“ALECK” the Great Alexander Graham Bell Inventor “The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion “

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland March 3, 1847– August 2, 1922

2 Brothers: Melville James & Edward Charles Bell Father- Professor of Elocution, Alexander Melville Bell Mother- Eliza Grace Bell His mother and wife were both deaf, encouraging his experimenting with the telephone

Attended Royal High School in Edinburgh Scotland at an early age Left at age 15 to travel with his grandfather Became a “Pupil Teacher of music in Weston House Academy in Scotland The following year he attended the University of Edinburgh

Childhood Inventions While helping his friend at his family’s mill, young Aleck invented a homemade device that combined rotating paddles with sets of nail brushes, creating a simple wheat de-husking machine He learned a manual finger language so he could sit at his mother’s side and silently tap out the conversations swirling around the family parlor. He also developed a technique of speaking in clear, modulated tones directly into his mother's forehead wherein she would hear him with reasonable clarity Young Bell also taught speech to the family dog.

Bell married a deaf woman, former speech pupil, Mabel Hubbard. They had 4 children together: 2 daughters– Elsie May & Marian Hubbard Bell & 2 sons who died in infancy. Their family resided in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

INVENTOR TEACHER SCIENTIST PHILANTHROPIST Bell became professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution at the Boston University School of Oratory 1872 Alexander Bell opened his "School of Vocal Physiology and Mechanics of Speech" in Boston Telephone, Metal Detector, Hydrofoils, etc. He experimented with deaf people, heredity, sleeping, and water & air travel Not only did Bell dedicate his whole life to experimenting with deaf people, he founded deaf education facilities and contributed money.

Telephone Metal Detector Hydrofoils Aeronautics

Bell begins work on Harmonic telegraph, and got support for his idea of telephone Met Thomas Watson which allowed him to have the equipment necessary for experimenting 2 June 1875, Watson accidentally plucked one of the reeds and Bell, at the receiving end of the wire, heard the overtones of the reed; overtones that would be necessary for transmitting speech. “Watson, come here I need you,” were the first words heard over the telephone. Bell had spilled liquid on the testing table.

Elisha Gray vs. Alexander Graham Bell There is considerable debate about who arrived to the U.S. Patent Office First Gray filled a caveat with the US Patent Office for a telephone design that used a water transmitter. That same morning, Bell’s lawyer filed his patent application. There is considerable debate about who arrived first. Gray later challenged the validity of Bell's patent.

Competitors Over a period of 18 years, the Bell Telephone Company faced over 600 lawsuits posing legal challenges concerning the rights to the telephone, but none was successful in establishing priority over the original Bell patent. On 13 January 1887, the United States Government moved to annul the patent issued to Bell. By the time the case surfaced, the patents were expired and the case was dropped by the US Attorney General. Italian inventor Antonio Meucci also claimed to have created the first working model of a telephone in Italy in 1834.

Bell was a firm believer in EUGENICS A widely held belief in the early 20 th century that handicapped couples and couples in poverty should have no children. Even possibly should be sterilized. He observed that congenitally deaf parents are more likely to produce deaf children. He suggested that couples in which both were deaf should not marry.

Toward the end of his life, Bell investigated heredity, beginning with deafs. Invented an electromagnetic device called an induction balance and a telephone probe, a metal vaccum jacket that is breathable, and an audiometer. Most of his effort, however, went towards the challenge of flight. Bell spent the last decade of his life improving hydrofoil designs, and in 1919 he and Casey Baldwin built a hydrofoil that set a world water-speed record that was not broken until 1963 Bell died of diabetes on August 2, 1922, at his private estate, Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia, at age 75.