Sonoma State University

The B.S. in Physics Returns to Sonoma State University!

Sonoma State University is proud to re-launch its Bachelor of Science in Physics, featuring a redesigned, student-centered curriculum available beginning Fall 2026. The revised program offers a rigorous physics foundation, small class sizes, close faculty mentorship, and flexible pathways that support timely graduation. Please see our degree programs page for more information.

February 23, 1998

the Invention of the Transistor

Dr. Michael Riordan
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics

Darwin 103
3:00 PM

Dr. Michael Riordan of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics will describe how the transistor was born at Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1947-48, recounting the contributions of John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley in achieving this stunning breakthrough. (Dr. Riordan will autograph Crystal Fire: The Birth of the Information Age and The Shadows of Creation : Dark Matter and the Structure of the Universe afterward.)