardeen and Walter Brattain created the first point-contact transistor, achieving amplification. Shockley later took the lion's share of credit, straining Bardeen's relationship with him. In 1951, Bardeen left Bell Labs to join the University of Illinois as Professor of Electrical Engineering and Professor of Physics, where he established major research programs in semiconductors and macroscopic quantum systems. He remained active until his death, later studying charge density waves.

Reader's Guide

John Bardeen's significance lies in his two transformative contributions to physics and technology. The transistor, co-invented in 1947, replaced fragile vacuum tubes and became the fundamental building block of all modern electronics, from telephones to computers, catalyzing the Information Age. His second Nobel Prize-winning work, the BCS theory of superconductivity, provided the first microscopic explanation of how certain materials conduct electricity without resistance at low temperatures. This theory underpins technologies such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, medical magnetic resonance imaging, and superconducting quantum circuits. Bardeen's ability to bridge theoretical insight with practical application, and his rare achievement of two Nobel Prizes in the same category, mark him as a singular figure in 20th-century science. His legacy endures in every electronic device and in ongoing research into quantum phenomena.

Did You Know?

• Bardeen is the first of only three people to have won multiple Nobel Prizes in the same category.
• He graduated from high school at age 15 and earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1928.
• Bardeen's second Nobel Prize was for the BCS theory of superconductivity, named after himself, Leon Cooper, and John Robert Schrieffer.
• In 1990, he appeared on Life magazine's list of '100 Most Influential Americans of the Century.'