They obviously didn't have precision semiconductor fabricating tools themselves running with semiconductor parts inside because there were none. We have so much advanced machinery to weigh out, measure, and perform part-per-million detailed operations with ease, I want to know how exactly they did it with their relative sticks and stones.
Would it be possible for a regular middle-class person today to afford or make the machinery needed to make a crude transistor that works at least as well as their very first one?
