<human>:  With regards to the physics of electronic devices, who invented the transistor?
<bot>: The transistor was invented by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley in 1947. They were trying to develop a way to make transistors smaller and more efficient. The first transistors were made from germanium, but they were very inefficient. In 1947, they switched to silicon because it was cheaper and easier to work with.