Biography of Alexander Graham Bell

Childhood and Early Life

*He was born on March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Prof. Alexander Melville Bell and his wife Eliza Grace Symonds. He had two brothers-Melville James Bell and Edward Charles Bell-both of whom died of tuberculosis.

*His father taught elocution to the deaf and had developed what is called the 'Visible Speech' system to help deaf children learn to speak. He received most of his early education from his mother who was an unusually gifted painter and pianist, despite her deafness.

*Throughout his childhood, he spent a short period of time in traditional educational institutions including Edinburgh's Royal High School, which he left at the age of 15.

*He initially attended the University of Edinburgh and then the University College, London, England, but did not receive a formal education comparable to his peers in Victorian Britain.

*In 1870, after the death of two of his brothers, the Bell family moved to Canada for the sake of his health. Expanding on his father's work of teaching deaf people to communicate, he began working on transmitting telephonic messages.

Education

  As a young child, Bell, like his brothers, received his early schooling at home from his father. At an early age, he was enrolled at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, Scotland, which he left at the age of 15, having completed only the first four forms. His school record was undistinguished, marked by absenteeism and lacklustre grades. His main interest remained in the sciences, especially biology while he treated other school subjects with indifference, to the dismay of his demanding father.  

  Upon leaving school, Bell travelled to London to live with his grandfather, Alexander Bell. During the year he spent with his grandfather, a love of learning was born, with long hours spent in serious discussion and study. The elder Bell took great efforts to have his young pupil learn to speak clearly and with conviction, the attributes that his pupil would need to become a teacher himself.

  At the age of 16, Bell secured a position as a "pupil-teacher" of elocution and music, in Weston House Academy at Elgin, Moray, Scotland. Although he was enrolled as a student in Latin and Greek, he instructed classes himself in return for board and £10 per session. The following year, he attended the University of Edinburgh; joining his older brother Melville who had enrolled there the previous year. In 1868, not long before he departed for Canada with his family, Bell completed his matriculation exams and was accepted for admission to University College London.

Telephone

Alexander Graham Bell is best known for his invention of the telephone. While trying to discover the secret to transmitting multiple messages on a single wire, Bell heard the sound of a plucked string along some of the electrical wire. One of Bell’s assistants, Thomas A. Watson, was trying to reactivate a telephone transmitter. After hearing the sound, Bell believed he could send the sound of a human voice over the wire. After receiving a patent on March 7, 1876, for transmitting sound along a single wire, he successfully transmitted human speech on March 10. Bell’s telephone patent was one of the most valuable patents ever issued.

Major Works

*He is most famous for his pioneering work on the development of the telephone. He worked with Thomas Watson, his assistant, on the design and patent of the first practical telephone.

*Many other inventions marked his later life including the refinement of the phonograph. His other exceptional works were in the field of hydrofoils and aeronautics. In all, he held 18 patents in his name alone and 12 that he shared with collaborators.

*He was one of the founders of the National Geographic Society in 1888 and served as its president from 1896 to 1904.

Career

*In 1872, he founded 'School of Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech' in Boston, where he taught elocution to his pupils. In 1873, he was appointed the professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution at the Boston University School of Oratory.

*While pursuing his teaching profession, he conducted his research to perfect the harmonic telegraph, so as to transmit several telegraph messages simultaneously over a single wire. Alongside, he was also drawn towards another idea of ​​transmitting the human voice over wires.

*In 1874, he hired an assistant, Thomas Watson, a skilled electrician, who developed the tools and instruments he needed to continue the project. Over the subsequent years, they formed a great partnership and labored on both the ideas, the harmonic telegraph and a voice transmitting device.

*On March 10, 1876, he produced the first intelligible telephone call, when he summoned his assistant, with words that Bell transcribed in his lab notes as "Mr. Watson-come here-I want to see you ". Watson heard his first phone call.

*A legal battle ensued with inventor Elisha Gray who claimed his invention of the telephone predated Bell's; The US Supreme Court ruled in Bell's favor and subsequently 'Bell Telephone Company' was formed in 1877.

*By 1883, he created the technology for the Graphophone and other early sound recording equipment, including a magnetic recording technology that was an early form of tape recording.

*Towards the end of the 19th century on the subject of transport and recording to transport technologies. He developed a passion for air travel and helped to establish the Aerial Experiment Association in 1907.

Pursuing His Passion in His Final Years

By all accounts, Alexander Graham Bell was not a businessman and by 1880 began to turn business matters over to Hubbard and others so he could pursue a wide range of inventions and intellectual pursuits. In 1880, he established the Volta Laboratory, an experimental facility devoted to scientific discovery. He also continued his work with the deaf, establishing the American Association to Promote Teaching of Speech to the Deaf in 1890.

Bell died peacefully on August 2, 1922, at his home in Baddeck on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, on August 2, 1922. The entire telephone system was shut down for one minute in tribute to his life.