Walter Houser Brattain

Profession: Physicist

Nationality:

Why Famous: Brattain, along with his fellow scientists John Bardeen and William Shockley, worked at Bell Labs where they invented the point-contact transistor, the first type of solid-state electronic transistor ever invented.

For his milestone efforts, Brattain was jointly awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics with Shockley and Bardeen.

Born: February 10, 1902
Birthplace: Amoy, China
Star Sign: Aquarius

Died: October 13, 1987 (aged 85)