The American Experience | The Telephone | People & Events | More About Bell
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       People & EventsMore About Bell A FAMILY AFFAIRIn 1847, Alexander Graham Bell was born into a family with apassion for communication. His grandfather, also named Alexander Bell, hadforged for himself a reputation as an impressive, if under employed, actor andorator. Endowed with a commanding speaking voice and considerable physicalbearing, Alexander Bell sought to unleash in others the full potential of thespoken word. His attention was especially drawn to those for whom the act ofspeaking presented daunting challenges. His work with such individuals led himto publish writings that included, The Practical Elocutionist andStammering and Other Impediments of Speech. By 1838, he was regularlybeing referred to in the London press as "the celebrated Professor ofElocution."The elder Mr. Bell infused in his sons David and Melville a similar interest inthe mechanics and methods of vocal communication. David's professional andpersonal pursuits led him to marriage and a career as a teacher of speech inDublin, while Melville enthusiastically joined his father in his elocutionaryendeavors. Melville's keen interest in speech pathologies was undoubtedly sharpened whenhe found himself falling in love with a deaf woman he would eventually ask tobe his wife. Eliza Grace Symonds, a painter of miniatures, was nearly ten yearsMelville's senior. Nevertheless, her sweet temper and refined intellect weremore than enough to win his lifelong adoration and devotion. Despite being heldcaptive in a world of virtual silence, Eliza Grace Bell developed into atalented pianist whose tenacity and determination to "hear" would especiallyentrance her second of three sons, Alexander Graham Bell. A REAL SMART ALECKYoung Alexander Graham Bell, Aleck as he was known to his family, took toreading and writing at a precociously young age. Bell family lore told of hisinsistence upon mailing a letter to a family friend well before he had graspedany understanding of the alphabet. As he matured, Aleck displayed what came tobe known as a Bell family trademark--an expressive, flexible, and resonantspeaking voice. It was through use of this impressive vocal instrument that Aleck forged aunique bond with his deaf mother. Unlike others, who spoke to Mrs. Bell throughher ear tube, Aleck chose to communicate with her by speaking in low, sonoroustones very close to her forehead. Young Aleck surmised that his mother would beable to "hear" him through the vibrations his vocal intonations would make.This early insight would prove significant as Alexander Graham Bell went on todevelop more elaborate theories regarding the characteristics of sound waves.It would also lend rationale to Bell's opinions as to how the deaf could beassimilated into a world of sound.Edinburgh, Scotland in the mid-19th-century was brimming with scientific andtechnological developments. Within this inventive milieu, Alexander Graham Bellplayed the role of attentive observer and eager participant. One truth seemedinescapable: through technology came betterment. At the age of 14, Bell conceived of a device designed to remove the husks fromwheat by combining a nail brush and paddle into a rotary-brushing wheel. While visiting London with his father, Aleck was mesmerized by ademonstration of Sir Charles Wheatstone's "speaking machine." Upon their returnto Edinburgh, Melville Bell, Sr. challenged Aleck and his older brother to comeup with a model of their own.Working out of their home, the industrious pair created an apparatus consistingof a facsimile mouth, throat, nose, maneuverable tongue, and bellow lungs.What's more, the contraption actually produced human-like sounds. Inspired bythis success, Aleck went a step further and succeeded in manipulating the mouthand vocal chords of his Skye terrier so that the dog's growls were heard aswords. "A VERY VALUABLE BLUNDER"With each passing year, Alexander Graham Bell's intellectualhorizons broadened. By the time he was 16, he was teaching music and elocutionat a boy's boarding school. He and his brothers, Melville and Edward, traveledthroughout Scotland impressing audiences with demonstrations of their father'sVisible Speech techniques. Combining such ventures with continued study at theUniversity of London, Alexander Graham Bell became intrigued by the writings ofGerman physicist Hermann Von Helmholtz. Von Helmholtz had produced a thesis,On The Sensations of Tone, declaring that vowel sounds could be producedby a combination of electrical tuning forks and resonators. Bell's inability toread German did not deter him from hungrily consuming this information. It didhowever lead to his making what he would later describe as a "very valuableblunder." Bell had somehow interpreted Von Helmholtz's findings as stating that vowelsounds could be transmitted over a wire. He would later say of thismisunderstanding, "It gave me confidence. If I had been able to read German, Imight never have begun my experiments in electricity."THE DREAMING PLACEIn the midst of his early academic and professional success, theyoung Alexander Graham Bell was buffeted by a series of personal tragedies.Tuberculosis, the scourge of the late 19th century, claimed the lives of bothof his brothers within the span of four months. Bell himself was battling thedisease when, at age 23, he moved with his parents to Canada. Convalescing inwhat he called "his dreaming place"--a spacious farmhouse in Brantford,Ontario--Alexander Graham Bell was able to recover in mind and spirit, anddwell on his ever-expanding ambitions.A TEACHER OF THE DEAFIn 1871, Bell began giving instruction in Visible Speech at theBoston School for Deaf Mutes. Attempting to teach deaf children to speak wasconsidered revolutionary, and Bell was not without his detractors as he shunnedwhat he felt were the exclusionary practices of signing andinstitutionalization. Bell's work with his deaf students in Boston would proveto be a watershed event in his life. One of his pupils, Mabel Hubbard, was thedaughter of a man--Gardiner Greene Hubbard-- who would go on to play a vitalrole in Bell's life and work. While Mabel herself would one day become hiswife. Bell felt that a course had been set and he would go on to considerhimself, above all else, a teacher of the deaf. In testimony to theeffectiveness of his work and generosity of his spirit, no lesser luminary thanHelen Keller would dedicate her autobiography to him.THE HARMONIC TELEGRAPHBell's ideas about transmitting speech electrically came intosharper focus during his days in Boston. As he read extensively on physics anddevotedly attended lectures on science and technology, Bell worked to createwhat he called his "harmonic telegraph." Since Samuel F.B. Morse completed his first telegraph line in 1843, telegraphyhad blossomed into a full-fledged industry. This new industry meant nearlyinstantaneous communication between faraway points. While certainly atechnological leap forward, successful telegraphy was nevertheless dependentupon hand-delivery of messages between telegraph stations and individuals.Also, only one message at a time could be transmitted. Drawing parallels between multiple message and multiple notes in a musicalchord, Bell arrived at his idea of the "harmonic telegraph." From this ideasprang the invention that made him immortal among inventors--the telephone. A FATEFUL TWANGThe chance meeting between Alexander Graham Bell and ThomasWatson at the electrical machine shop of Charles Williams was one of the mostfortuitous in technological history. Recognized by his employer as beingespecially skilled in devising tools that improved the efficiency of variousinstruments, Watson was assigned to work with many nascent inventors. AlexanderGraham Bell was just such an inventor. As the two collaborated on ways torefine Bell's "harmonic telegraph," Bell shared with Watson his vision of whatwould become the telephone. Watson was intrigued, and a partnership was forged.June 2, 1875 was a milestone day for the team of Bell and Watson. Working inthe transmitter room and trying to free a reed that had been too tightly woundto the pole of its electromagnet, Watson produced atwang . Bell, whohad been working in the receiving room heard thetwang and came running.Bell surmised the complex overtones and timbre of the twang to besimilar to those in the human voice. He was now convinced that his vision ofsending speech over a wire was more than just a dream.PATENT NUMBER 174,465As Bell raced to perfect his telephone, he was also writing upspecifications to be filed with the United States Patent Office in Washington.On March 7, 1876, he was issued patent number 174,465. Meanwhile, Bell haddiscovered that a wire vibrated by the voice while partially immersed in aconducting liquid, like mercury, could be made to vary its resistance andproduce an undulating current. In other words, human speech could betransmitted over a wire.On March 10, 1876, as he and Mr. Watson set out to test this finding, Bellknocked over what they were using as a transmitting liquid--battery acid.Reacting to the spilled acid, Mr. Bell is alleged to have shouted, "Mr. Watson,come here. I want you!" Exactly what Bell shouted--or whether the spilling ofacid ever occurred-- is a matter of some dispute. Its result, however, isnot. Watson, working in the next room, heard Bell's voice through the wire.Watson had received the first telephone call, and quickly went to answer it. Seizing upon the opportunity to promote his new invention, Alexander GrahamBell introduced the telephone to the world at the Centennial Exhibition inPhiladelphia in 1876. Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro exclaimed, "My God, ittalks," as Bell's mellifluous voice carried Hamlet's soliloquy over the linefrom the main building one hundred yards away. The success of Bell's telephonewas now the talk of the international scientific community.In 1878, Rutherford B. Hayes was the first US president to have a telephoneinstalled in the White House. And to whom did the commander-in-chief place hisfirst call? Alexander Graham Bell, of course, who was waiting for the call some13 miles away from the White House. The president's first words were said tohave been, "Please speak more slowly."BIG BUSINESSIn the wake of Bell's invention of the telephone came anavalanche of patent lawsuits and corporate maneuvers. Western Union TelegraphCompany was the titan in the field of telegraphy and was not content to sit onthe sidelines as the Bell Telephone Company captured the spotlight. Feverishlyworking to develop their own telephone technology, Western Union employed twoprominent inventors--Thomas A. Edison and Elisha Gray. Looking to protect itspatent rights, the Bell Company sued Western Union and won. In the years thatfollowed, the Bell Company (which would eventually become AT&T) would beforced to defend its patent in over 600 legal challenges. In every case, thepatent withstood attack thanks largely to Alexander Graham Bell's clear andconvincing testimony. EXPANDING INTERESTSBell had little interest in playing a day-to-day role in theworkings of the company that bore his name. Barely in his thirties, rich andfamous, Bell continued to pursue an active life of the mind. His post-telephoneinventions included an electric probe used to locate bullets and other metalobjects lodged in the body, and the vacuum jacket which, when placed around thechest, administered artificial respiration. Each of these inventions wouldlater be refined and supplanted by other inventors, but Bell's contributions tothe world of science and technology never abated. He was a student of nature'smysteries and became fascinated with the notion of motion--in the air and onthe water. Working with partners, he experimented with manned kites andhydrofoils. Eager to infuse a love of science and the natural world in others, Bell lentconsiderable financial and editorial support to both Science magazineand National Geographic. Upon Bell's death on August 2, 1922, thenation's phones stilled their ringing for a silent minute in tribute to the manwhose yearning to communicate made them possible. return to people & events list The Film & More | Special Features | Timeline | Gallery | People & Events | Teacher's Guide The American Experience | Kids | Feedback | Search | Shop | Subscribe © New content 2000 PBS Online / WGBH |
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