The Russian who invented semiconductors 25 years before the USA

4 hours ago

Oleg Losev discovered LEDs in 1922, calling them 'light relays' and predicting their use in optical communications.
He also identified negative resistance in zincite crystals, building solid-state radios known as Crystodynes by 1924.
Despite 43 papers and 16 patents, his class background barred academic advancement; he only received a doctorate in 1938.
He died of starvation during the Siege of Leningrad in 1942, aged 38, after mailing a manuscript on a three-electrode device that was lost.
The transistor was later invented independently in 1947, highlighting how access to resources often separates pioneers from founders.

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