Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was born March 3, 1847 in Edinburg, Scotland. Alexander’s mother,
Elisa Grace Symonds, was a portrait painter and an accomplished musician. His father ,
Alexander Melville Bell, taught the deaf-mutes to speak at the University College of London. He
also invented “Visible Speech”, which uses the location and shape of the tounge, through, and
lips to teach the deaf. Little Alex’s grandfather also specialized in speech. Alex was named after
his grandfather. Alexander’s family had a great influence on his future.
Alexander Graham Bell didn’t go to school that much. He spent one year at a private school,
two years at Edinburgh’s Royal High School, and attended a few lectures at the University
College of London. Alexander Bell was mainly family-trained and he also thought himself. Little
Alexander was a talented musician; he played piano pieces by ear.
Alexander helped his father at the University College in London where he demonstrated how
to use “visible speech”. Later he went on his own to teach and successfully taught a class of deaf
children to speak, using his father’s method of visible speech. In 1870, Alexander’s two other
brothers died from tuberculosis, and Alexander was also threatened. His family immigrated to
Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Alexander went to Boston, Mass. a year later.
Bell had an interest in sound and electricity. This is how he invented the telegraph. 28 year
old Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for the multiple telegraph on April 6, 1875.
That same year in September, Bell began to write the specifics for the telephone. March 7, 1876,
the U.S. granted him Patent number 174,456 for the telephone. On March 10, 1876, Alexander
sent the worlds first telephone massage, to his assistant, Thomas A. Watson: “Mr. Watson, come
here; I want you.”
The next year Bell established the Bell Telephone Company. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld
his patent rights, so Bell made a good fortune. Bell pursued other interests after 1880, such as
teaching the deaf to speak. He also made improvements to Thomas A. Edisons phonograph. Bell
founded the journal Science and was president of The National Geographic Society from the year
1897 to 1904.
Bell’s genius can only be partly represented by the 18 patents for his name only, and for the
12 he shares with his collaborators. These patents are distributed over a wide range of topics.
They are:
· 14 for the telegraph and telephone
· 4 for the photophone- a precursor for today’s optical fiber system
· 1 for the phonograph
· 5 for aerial vehicles
· 4 for the hydroplane and
· 3 for the selenium cell
As you see, Alexander Graham Bell had a wide variety of interests.
Alexander Graham Bell made a lot of improvements to today. He had a very fulfilling and
long life, since he lived to the age of 75. He died in his home in Nova Scotia.
As you see, Alexander Graham Bell was a genius, who improved our ways of communication
by inventing the telephone. He also made was for many things including aerial vehicles.

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februari 2018 pukul 15.28 WIB. /Nama : Bayu Prasistyanto (VIII-B/02)