I hate to drag this out to a two-part series, but I’m running low on photos! So: part one: The Official Bell Laboratories Headquarters in Murray Hill, NJ!
HERE— within this very complex— is where the transistor and the laser were invented.
…No way.
YES I AM TOTALLY SERIOUS. Transistors were invented here in 1947 (and officially documented as such), and lasers in 1957.
(Murray Hill, as far as I can tell, is a sort of unofficial bit of land that straddles New Providence and Berkeley Heights. Technically, Bell Labs may be in Berkeley Heights; I’m not too sure where exactly the municipal boundaries are, but the sewers all say “New Providence” on ‘em.)
(P.S. I actually grew up in a Bell Labs area; Monmouth County is/was home to the Saarinen-designed Bell Labs and the majority of the other NJ locations (including Deal Test Site), as well as Fort Monmouth. As far as I’m concerned, telecommunications research rawks.)
