Alexander Graham Bell

Scots-born scientist an inventor

Alexander Graham Bell (3 Mairch, 18472 August, 1922)[3] wis a Scots-born scientist, inventor, wha bade in Canadae, an efter in the Unitit States, wis foonder o the Bell Canada, an the American Telephone an Telegraph Company (AT&T)[4] an wis kent as the 'faither o the telephone'.[5] As weel as his wark in telecommunications technology, he wis responsible for sindry important advances in aviation an hydrofoil technology, an in genetics.[6]

Alexander Graham Bell
Portrait photae takken atween 1914 an 1919
BornMairch 3, 1847
Edinburgh, Scotland
Dee'd2 August 1922(1922-08-02) (aged 75)
Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia, Canadae
Cause o daith
Complications frae diabetes[1]
Residence
  • Unitit Kinrick
  • Canadae
  • Unitit States
Citizenship
Alma mater
Thrift
  • Inventor
  • Scientist
  • Ingineer
  • Professora
Teacher o the deaf
Kent forInvention o the telephone
Hauf-marrae(s)Mabel Hubbard (m. 1877–1922)
Bairnsfowerb
Pawrents
Kin
Awairds
Signatur
Notes

Baith his mither an sister war baith profoondly deif, an male members o his faimily war warkin on speech an elocution. This micht hae influencit Bell's ain research,[7] that led tae him gettin the first U.S. patent, oan 5 March 1876, fur the telephone,[8] tho he widna thole haein a telephone in his ain study fur it wad interupt his ither research wark.[8]

He wis forby interestit in heredity an his wark on this wis cawed "the soondest, an maist uissfae study o human heredity proponed in nineteenth-century America... Bell's most notable contribution to basic science, as distinct from invention."[7]

He becam the second preses (1898 -1903) o the National Geographic Society.[9]

Early life an faimily

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Born Alexander Bell in Edinburgh on 3 Mairch 1847, his faither wis Alexander Melville Bell, a phoneticist wha developit sign leid, an his mither wis Eliza Grace Bell (née Symonds);[10] the faimily bided in Charlotte Street. He hid askit his faither tae gie him a middle name like his twa brithers, an sae wis named aifter a ludger, wha his faither wis treatin, Alexander Graham, sae frae the age o elelven, he wis kent as Alexander Graham Bell.[11]

His twa brithers Melville James Bell (1845–1870) an Edward Charles Bell (1848–1867), baith dee'd o tuberculosis.[12] His mither (frae Bell wis anely twelve) an sister war baith deif, an he becam interessit in hou tae communicate wi thaim, an in acoustics.[13] Bell wis musical an inventive as a bairn, an his parents hertent him in that. His faither taucht him Visible Speech method, an Bell could expoond mony leids, wi'oot kennin hoo they wis pronooncit, sik as Laitin, Scots Gaelic an Sanskrit.[14]

He then bided wi his granfaither in Lunnon fir ae year afore he gaed tae be a pupil-teacher o elocution an music awtho he hissel studied Laitin an Greek at Weston House Academy, Elgin, Moray.

Aifter went tae the Varsity o Edinburgh, an forby wis back at Elgin, an aifter tocht in Bath, Somerset. Whiles he wis ill hissel, but his younger brither Edward never rekivert an dee'd o tuberculosis (1867). Syne his elder brither, Melville de'ed anaa in 1870. His faither, mony years afore, hid convalesced in Newfoondland an acause Bell wis ill anaa (forby he wis due tae stert tae study at the Varsity o Lunnin), an haed whiles tocht deif bairns in Lunnon wi his faither, the hale faimily gaed awa tae bide in Canadae.[7]

A decade efter, aince he hid foondit the Bell Telephone Company, he merrit Mabel Hubbard on 11 July 1877. They hid fower bairns, twa wha dee'd as littlins, an twa dochters Elsie Mabel Bell an Marion Hubbard Bell.[15]

Research an teachin

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Bell's faither hertent him, an his brither Melville wha workit wi him, ti dae aa kind o experiments on soond an acoustics. He wis makin a model o the thrapple (larynx) an skult, an usin bellows tae mak it spikk,[14] anither project wis da'en wi a dug, a Skye Tarrie, Trouve, makin it mak 'human' soounds by pressin oan its thrapple an movin its lips wi his haunds.[16]

Baith in Canadae, an then in Boston, Bell workit wi the deif wi his faither, as a dominie in his ain shuil. Ane o Bell's private schull bairns wis Helen Keller, baith blin an deif an nae able tae spikk. She wis tocht by Bell uising his faither's method. Mony years aifter, she wis askit tae cut the sod fur the foondin o Bell's own institute, Volta Bureau, fur "the increase an diffusion o knawledge relatin tae the deif".[17]

In 1872, Bell becam professor o Vocal Physiology an Elocution at the Boston Varsity Schull o Oratory. He tocht private pupils an continuit tae experiment wi soond an muisic transmission. But he becam unweel forby.[16]

The telephone

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Bell experimentit wi soond transmission in varlous weys, includin a phonoautograph, an forby uisin electric currents tae trasmit the soonds.[18] In the 1870s, the telegraph wis growin across Americae an Canadae. Bell told twa walthie investors aboot his invention tae send multiple tones on a telegraph. This startit the investment ahint his invention, the telephone, in 1875 (an the necessary prertection by patent).[19] Another model by Elisha Gray wis bein pruived, an he wis forby applying fur a patent, at almaist the same time, an sae Gray brocht a challenge agin Bell's application.[19]

But the telephone patent no.174,465, wis issuit to Bell on March 7, 1876, by the U.S. Patent Office.

This pertection wis fur "the method o, an apparatus fur, transmittin vocal or other soonds telegraphically ... bi causin electrical undulations, seemilar tae the vibrations o the air that gaes wi the said vocal o ither soond."[8] Three days efter, 10 March 1876, Bell transmittit soond by varying electrical currents. But he developit a better model wi electomagnetic methods. He continuit to impruive his approach an in August 1876, Bell sent a soond transmission (ae wey) fower miles frae his haim, an then eight miles tae Paris, Ontario.[20] His next step wis twa-wey conversation an this cam aboot oan 9 October 1876, frae Cambridge, Maryland tae Boston.[21]

The followin year, the Bell Telephone Company wis creatit an with an decade aboot 150,000 fowk in the Unitit States awnt a telephone. Within twa mair years, Bell's demonstration o the telephone becam kintra wide then international efter a call wi Queen Victoria, oan the Isle o Wight tae Soothhampton an Lunnon an Bell offerit a set o telephones fir hir uise, alane.[22]

Ither projects

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Photophone

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Bell an his assistant, Charles Sumner Tainter, developit a photophone that transmittit soond an human vyce o'er a beam o licht. Whan it wis testit ower a distance o 700feet on 21 June 1880, it wis aboot 19 year afore the first vyce radio transmission.[7] [23] Bell hissel thocht this wis his greatest invention.[24]

Metal detector

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Bell developit a kind o metal detector tae assist tae speir oot the murther o Preses James A. Garfield (1881) tae airt oot whaur the bullet whit kilt him haed gane.[25] Bell scrievit an airticle publishit bi the American Association fur the Advancement o Science aboot his invention an the speirin o the murther.[26]

Hydrofoil an aeronautics

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Aifter ha'en seen an ridden in the Forlanini hydrofoil on Lake Maggiore, Italy in 1910-11, Bell an Frederick W. Baldwin impruived the design an then warkit wi boat-bigger, Walter Pinaud (afore an efter World War I), wi engines frae the U.S. Navy, an creatit a hydrofoil that set the warld record fur marine speed o 70.86 miles per oor (114.04 kilometres per oor) on 19 September 1919, an they held it fir ten years.[27] Bell wis ahint the Aerial Experiment Association, that wis pruivin an fleein 'heavier than air' machines, wi an investment frae his wife Mabel. This includit pruivin brent-new ideas sic an enclosit cockpit an a form o aerelon, fir steerin the machine. Oan 23 February 1909, he wis thare whaun the AEA's Sliver Dart makkit ithe first flicht in Canadae.[6]

Heredity an genetics

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Frae thair interest in deif fowk, an in genetics ower mony years, Bell an his wife Mabel experimentit wi breeding sheep, fur tae develop anes that haed mair teats fur feeding their lamms.[28] Frae thare an fur his ither studies in eugenics, in 1921 Bell becam the honorary preses o the Second International Congress o Eugenics in New York whaur he wis ca'ad 'a pioneeering investigator in the field o human genetics'[29]

Death

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Bell dea'd o complications frae diabetes oan 2 August 1922.[30][7]

Notes

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  1. Bell an his parents immigratit tae Canadae in 1870, but Canadian ceetizenship didnae exist formally till 1910; aw immigrants frae the UK remeened "Breetish subjects". Canadae wis Bell's domicile frae 1870 til 1871 an, awtho sent bi his faither fur tae teach in Boston, Massachusetts, an mibbes ayont. He becam a U.S. ceetizen in 1882.

References

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  1. Gray, Charlotte (2006). [Alexander Graham Bell at Google Books Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell] Check |url= value (help). New York: Arcade. p. 419. ISBN 1-55970-809-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. "We Had No Idea What Alexander Graham Bell Sounded Like. Until Now". Smithsonian. Retrieved 13 Februar 2014.
  3. "Bell Homestead". www.brantford.ca (in Inglis). 7 Mairch 2024. Retrieved 24 Juin 2024.
  4. "Transistorized: AT&T | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 24 Juin 2024.
  5. "Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory Notebook, 1875-1876". World Digital Library. 1875–1876. Retrieved 24 Julie 2013.CS1 maint: date format (link)
  6. a b Phillips, Alan (1977). Into the 20th century: 1900/1910. Canada's illustrated heritage. Toronto: Natural Science of Canada Ltd. pp. 95 -97. ISBN 978-0-919644-22-9.
  7. a b c d e Bruce, Robert V. (1990). Bell: Alexander Graham Bell and the conquest of solitude ([Nachdr. der Ausg.] Boston, Little, Brown, 1973 ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. pp. 419, 37, 491, 388. ISBN 978-0-8014-9691-2.
  8. a b c MacLeod, Elizabeth, ed. (1999). Alexander Graham Bell: an inventive life. Toronto: Kids Can Press. pp. 19, 12–13. ISBN 978-1-55074-456-9.
  9. "NGS Celebrates 23rd Founders Day | National Geographic (blogs)". web.archive.org. 2 Februar 2016. Archived frae the original on 2 Februar 2016. Retrieved 24 Juin 2024.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  10. "ALEXANDER M. BELL DEAD.; Father of Prof. A.G. Bell Developed Sign Language for Mutes". The New York Times (in Inglis). 8 August 1905. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 Juin 2024.
  11. "Alexander Graham Bell: Call Me Alexander Graham Bell". web.archive.org. 24 Februar 2015. Archived frae the original on 24 Februar 2015. Retrieved 24 Juin 2024.
  12. "About this Collection | Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress | Digital Collections | Library of Congress". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 24 Juin 2024.
  13. Mackay, James (1997). Sounds out of silence: a life of Alexander Graham Bell. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publ. pp. 25. ISBN 978-1-85158-833-6.
  14. a b Petrie, A. Roy (1983). Alexander Graham Bell. The Canadians. Don Mills, Ont: Fitzhenry & Whiteside. pp. 7–9. ISBN 978-0-88902-209-6.
  15. Grosvenor, Edwin S.; Wesson, Morgan (1997). Alexander Graham Bell : the life and times of the man who invented the telephone. Internet Archive. New York : Harry Abrams. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-8109-4005-5.
  16. a b Groundwater, Jennifer (2005). Alexander Graham Bell: the spirit of invention; biography. Amazing stories. Canmore, Alta: Altitude Pub. Canada. pp. 30, 39. ISBN 978-1-55439-006-9.
  17. "Alexander Graham Bell | Biography, Education, Telephone, Inventions, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com (in Inglis). 28 Mey 2024. Retrieved 24 Juin 2024.
  18. Matthews, Tom L., ed. (1999). Always inventing: a photobiography of Alexander Graham Bell. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society. pp. 19–21. ISBN 978-0-7922-7391-2.
  19. a b Evenson, A. Edward (2000). The telephone patent conspiracy of 1876: the Elisha Gray-Alexander Bell controversy and its many players. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-7864-0883-2.
  20. "Alexander Graham Bell and the Invention of the Telephone". www.telecommunications.ca. Retrieved 24 Juin 2024.
  21. "First Phone Call". historycambridge.org. Retrieved 24 Juin 2024.
  22. Ross, Stewart (2001). Alexander Graham Bell. Scientists who made history. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn. pp. 21-22. ISBN 978-0-7398-4415-1.
  23. "First Radio Built by San Diego Resident". web.archive.org. 19 Februar 2002. Archived frae the original on 19 Februar 2002. Retrieved 25 Juin 2024.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  24. "Alexander Graham Bell". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca (in Inglis). Retrieved 25 Juin 2024.
  25. Grosvenor, Edwin S.; Wesson, Morgan (1997). AvRutick, Sharon (ed.). Alexander Graham Bell: the life and times of the man who invented the telephone. New York, NY: Abrams. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-8109-4005-5.
  26. Bell, Alexander Graham (1 Januar 1883). "Upon the electrical experiments to determine the location of the bullet in the body of the late President Garfield; and upon a successful form of induction balance for the painless detection of metallic masses in the human body". American Journal of Science (in Inglis). s3-25 (145): 22–61. doi:10.2475/ajs.s3-25.145.22.
  27. Boileau, John (2005). Fastest in the world: the saga of Canada's revolutionary hydrofoils. Halifax, NS: Formac Publ. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-88780-621-6.
  28. Greenwald, Brian H. (2009). "The Real "Toll" of A. G. Bell: Lessons about Eugenics". Sign Language Studies. 9 (3): 258–265. ISSN 0302-1475.
  29. Allen, Garland E. (Januar 1986). "The Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor, 1910-1940: An Essay in Institutional History". Osiris (in Inglis). 2: 225–264. doi:10.1086/368657. ISSN 0369-7827.
  30. Gray, Charlotte (2006). Reluctant genius: Alexander Graham Bell and the passion for invention (1st U.S. ed ed.). New York: Arcade Pub. : Distributed by Hachette Book Group USA. p. 419. ISBN 978-1-55970-809-8. OCLC 62118266.CS1 maint: extra text (link)