Library of Congress Public Domain.
Images courtesy of The Franklin Institute Science Museum.
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Alexander Graham Bell invented one of the most frequently used
inventions today, the telephone. The word telephone means a device to transmit audio over
distances. The telephone is in many ways an extension of the telegraph which was in wide
use before the telephone. Alexander Bell's invention of the telephone grew out of his
research into the telegraph. Bell himself was never a good mechanic, but he was fortunate
to discover Thomas Watson a young repair mechanic and model maker who helped him put his
ideas into reality. On April 6th 1875 Bell sucessfully patented the multiple telegraph,
and on March 7th 1876 he was awarded a patent covering the method of, and apparatus for,
transmiting voice messages telegraphically (using wires).
Bell continued his experimentation in communications, which ended with his invention of
encoding sound onto a beam of light, a process which is used today in high speed fiber
optic networks. In total Bell was granted 18 patents, and in 1888 he founded the National
Geographic society. |
