The inventor
Alexander (“Graham” was not added until he was 11) was born to Alexander Melville Bell and Eliza Grace Symonds. His mother was deaf and his father taught elocution to thedeaf, influencing Alexander's later career choice as teacher of the deaf. At age 11 he entered the Royal High School at Edinburgh, but he did not enjoy the compulsory curriculum, and he left school at age 15 without graduating. In 1865 the family moved to London. Alexander passed the entrance examinations for University College London in June 1868 and matriculated there in the autumn. However, he did not complete his studies, because in 1870 the Bell family moved again, this time emigrating to Canada after the deaths of Bell's younger brother Edward in 1867 and older brother Melville in 1870, both of tuberculosis. The family settled in Brantford, Ontario, but in April 1871 Alexander moved to Boston, where he taught at the Boston School for Deaf Mutes. He also taught at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts, and at theAmerican School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut.
The process
While pursuing his teaching profession, Bell also began researching methods to transmit several telegraph messages simultaneously over a single wire—a major focus of telegraph innovation at the time and one that ultimately led to Bell's invention of thetelephone. In 1868 Joseph Stearns had invented the duplex, a system that transmitted two messages simultaneously over a single wire. Western Union Telegraph Company, thedominant firm in the industry, acquired the rights to Stearns's duplex and hired thenoted inventor Thomas Edison to devise as many multiple-transmission methods as possible in order to block competitors from using them. Edison's work culminated in thequadruplex, a system for sending four simultaneous telegraph messages over a single wire. Inventors then sought methods that could send more than four; some, including Bell and his great rival Elisha Gray, developed designs capable of subdividing a telegraph line into 10 or more channels. These so-called harmonic telegraphs used reeds or tuning forks that responded to specific acoustic frequencies. They worked well in thelaboratory but proved unreliable in service.
By that time, Bell had developed a growing interest in thetechnology of sound recording and playback. Although Edison had invented the phonograph in 1877, he soon turned his attention to other technologies, especially electric power and lighting, and his machine, which recorded and reproduced sound on a rotating cylinder wrapped in tinfoil, remained an unreliable and cumbersome device. In 1880 the French government awarded Bell the Volta Prize, given for achievement in electrical science. Bell used the prize money to set up his Volta Laboratory, an institution devoted to studying deafness and improving the lives of thedeaf, in Washington, D.C. There he also devoted himself to improving the phonograph. By 1885 Bell and his colleagues (his cousin Chichester A. Bell and the inventor Charles Sumner Tainter) had a design fit for commercial use that featured a removable cardboard cylinder coated with mineral wax. They called their device the Graphophone and applied for patents, which were granted in 1886. The group formed the Volta Graphophone Company to produce their invention. Then in 1887 they sold their patents to theAmerican Graphophone Company, which later evolved into the Columbia Phonograph Company. Bell used his proceeds from the sale to endow the Volta Laboratory.
Bell undertook two other noteworthy research projects at the Volta Laboratory. In 1880 he began research on using light as a means to transmit sound. In 1873 British scientist Willoughby Smith discovered that the element selenium, a semiconductor, varied its electrical resistance with the intensity of incident light. Bell sought to use this property to develop the photophone, an invention he regarded as at least equal to histelephone. He was able to demonstrate that the photophone was technologically feasible, but it did not develop into a commercially viable product. Nevertheless, it contributed to research into the photovoltaic effect that had practical applications later in the 20th century.
Bell undertook two other noteworthy research projects at the Volta Laboratory. In 1880 he began research on using light as a means to transmit sound. In 1873 British scientist Willoughby Smith discovered that the element selenium, a semiconductor, varied its electrical resistance with the intensity of incident light. Bell sought to use this property to develop the photophone, an invention he regarded as at least equal to histelephone. He was able to demonstrate that the photophone was technologically feasible, but it did not develop into a commercially viable product. Nevertheless, it contributed to research into the photovoltaic effect that had practical applications later in the 20th century.
The invention that changed the world.
The telegraph and telephone are both wire-based electrical systems, and Alexander Graham Bell's success with the telephone came as a direct result of his attempts to improve the telegraph.
Accident brings breakthrough discovery
A great breakthrough, actually an accident, came in 1875. While testing the harmonic telegraph device between two rooms in the electrical shop, Bell heard a faint but distinct sound made when Watson plucked at stuck receiving reeds. They were now in hot pursuit of the telephone. After repetitions and variations of the experiment, Bell sketched the first electric speaking telephone.
It consisted of a wooden frame on which a harmonic receiver with one end of its steel-reed armature touched a tightly stretched membrane of parchment. Watson built the device which is known in telephone history as the "gallows" telephone (because of the shape of the wooden frame). Unfortunately, it was a disheartening and anticlimactic failure. Still, the two pressed on, working on patent specifications and trying to perfect the gallows-type electromagnetic telephone transmitter that had failed so disappointingly.
It consisted of a wooden frame on which a harmonic receiver with one end of its steel-reed armature touched a tightly stretched membrane of parchment. Watson built the device which is known in telephone history as the "gallows" telephone (because of the shape of the wooden frame). Unfortunately, it was a disheartening and anticlimactic failure. Still, the two pressed on, working on patent specifications and trying to perfect the gallows-type electromagnetic telephone transmitter that had failed so disappointingly.
When Bell began experimenting with electrical signals, the telegraph had been an established means of communication for some 30 years. Although a highly successful system, the telegraph, with its dot-and-dash Morse code, was basically limited to receiving and sending one message at a time. Bell's extensive knowledge of the nature of sound and his understanding of music enabled him to conjecture the possibility of transmitting multiple messages over the same wire at the same time. Although the idea of a multiple telegraph had been in existence for some time, Bell offered his own musical or harmonic approach as a possible practical solution.
Patent proves to be one of history’s most valuable
On the morning of February 14, 1876, Bell filed the patent that would make him a millionaire. The patent was entitled "Improvements in Telegraphy" and did not even mention the word "telephone." A few hours later that same day, Elisha Gray went to the same patent office and filed a "caveat," or warning to other inventors, that he was working on a "far speaking telephone." On those lucky few hours’ priority rested Bell’s legal claim to the telephone patent aunarguably one of history’s most valuable patents and hotly contested.
Bell and Watson continued to work furiously to produce a working telephone. In March, Bell was trying to transmit the sound of a tuning fork by magneto-induction, when he suddenly took a new tack. He replaced the electromagnet with a dish of water containing sulfuric acid, introducing the variable-resistance principle. The tuning fork was plucked, and Bell heard a faint sound. He added more acid, and the sound became louder. Watson built a new transmitter in which a wire, attached to a diaphragm, touched acidulated water in a metal cup; one would speak downward into the diaphragm, whose vibration would cause the wire’s depth of immersion into the water to vary and set up varying resistance in the battery-powered circuit.
Bell and Watson continued to work furiously to produce a working telephone. In March, Bell was trying to transmit the sound of a tuning fork by magneto-induction, when he suddenly took a new tack. He replaced the electromagnet with a dish of water containing sulfuric acid, introducing the variable-resistance principle. The tuning fork was plucked, and Bell heard a faint sound. He added more acid, and the sound became louder. Watson built a new transmitter in which a wire, attached to a diaphragm, touched acidulated water in a metal cup; one would speak downward into the diaphragm, whose vibration would cause the wire’s depth of immersion into the water to vary and set up varying resistance in the battery-powered circuit.
Alexander Graham Bell - Talk with Electricity
By October 1874, Bell's research had progressed to the extent that he could inform his future father-in-law, Boston attorney Gardiner Greene Hubbard, about the possibility of a multiple telegraph. Hubbard, who resented the absolute control then exerted by the Western Union Telegraph Company, instantly saw the potential for breaking such a monopoly and gave Bell the financial backing he needed. Bell proceeded with his work on the multiple telegraph, but he did not tell Hubbard that he and Thomas Watson, a young electrician whose services he had enlisted, were also exploring an idea that had occurred to him that summer - that of developing a device that would transmit speech electrically.
While Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson worked on the harmonic telegraph at the insistent urging of Hubbard and other backers, Bell nonetheless met in March 1875 with Joseph Henry, the respected director of the Smithsonian Institution, who listened to Bell's ideas for a telephone and offered encouraging words. Spurred on by Henry's positive opinion, Bell and Watson continued their work. By June 1875 the goal of creating a device that would transmit speech electrically was about to be realized. They had proven that different tones would vary the strength of an electric current in a wire. To achieve success they therefore needed only to build a working transmitter with a membrane capable of varying electronic currents and a receiver that would reproduce these variations in audible frequencies.
The telephone was actually discovered by Bell accidentally in his attempts to improve the telegraph. The telegraph was a highly successful system with its dot-and-dash Morse code, but it was basically limited to receiving and sending one message at a time. Bell's extensive knowledge of the nature of sound and his understanding of music enabled him to conjecture the possibility of transmitting multiple messages over the same wire at the same time. Although the idea of a multiple telegraph had been in existence for some time, Bell offered his own harmonic approach as a possible practical solution.
Cellular phones are one of the fastest growing and most demanding telecommunications applications. Today, it represents a continuously increasing percentage of all new telephone subscriptions around the world. Currently there are more than 45 million cellular subscribers worldwide, and nearly 50 percent of those subscribers are located in the United States. It is predicted that cellular systems using a digital technology will become the universal method of telecommunications. By the year 2005, forecasters predicted that there would be more than 100 million cellular subscribers worldwide (http://www.visualtron.com/gsm_topic01.htm). Cell phones are more common today than landlines. It is impossible to go out to the grocery store or to a restaurant and not see someone on a cell phone.
Cellular phones are one of the fastest growing and most demanding telecommunications applications. Today, it represents a continuously increasing percentage of all new telephone subscriptions around the world. Currently there are more than 45 million cellular subscribers worldwide, and nearly 50 percent of those subscribers are located in the United States. It is predicted that cellular systems using a digital technology will become the universal method of telecommunications. By the year 2005, forecasters predicted that there would be more than 100 million cellular subscribers worldwide (http://www.visualtron.com/gsm_topic01.htm). Cell phones are more common today than landlines. It is impossible to go out to the grocery store or to a restaurant and not see someone on a cell phone.
Measles epidemic brings first numbering system
In 1879, telephone subscribers began to be designated by numbers rather than names the result of a measles epidemic. A Massachusetts doctor, concerned about the inability of replacement exchange operators to put calls through because they would not be familiar with the names associated with all the jacks on the switchboards, suggested the alphanumeric system of identifying customers by a two-letter and five-digit system.
The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), a subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company, was established in 1885 to provide long distance connections among the growing Bell companies. At the turn of the century, AT&T would be reorganized into the holding company for all the Bell companies.
In 1888, Hammond V. Hayes developed a common battery system which permitted a central battery to supply all telephones on an exchange with power, rather than relying upon each unit’s own troublesome battery. The first automatic dialing system was patented in 1891 by a Kansas City undertaker, Almon Strowger, who believed that operators were sending his business to competitors. He resolved to invent a switchboard system that would eliminate the operators. The system could serve ninety-nine telephones and was based on a sort of windshield wiper in the central office that automatically moved around to touch the contacts of the number being called.
The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), a subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company, was established in 1885 to provide long distance connections among the growing Bell companies. At the turn of the century, AT&T would be reorganized into the holding company for all the Bell companies.
In 1888, Hammond V. Hayes developed a common battery system which permitted a central battery to supply all telephones on an exchange with power, rather than relying upon each unit’s own troublesome battery. The first automatic dialing system was patented in 1891 by a Kansas City undertaker, Almon Strowger, who believed that operators were sending his business to competitors. He resolved to invent a switchboard system that would eliminate the operators. The system could serve ninety-nine telephones and was based on a sort of windshield wiper in the central office that automatically moved around to touch the contacts of the number being called.
The telephone has changed the world today through the way of it's ability to make people communicate over long distances, being able to call 911 if you of someone else is hurt or in trouble, and most new cell phones have internet access any time any where.