Man, I miss photo articles like this that I can read at my leisure, without sound. Nowadays this would likely be a (probably frantic) video.
A non-frantic (related) video worth the watch:
Why It Was Almost Impossible to Make the Blue LED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF8d72mA41M
A non-frantic (related) video worth the watch:
Why It Was Almost Impossible to Make the Blue LED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF8d72mA41M