The Tinkerings Of Robert Noyce

fun quote:

One day a student confessed to being puzzled by the concept of amplification, which was one of the prime functions of the transistor. Shockley told him: "If you take a bale of hay and tie it to the tail of a mule and then strike a match and set the bale of hay on fire, and if you then compare the energy expended shortly thereafter by the mule with the energy expended by yourself in the striking of the match, you will understand the concept of amplification."