Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a scientist, inventor, and founder of Bell Canada, who was known as the father of the telephone. In addition to his work in telecommunications technology, he was responsible for important advances in aviation and hydrofoil technology.

Biography

Born Alexander Bell in Edinburgh, Scotland, he later adopted the middle name Graham out of admiration for Alexander Graham, a family friend.

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Edinburgh - Scotland

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His family was associated with the teaching of elocution: his grandfather in London, his uncle in Dublin, and his father, Alexander Melville Bell, in Edinburgh, were all professed elocutionists. The latter has published a variety of works on the subject, several of which are well known, especially his treatise on Visible Speech, which appeared in Edinburgh in 1868. In this he explains his method of instructing deaf mutes, by means of their eyesight, how to articulate words, and also how to read what other persons are saying by the motions of their lips.

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Elocution - London - Dublin - Alexander Melville Bell - Visible Speech - 1868

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Alexander Graham Bell was educated at the Royal High School of Edinburgh, from which he graduated at the age of 13. At the age of 16 he secured a position as a pupil-teacher of elocution and music in Weston House Academy, at Elgin in Morayshire. The next year he spent at the University of Edinburgh. From 1866 to 1867, he was an instructor at Somersetshire College at Bath, England. While still in Scotland he is said to have turned his attention to the science of acoustics, with a view to ameliorate the deafness of his mother.

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Royal High School - Elgin - Morayshire - University of Edinburgh - 1866 - 1867 - Bath, England

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In 1870, he moved with his family to Canada where they settled at Brantford, Ontario. Before he left Scotland, Bell had turned his attention to telephony, and in Canada he continued an interest in communication machines. He designed a piano which could transmit its music to a distance by means of electricity. In 1873, he accompanied his father to Montreal, Quebec, where he was employed in teaching the system of visible speech. The elder Bell was invited to introduce the system into a large day-school for mutes at Boston, but he declined the post in favor of his son, who became Professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution at Boston University's School of Oratory.

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1870 - Canada - Brantford - Ontario - 1873 - Montreal, Quebec - Boston - Boston University

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At Boston University he continued his research in the same field, and endeavored to produce a telephone which would not only send musical notes, but articulate speech. With financing from his American father-in-law, on March 7, 1876, the U.S. Patent Office granted him Patent Number 174,465 covering "the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically ... by causing electrical undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompanying the said vocal or other sound", the telephone.

Related Topics:
Boston University - March 7 - 1876 - U.S. Patent Office - Patent - Telephone

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After obtaining the patent for the telephone, Bell continued his many experiments in communication, which culminated in the invention of the photophone-transmission of sound on a beam of light — a precursor of today's optical fiber systems. He also worked in medical research and invented techniques for teaching speech to the deaf. The range of Bell's inventive genius is represented only in part by the eighteen patents granted in his name alone and the twelve he shared with his collaborators. These included fourteen for the telephone and telegraph, four for the photophone, one for the phonograph, five for aerial vehicles, four for hydroairplanes, and two for a selenium cell.

Related Topics:
Light - Optical fiber - Telegraph - Photophone - Phonograph - Selenium

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In 1882, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1888, he was one of the founding members of the National Geographic Society and became its second president. He was the recipient of many honors. The French Government conferred on him the decoration of the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honor), the Académie française bestowed on him the Volta Prize of 50,000 francs, the Royal Society of Arts in London awarded him the Albert medal in 1902, and the University of Würzburg, Bavaria, granted him a Ph.D. He was awarded the AIEE's Edison Medal in 1914 for "For meritorious achievement in the invention of the telephone."

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1882 - Naturalized citizen - 1888 - National Geographic Society - French Government - Légion d'honneur - Académie française - Volta Prize - Royal Society of Arts - Albert medal - 1902 - Würzburg - Bavaria - AIEE - Edison Medal - 1914

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Bell married Mabel Hubbard, who was one of his pupils at Boston University, on July 11, 1877. He died at his estate at Beinn Bhreagh, near Baddeck, Nova Scotia, in 1922 and is buried alongside his wife atop Beinn Bhreagh Mountain overlooking Bras d'Or Lake. He was survived by two of their four children.

Related Topics:
July 11 - 1877 - Beinn Bhreagh - Baddeck, Nova Scotia - 1922 - Bras d'Or Lake

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In a testament to Bell's internationality, he was named one of the top ten Greatest Canadians, Greatest Britons, and "American Greats".

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Greatest Canadians - Greatest Britons - American Greats

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