Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 15:25:15 -0500
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] John Pierce (1910-2002)
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

From: http://www.sfwa.org/news/pierce.htm

"The New York Times reports that John Robinson Pierce, electical enginer =
and author, died on Tuesday, April 2, 2002.

Pierce was born in Iowa on March 27, 1910. After finishing his graduate =
degree at Caltech, he began working at Bell Labs in 1937. While working at =
Bell Laboratories, he coined the work "transistor" while heading the team =
that invented it. Because of his work designing and launching Telstar 1,  =
Arthur C.  Clarke called Pierce one of the fathers of the communication =
satellite.

Part of his early inspiration came from science fiction stories, particular=
ly the works of H. G. Wells, who Pierce met in 1944. From 1943 through =
1971 Pierce published at least 40 essays, poems and SF short stories. Most =
using the pseudonyms J. J. Coupling and John Roberts. "