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A FAMILY AFFAIR
In 1847, Alexander Graham Bell was born into a family with a passion for communication. His grandfather, also named Alexander Bell, had forged for himself a reputation as an impressive, if under employed, actor and orator. Endowed with a commanding speaking voice and considerable physical bearing, Alexander Bell sought to unleash in others the full potential of the spoken word. His attention was especially drawn to those for whom the act of speaking presented daunting challenges. His work with such individuals led him to publish writings that included, The Practical Elocutionist and Stammering and Other Impediments of Speech. By 1838, he was regularly being referred to in the London press as "the celebrated Professor of Elocution." The elder Mr. Bell infused in his sons David and Melville a similar interest in the mechanics and methods of vocal communication. David's professional and personal pursuits led him to marriage and a career as a teacher of speech in Dublin, while Melville enthusiastically joined his father in his elocutionary endeavors. Melville's keen interest in speech pathologies was undoubtedly sharpened when he found himself falling in love with a deaf woman he would eventually ask to be his wife. Eliza Grace Symonds, a painter of miniatures, was nearly ten years Melville's senior. Nevertheless, her sweet temper and refined intellect were more than enough to win his lifelong adoration and devotion. Despite being held captive in a world of virtual silence, Eliza Grace Bell developed into a talented pianist whose tenacity and determination to "hear" would especially entrance her second of three sons, Alexander Graham Bell.
regarding the characteristics of sound waves. It would also lend rationale to Bell's opinions as to how the deaf could be assimilated into a world of sound. Edinburgh, Scotland in the mid-19th-century was brimming with scientific and technological developments. Within this inventive milieu, Alexander Graham Bell played the role of attentive observer and eager participant. One truth seemed inescapable: through technology came betterment. At the age of 14, Bell conceived of a device designed to remove the husks from wheat by combining a nail brush and paddle into a rotary-brushing wheel. While visiting London with his father, Aleck was mesmerized by a demonstration of Sir Charles Wheatstone's "speaking machine." Upon their return to Edinburgh, Melville Bell, Sr. challenged Aleck and his older brother to come up with a model of their own. Working out of their home, the industrious pair created an apparatus consisting of a facsimile mouth, throat, nose, maneuverable tongue, and bellow lungs. What's more, the contraption actually produced human-like sounds. Inspired by this success, Aleck went a step further and succeeded in manipulating the mouth and vocal chords of his Skye terrier so that the dog's growls were heard as words.
of the late 19th century, claimed the lives of both of his brothers within the span of four months. Bell himself was battling the disease when, at age 23, he moved with his parents to Canada. Convalescing in what he called "his dreaming place"--a spacious farmhouse in Brantford, Ontario--Alexander Graham Bell was able to recover in mind and spirit, and dwell on his ever-expanding ambitions.
A FATEFUL TWANG
The chance meeting between Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson at the electrical machine shop of Charles Williams was one of the most fortuitous in technological history. Recognized by his employer as being especially skilled in devising
tools that improved the efficiency of various instruments, Watson was assigned to work with many nascent inventors. Alexander Graham Bell was just such an inventor. As the two collaborated on ways to refine Bell's "harmonic telegraph," Bell shared with Watson his vision of what would 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 in the transmitter room and trying to free a reed that had been too tightly wound to the pole of its electromagnet, Watson produced atwang . Bell, who had been working in the receiving room heard thetwang and came running. Bell surmised the complex overtones and timbre of the twang to be similar to those in the human voice. He was now convinced that his vision of sending speech over a wire was more than just a dream.
BIG BUSINESS
In the wake of Bell's invention of the telephone came an avalanche of patent lawsuits and corporate maneuvers. Western Union Telegraph Company was the titan in the field of telegraphy and was not content to sit on the sidelines as the Bell Telephone Company captured the spotlight. Feverishly working to develop their own telephone technology, Western Union employed two prominent inventors--Thomas A. Edison and Elisha Gray. Looking to protect its patent rights, the Bell Company sued Western Union and won. In the years that followed, the Bell Company (which would eventually become AT&T) would be forced to defend its patent in over 600 legal challenges. In every case, the patent withstood attack thanks largely to Alexander Graham Bell's clear and convincing testimony.
EXPANDING INTERESTS
Bell had little interest in playing a day-to-day role in the workings of the company that bore his name. Barely in his thirties, rich and famous, Bell continued to pursue an active life of the mind. His post-telephone inventions included an electric probe used to locate bullets and other metal objects lodged in the body, and the vacuum jacket which, when placed around the chest, administered artificial respiration. Each of these inventions would later be refined and supplanted by other inventors, but Bell's contributions to the world of science and technology never abated. He was a student of nature's mysteries and became fascinated with the notion of motion--in the air and on the water. Working with partners, he experimented with manned kites and hydrofoils. Eager to infuse a love of science and the natural world in others, Bell lent considerable financial and editorial support to both Science magazine and National Geographic. Upon Bell's death on August 2, 1922, the nation's phones stilled their ringing for a silent minute in tribute to the man whose yearning to communicate made them possible.