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LED Forty Years Older Than Thought

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the behind-the-iron-curtain dept.

LED lover writes "The discovery of the LED is usually credited to four US groups in 1962, but an unrecognized Russian genius got there forty years before. Oleg Losev even filed a patent on using his device for long range communications, and wrote to Einstein to ask for help with the theory — but got no reply."

7 of 305 comments (clear)

  1. How often does this happen? by Reverse+Gear · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder how many very useful ideas like this one there is lying around right now? Probably quite a few.
    According to the conspiracy people things similar to this happen all the time, with the big cooperations making sure that for example things to replace the fossil fuels does never get publicly known, I doubt there is very much truth in this, but this little story might make me think just a little more of the conspiracy theories.
    If Einstein didn't react to this, I wonder how many other great discoveries that just perish because no one reacts to them?

    I don't blame Einstein, I bet there was a lot of more or less intelligent nut cases who contacted him with all kinds of "great ideas" and "energy machines" all the time, had he been reacting to it all he would probably have had far less time to work on his own theories.

    1. Re:How often does this happen? by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm as anti-corporation as anybody- but I don't think inventions are supressed on purpose. I actually think it's one of the more inefficient consequences of a free market- where money and brains are very rarely matched together enough to bring products to market fast enough. In fact, as time goes on and the standard of living becomes more expensive, brains and money will become MORE mismatched, not less, as many brilliant inventors are only brilliant for a 30 year window between the ages of 10 and 40 (peaking at 21) and then spend several decades struggling to get their brilliant ideas to market. With the cost of living going up, this will only get worse- as people at the begining of their career earn a lot less than people at the end of their career. The Venture Capital (or Vulture Capital) game can short circuit this somewhat, of course, but the problem is still matching up the old money people with the young inventors when they don't even move in the same social circles.

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    2. Re:How often does this happen? by polar+red · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And when corp B has an interest in selling its more expensive, more lucrative invention that predates this invention ? Or what if ALL relevant companies have an interest to use the older technology - like say the oil and car companies have in petrol ?

      --
      Yes, I'm left. You have a problem with that?
  2. At least he got his name in the story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Unlike "some Indian guy"

  3. Henry Round the real inventor? by whoever57 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Zheludev also points out notes that Henry Round, an assitant to radio pioneer Marconi, was the first to discover that semiconductors could produce light, some hundred years ago. He published only a very short note on the matter and made no further investigations. The piece was never seen by Losev, who must be retrospectively declared the inventor of the LED.
    Why should not Henry Round be declared the inventor? Also, how on earth can we know that Losev did not see Round's note?
    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  4. Big difference between theory and building by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    LEDs are not older than we thought. LEDs were built when theory was turned into reality by those that get proper credit for those accomplishments. Sounds like the concept behind LEDs may be 40 years older, and props to Losev, but he didn't make any.

  5. Re:Dreaming in technicolor by DAtkins · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ummm, actually I don't believe that you would buy one immediately. Why would I question your statement? Because there are already companies that make electric cars and yet you complain that there aren't any.

    I could also go into the economics of why one person saying they would buy an electric car doesn't help a society that works off of the principles of mass production, but I would just bore myself to sleep. Rather, I suggest that you (and all of these other people who would like, totally get an electric car, fer sure! could - and I'm just putting it out there - buy an electric car.

    Or maybe you want to buy one in a different store, like Wal Mart? In which case, I can highly recommend this high-tech model.