Alexander Graham Bell was a Scottish-born Canadian-American scientist and inventor. He is well-known for inventing the first working telephone and launching the Bell Telephone Company in 1877. His work in sound technology and invention of the telephone changed the way humans communicate with each other. Here, we gathered information about Alexander Graham Bell, his interests in sound and communication, the invention of the telephone, other inventions, and much more.
Alexander Graham Bell Facts For Kids
When And Where Was Alexander Graham Bell Born?
Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847, at South Charlotte Street, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Early Life Of Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was the second son of Alexander Melville Bell and Eliza Grace Bell. His father was a phonetician (a linguistic branch that studies the production and perception of speech sounds). He had an elder brother Melville James Bell and a younger brother Edward Charles Bell. Both of his brothers then died of tuberculosis.
His friends and close relatives called him by the nickname “Aleck”. His middle name Graham was given to him at the age of 10, when he requested his father to have a middle name like his brothers. At a young age, Bell and his brothers attended Presbyterian Church.
He was a curious child and often gathered botanical specimens and carried out experiments. From an early age, he also showed a tendency towards art, poetry, and music, and his mother always encouraged him. He mastered piano without any formal training.
When Bell was 12, a gradual loss of hearing started in his mother. It greatly affected him and he learned a manual finger language. He also developed a unique way to talk with his mother. He spoke in a clear and modulated tone right into the forehead of his mother, so she could hear and understand him a bit. He was obsessed with the deafness of his mother, which led him to study acoustics (a branch of physics that deals with the production, transmission, reception, and effects of sounds).
His grandfather, uncle, and father were professional elocutionists in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh respectively, associated with the teaching of elocution (the skill of speaking clearly and fluently in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone, especially in public). He then spent a year with his grandfather in London and learned the mechanics of speech from him.
Education
Alexander Graham Bell and his brothers were homeschooled initially by his father and then enrolled at the Royal High School, Edinburgh. He left the school when he was 15. His academic record was not brilliant, but he showed an extreme interest in sciences, especially biology. He was then enrolled at the University of Edinburgh. In 1868, he completed his matriculation and was eligible for enrollment at University College London.
Interest In Sound And Communication
Alexander Graham Bell was interested in sounds and communication from a young age. He liked to figure out how sounds travel through the air. Once he and his brother Melville built the head of an automaton after reading the book of Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen. Their automaton could make the sound of “Mama” when they adjusted its lips carefully and forced air through bellows into the windpipe.
The results of the automaton increased his curiosity and he continued his experiments with the family Skye Terrier dog, Trouve. He taught the dog to growl continuously, then manipulated the vocal cord and lips of the dog to make a crude sound “Ow ah aa ga ma ma”. The visitors believed that the dog could speak “How are you, grandmama?”. These initial experiments then led Graham Bell to use tuning forks, investigate resonance, and start serious work on sound transmission.
Invention Of Telephone And The First Telephone Call
Alexander Graham Bell began work on the harmonic telegraph in 1871. It was a device capable of transmitting multiple messages at a time through a wire. While working on this technology, Bell was trying hard to develop a way for the transmission of human voice over wires.
By 1875, Bell and his partner Thomas Watson presented a simple device that could modify electricity into sound. Bell got his first telephone patent on March 7, 1876.
On March 10, 1876, Bell made his first well-known telephone call to his partner Watson uttering the phrase “Mr. Watson, Come here. I want you.”
Bell made the first transcontinental phone call to his partner Watson in 1915. During that phone call, Bell was in New York City and Watson was in San Francisco (California).
By 1877, he created the Bell Telephone Company, which is now known as AT&T.
Other Inventions And Contributions
Beyond the telephone, Graham Bell worked on various other projects and received many patents. Some of his other inventions and contributions include:
- Invention of a metal detector to locate a bullet inside the body of assassinated US President James A. Garfield.
- The invention of the photophone. It was a device capable of speech transmission on a beam of light.
- The invention of the graphophone. It was an improved version of the phonograph that could record conversations and playback sounds.
- The invention of the audiometer. It was a small device used to measure hearing ability and detect hearing problems.
Graham Bell also invented many techniques to help deaf people to learn speech. He established the Volta Laboratory in 1880 with the money he got from the French Volta Prize. The laboratory was an experimental facility dedicated to scientific discovery.
In the 1890s, he invented tetrahedral kites and started to explore the possibilities of flying machines. He then founded the Aerial Experiment Association in 1907 along with Glenn Curtiss and others. The association introduced major technical innovations like wingtip ailerons and the tricycle landing gear. It also developed several flying machines, including the June Bug and Silver Dart.
Besides inventions, Bell was also very interested in the science of heredity. His work in this field is remembered as “the soundest, and most useful study of human heredity proposed in nineteenth-century America..”
Graham Bell was one of the founders of the National Geographic Society and served as its president from 1896 to 1904. He also helped to launch the Science magazine.
Legal Challenges
Alexander Graham Bell faced many legal challenges to defend his telephone patent from lawsuits. Other scientists, including Gray and Meucci, claimed that they had invented the telephone before the patent of the Bell. His Bell Telephone Company faced nearly 20 years of legal battle and up to 550 court challenges. But finally, the Supreme Court gave a decision and the Bell Company won.
Personal Life Of Alexander Graham Bell
Graham Bell married Mabel Hubbard on July 11, 1877. Together, they had four children, two sons and two daughters. Both of their sons died in infancy.
Graham Bell died on August 2, 1922, in Nova Scotia at the age of 75. At his funeral, all phones in North America were silenced to pay tribute to him.
What Was The First Invention Of Alexander Graham Bell?
The first invention of Alexander Graham Bell was a dehusking machine at the age of only 12 years. It was a simple homemade device with rotating paddles and sets of nail brushes that could readily remove the husk from wheat grains. He gave this machine to his best friend Ben Herdman’s father John Herdman, a flour mill owner. The machine was steadily used at the mill for several years.
What Is Alexander Graham Bell Best Known For?
Alexander Graham Bell is best known for the invention of the telephone.
What Are The Three Inventions Of Alexander Graham Bell?
The three inventions of Alexander Graham Bell are:
- Telephone
- Photophone
- Audiometer
Who Is Known As The Father Of The Telephone?
Alexander Graham Bell is known as the father of the telephone.
Who Made The First Phone Call?
Alexander Graham Bell made the first phone call on March 10, 1876. He transmitted a call to his assistant Thomas Watson and revealed his talent of “talking with electricity”.
