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Electronics is the branch of physics (the science of matter and energy) that deals with the flow of electrons and other carriers of electric charge. This flow of electric charge is known as electric current, and a closed path through which current travels is called an electric circuit.

The modern era of electronics originated in the early twentieth century with the invention of the electron tube. An electron tube is a device that stores electric charges and amplifies (intensifies or strengthens) electronic signals. In 1947 the industry took a giant leap forward when American physicists John Bardeen (1908–1991), Walter Brattain (1902–1987), and William Shockley (1910–1989) developed the smaller, more efficient transistor, which led to a new generation of miniature electronics. In the late 1950s, American physicist Robert Noyce (1927–1990) invented the silicon integrated circuit—an even more efficient way to process...