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In the nineteenth century it was not unusual for a self-educated researcher to make important discoveries, but that became far less likely after the establishment of modern academic disciplines. Stanford Ovshinsky’s 1961 discovery of of phase-change memory, however, offers a modern example of an important discovery made not in spite of but because of his outsider position. When Ovshinsky announced his discovery in 1968 in the prestigious journal Physical Review Letters, many academic physicists were outraged. Crystals were then considered the proper subject of solid-state physics, and using amorphous (noncrystalline) materials in semiconductor devices had not been thought possible. Equally disturbing was that Ovshinsky had no academic credentials beyond a high school diploma. In time, however, the “Ovshinsky effect” became recognized as an important contribution to materials science and the basis of new information technologies. This paper traces Ovshinsky’s path to his discovery from his beginnings as a machinist and toolmaker, his invention of an innovative lathe, his automation work, and his detour through neurophysiology to arrive at the invention of new kinds of switches. His work typically disregarded disciplinary boundaries, and it was because of his unique experience and idiosyncratic, intuitive approach that he was able to make scientific discoveries that would have been unlikely for conventionally trained scientists. Yet Ovshinsky also sought validation and support from established scientists. After his discovery, he recruited a staff of highly trained researchers and gathered a cohort of eminent scientific advisors. He became an outsider who depended on insiders.
