Bell at the device. Why the inventor of the telephone never called his wife?
March 3, 1847 born Alexander Graham bell, who became one of the inventors of the telephone.
March 3, 1847 in the family of philologists bell in Edinburgh, Scotland, a boy was born, whom they named Alexander. Father, Melville bell, invented a system of Visible speech, in which speech sounds designated by written symbols.
At the age of 13 years, Alexander Graham bell graduated from the Royal school in Edinburgh at the age of 16 he obtained the position of Professor of elocution and music at the Academy Weston house, and after moving to Canada — a teacher at the school for the deaf.
At the same time bell continued to deal with the problem of sound transmission by electricity.
During this period, the company “Western Union” was looking for a method of simultaneous transmission of several telegrams one pair of wires to get rid of the need to run additional Telegraph lines. The company announced a large cash prize to the inventor who will offer such a method.
The solution to this problem was beating the famous inventors of the time Thomas Edison and Elisha gray — it is up to them to “Western Union” were waiting for a technical breakthrough.
Bell, in 1873 became Professor of physiology of speech at Boston University, also worked in this direction. Strong side Bella had a great knowledge of the laws of acoustics, weak technical skills in the practical implementation of emerging ideas.
“Musical Telegraph”
Bell had intended to solve the problem of “Western Union” to be set in the sending item, several tuning forks, each of which would create a total line current, pulsating with a certain frequency. At the receiving point these pulsations must have been perceived the same tuning forks, tuned to the appropriate frequency. So bell was going to give the seven telegrams, the number of musical notes. The notes and the music here is not accidental — Alexander Graham bell grew up in a musical family and he loved music.
His “musical Telegraph” bell developed not alone. His work is generously funded by the future father-in-law is a lawyer, financier and philanthropist Gardiner Greene Hubbard. Assistant in the technical part of the work was a young engineer Thomas Watson.
Father in law introduced Bella with physicist Joseph Henry, who, evaluating project Bella Watson, gave a high evaluation, advising us to continue the work.
Reflecting on the action of the membrane, bell came to the idea device, with which, as he wrote, “it will be possible to transfer different sounds, if only to be able to cause fluctuations in the intensity of the electric current corresponding to fluctuations in air density that produces this sound.”
Until the invention of apparatus bell was given the name “phone”
Bell and Watson continued their experiments with “musical Telegraph”. The inventors were in different rooms, with the receiving and transmitting devices. The tuning forks served steel plates of different length, rigidly fixed at one end and the other bringing up the rear of the electric circuit.
“Don’t change anything!”
June 2, 1875, the free end of one of the plates on the transmitting side of the line was welded to the contact. Watson, trying to solve the problem, anger cursed. Who was in the next room, bell caught the barely audible sound that has survived through the wire.
A second later, bell flew into the room Watson, shouting: “What did you just do? Don’t change anything!”. Frightened, the assistant tried to explain to Bella that there was a cover, but he objected to Watson is not a pad, and a large opening.
Spontaneously fixed on both ends of the plate turned into a flexible membrane and being on the pole of the magnet, changed its magnetic flux. Consequently, the incoming line electric current is changed as the vibrations of the air caused by the words spoken by Watson, and caused the fluctuations of the receiving plate.
Thus was born the phone that we know. In all previous experiments of bell and Watson the free end of the plate just closes and rithmical electrical circuit. Now the sound vibrations of the plate induces electromagnetic oscillations in the magnet disposed near the plate. This was the difference between the telephone and all pre-existing telegraphic devices.
Race for a patent
The next nine months, bell and Watson had made their discovery in the current apparatus. Then work began on the preparation of the patent application, which is connected to a patent attorney, Anthony pollok. Neither Pollock nor bell nor Watson had no idea that at this moment involved in this race. After all, in parallel with them to the historic opening sped inventor Elisha gray.
Gray, who has received more than 70 different patents, from 1869 worked with “Western Union”, improving Telegraph equipment. February 11, 1876, gray instructed his patent attorney to William Baldwin to prepare for submission to the US Patent office a “caveat” — a petition for the non-issuance of a patent to another person.
14 Feb 1876, Valentine’s Day, the Patent office, the United States has played a historical drama
In the morning Elisha gray signed the patent application, titled “Device for the transmission and reception of voice by Telegraph.” Immediately after that patent attorney William Baldwin arrives at the Patent office and submits the official application form.
Around noon, there appears a patent attorney Anthony pollok and submits the application for the invention “Method and device for transmitting voice and other sounds by Telegraph” on behalf of Alexander Graham bell. It would seem that grey, even for a few hours, but ahead of the bell. The devil, however, lies in the details.
Pollock arrived in the Patent office with the receipt for payment of the prescribed fee, so the application was immediately recorded in the receipt book. The data about payment of fees gray came after Pollock departed from the Patent office and the application of the inventor was registered after the application of Bella.
American law States that the application shall be deemed filed only when submitted all the necessary documents, including a receipt of payment of duty.
On this basis March 7, 1876 the patent was issued, Alexander Graham bell, who left the glory of the inventor of the telephone.
Imperial approval
Telephone Alexander Graham bell was a fairly simple device and had a lot of shortcomings. The tube served both for transmission and reception of speech, the operation was carried out on a queue, the phone call never came, the call came through the tube with a whistle, the range was small, the range of lines does not exceed a few hundred meters.
But for demonstration of the invention at the world exhibition, held in 1876 in Philadelphia, this was more than enough. Of tube devices sound the monologue of the Danish Prince “to be or not to be?” executable at the same time but in another room, by Alexander Graham bell.
Interestingly, the first telephone bell had not attracted widespread attention
The situation changed when the exhibition was visited by the Emperor of Brazil Pedro II. The monarch met with bell at Boston University and at the exhibition showed genuine interest in his invention.
On Pedro II camera made a lasting impression. For a while the Emperor was in a state of shock, and then expressed his admiration for Bella. After that, the unit bell started this pilgrimage.
The struggle for recognition
Despite this, proposals for practical cooperation of the inventor is not received. Trying to sell the patent for 100 thousand dollars also failed businessmen considered the phone as a fun toy, considering that the device will not be able to compete with the Telegraph.
Journalists camera Bella and himself, on the contrary, very interested. His trip to Europe, where the invention of bell praised very highly, was widely reported in the press. Receiving recognition, in the US, the inventor returned a winner.
At home, however, all was not so festive. Bella had to fend off a number of lawsuits inventors, challenging his priority. Moreover, now he rejected the offer to sell the patent for the telephone for $ 100,000, believing that invention is worth a lot more.
In the company “Western Union” then decided that the light wedge has not converged Belle, and decided to develop a new means of communication without its inventor. With the company worked with the famous Thomas Edison, who also worked with the telephone device. By 1878, Edison designed his model of the phone. First introduced in the scheme of the telephone induction coil, and applying a carbon microphone of compressed lamp black, the inventor has provided the transmission of sound over a considerable distance.
For his invention Thomas Edison received from the company “Western Union” $ 100 thousand — the sum for which bell refused to sell the patent.
“I invented the telephone because of its ignorance”
The company “Western Union” was created the American Speaking Telephone for the production of the phones, ignoring the bell patent.
The inventor during this time, there were many fans who stood up for their idol. With this support and the interest of business, bell started the company New England Telephone and Telegraph.
At the end of 1879 “Western Union” signed an agreement with bell and its partners on the establishment of the merged company, called American Bell Telephone Company. Alexander Graham bell became the holder of the large stake, and his condition began to grow rapidly along with the growth of teledensity.
At this point, bell finished the job over the phone, handing it to the improvement in other hands.
“I invented the telephone due to my ignorance of electrical engineering. No one, at least an elementary acquaintance with electrical engineering, never have invented the telephone,” later said Alexander Graham bell.
When silent phone
With the money, bell founded the Washington-based Institute named Volta, in which he and his collaborators on various projects in many industries, ranging from aviation and ending with the sheep.
Bell also founded the American Association of the deaf learning spoken language.
Interestingly, the inventor of the telephone never phoned his mother and his wife: they were both deaf.
Alexander Graham bell died on 2 August 1922 at his estate Beinn-Braye, near the town of Baddeck in Canada. In the day of his funeral all the phones in the United States was disabled for a minute of silence to honor the memory of the inventor.
On 11 June 2002, the US Congress resolution No. 269 acknowledged that the primacy of the invention of the telephone belongs to the Italian Antonio Meucci, who filed for a patent in 1871. Nevertheless, for most people, the Alexander Graham bell remains a pioneer.