Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell has been known throughout the world for one of his most famous actions, patenting the telephone , a means that became an absolute revolution in communication until we achieved what we know today. His great success came from his experiments with sound and the great interest his family had in helping those who had deafness problems so that they could communicate .

Historic context

The telephone had already been invented years ago by Antonio Meucci , however, he did not have the necessary support or the money to be able to patent it . He had invented it with the aim of being able to connect his bedroom with his office

From this it arises that Alexander Graham Bell patented it in 1876 and just a year later he founded his first telephone company . At this time, the creation of the device was a revolution in the field of telecommunications and throughout the 20th century, the telephone evolved more every day, giving societies a better possibility to communicate without taking into account distances.

Biography of Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was born in the city of Edinburgh located in Scotland , on March 3, 1847. His father was a professor of elocution who worked at the University of Edinburgh and his mother, who was deaf, was also a pianist . He was very curious when he was a child, he studied piano and dedicated himself to inventing things. His family were professionals who intervene and evaluate human communication disorders and for that reason he also decided to continue the tradition and help people so that they could speak correctly.

From a young age he was interested in sound and struggled to perfect the systems used in the field of education for deaf people . Together with his family, he moved to live in the United States and being in that place, he was able to put into practice a system that had been developed by his father with the aim of being able to teach deaf children, a mechanism that was known with the name of ” visible speech ” or ” visible speech ” which was a set of symbols that represented the sounds of speech . He also conducted several experiments on the physiologyof the classroom and on the different methods of recording and transmission of sounds.

He served as professor of vocal physiology in 1873 for Boston University and during this time he dedicated himself to creating several inventions that finally helped him to patent the first telephone in 1876 , an element that has become an indispensable factor. for all mankind.

Death

On August 2, 1922, Alexander Graham Bell died in the city of Beinn Bhreah located in Canada . The cause of his death was a series of complications that had arisen as a result of his problem with diabetes .

Education

During his childhood, Alexander Graham Bell was homeschooled and showed that he was a good problem solver from an early age. When he turned 16 he began his studies related to the mechanics of speech and later entered the Royal High School where he studied and then the University of Edinburgh .

Contributions of Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell contributed a great deal to the eugenics movement in the United States, did several investigations regarding deafness rates, and presented to the National Academy of Sciences a document in which he established that parents with congenital deafness had a higher probability of having deaf children . In 1880, Bell created the Volta Laboratory in Washington, DC, an experimental facility dedicated to scientific discoveries.

Together with Charles Summer Tainter he managed to invent the cordless telephone which he called as a photophone. He also made important contributions in the field of aeronautics and began to carry out experiments with the aim of developing aircraft that were propelled because they were heavier than air.

He is also credited with developing the first metal detector, a device that he developed quickly in order to find the bullet that was lodged in the body of the President of the United States James Garfield after he suffered an attack. He was one of the founders of the renowned National Geographic Society , an institution of which he was also president and in which they are dedicated to educating, studying science and geography , a means of communication that remains in force today.

Discoveries

Among the main discoveries or inventions of Alexander Graham Bell the following are mentioned.

• He devised the wheat dehulling machine : he managed to discover a more efficient method by which the wheat could be dehulled, observing that after hitting a little product and brushing it, the husk was detached more easily, so he decided to modify a machine which had a rotating paddle system adding strong bristles to it.
• Multiple telegraph : he made a series of experiments with telegraphic signals encoded at different frequencies and I call this the harmonic telegraph. With this idea, they were able to explore the idea of ​​transmitting speech and not just sounds.
• Microphone : he made a series of experiments with a metal rod that he placed near an electromagnet and it vibrated when it received sound waves forming a variable current that were then carried to the receiver where another rod vibrated.
• Telephone : after obtaining the patent for the telephone, he began with a series of experiments to vary the designs of transducers and that made it possible for the first telephone transmission to take place on March 10, 1876.
• Graphophone : it was a device that modified Edison’s phonograph in which instead of making the recordings on sheets of brass, they were made on sheets of wax.

Parents

His father was Alexander Melville de Bell who worked as a teacher and his mother Eliza Grace Symonds .

Relations

He met Mabel Gardiner Hubbard , a girl who had been deaf since the age of five and whom he married two years after meeting.

Sons

With his wife he had two daughters, the first was named Elisa May and his second daughter Marian Hubbard . They also had two children but died when they were children.

Importance

Alexander Graham Bell has been recognized over time as one of the most important scientists who made fundamental contributions to the development of telecommunications and aviation . Thanks to his company, Bell Telephone Company , Bell Labs was subsequently created, which turned out to be a huge technological industry that came to transform the lives of all peoples today. It was thanks to his work that the first network connection was made and he was an important pioneer in the introduction of DSL technology.

Phrases

Among his most recognized phrases we find the following:

• The nation that has control of the airspace will ultimately have control of the world.
• Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.
• There are two critical points in every air flight: its beginning and its end.
• Educate the masses, raise their intelligence level and you will surely have a successful nation.
• The only difference between success and failure is the ability to act.
• Don’t be the first to try the new, or the last to put the old aside.
• One day, every major city in America will have a phone.

Acknowledgments to Alexander Graham Bell

Among its main recognitions are the following:

• Volta Prize by the French Academy of Sciences.
• Legion of honor by the French government.
• Albert Medal awarded by the Royal Society of Arts.
• Edison Medal .
• In order to honor all the contributions he made to acoustics, the standard unit used to measure the intensity of sound waves was named ” bel ” .
• Officer of the French Legion of Honor.
• The National Deaf-Mute College , now Gallaudet College, awarded him a Ph.D. in 1880.
• Member of the American Philosophical Society.
• He was elected vice president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and as president.
• The Alexander Graham Bell School in Chicago was inaugurated in his honor .
• John Fritz Medal from the American Association of Engineering Societies.
• Thomas Alva Edison Medal awarded by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
• George Washington University awarded him an Honorary Degree.
• Dartmouth College awarded him an honorary Juris Doctor .

Presence in popular culture

In the cultural presence it is possible to find the life and work of this important inventor. In 1939 , the movie The Great Miracle was created , a tape that narrates the biography and life of Alexander Graham Bell and about his love affair with a girl who could not hear. Another of the recognized films that tell his story is The Story of Graham Bell where his inventions and beliefs are also shown. In the film, The Sound and the Silence, you can also find much information about his important work.

Curiosities about Alexander Graham Bell

Some of Alexander Graham Bell’s curiosities are mentioned below:

• He was naturalized as an American .
• He was the founder of the National Geographic Society .
• He liked to practice ventriloquism and knew how to use the resources of the voice very well.
• He created a completely new method of sign language with the goal of being able to convey the messages to his mother .
• He managed to patent a total of 18 brands individually.