Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was born a Scotsman in the year 1847. Throughout his life he moved, first to Ontario and then Boston, where he finally settled down. Acoustics were his passion and he was very interested in the teaching and educating of the deaf. He once built an automaton with his brother that was able to articulate a few sounds, including a distinguishable "Mama". His passions lead him to develop the microphone and perfect the telephone into a workable machine.
However, he feared very much that he was going to be beaten to the punch by others, especially by Hermonn von Helmholtz (a notable Audio Technician). He feared very much that the German had already beaten him to his goal, to create a working voice transmitting device. This was not true however, Helmholtz had done nothing of the kind. However, this would be the foundation for the rest of Bell's work.
"I thought that Helmholtz had done it ... and that my failure was due only to my ignorance of electricity. It was a valuable blunder ... If I had been able to read German in those days, I might never have commenced my experiments!"
Due to a poorly translated copy of Helmholtz's work, he concluded that he could continue his experiments with hopes of being successful.
"Without knowing much about the subject, it seemed to me that if vowel sounds could be produced by electrical means, so could consonants, so could articulate speech." - AG Bell
His innovations have revolutionized the way we communicate with each other. His company, the American Bell Telephone Company still exists today as the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T). At one point he could be considered to be a part of those elite few who held a monopoly, his company managed nearly all telecommunications in the U.S. from 1907-1984 and his invention was very popular. By in one decade 5.2 Million telephones were connected to his network in the U.S. and in 1913 there was transcontinental connections. He truly ruled the telecommunications market. Following Bell's death in 1922, a foundation was set up to help support the deaf and hearing impaired.
Sources:
Franklin Institute
Wikipedia
Catherine MacKenzie - Alexander Graham Bell - 2003
However, he feared very much that he was going to be beaten to the punch by others, especially by Hermonn von Helmholtz (a notable Audio Technician). He feared very much that the German had already beaten him to his goal, to create a working voice transmitting device. This was not true however, Helmholtz had done nothing of the kind. However, this would be the foundation for the rest of Bell's work.
"I thought that Helmholtz had done it ... and that my failure was due only to my ignorance of electricity. It was a valuable blunder ... If I had been able to read German in those days, I might never have commenced my experiments!"
Due to a poorly translated copy of Helmholtz's work, he concluded that he could continue his experiments with hopes of being successful.
"Without knowing much about the subject, it seemed to me that if vowel sounds could be produced by electrical means, so could consonants, so could articulate speech." - AG Bell
His innovations have revolutionized the way we communicate with each other. His company, the American Bell Telephone Company still exists today as the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T). At one point he could be considered to be a part of those elite few who held a monopoly, his company managed nearly all telecommunications in the U.S. from 1907-1984 and his invention was very popular. By in one decade 5.2 Million telephones were connected to his network in the U.S. and in 1913 there was transcontinental connections. He truly ruled the telecommunications market. Following Bell's death in 1922, a foundation was set up to help support the deaf and hearing impaired.
Sources:
Franklin Institute
Wikipedia
Catherine MacKenzie - Alexander Graham Bell - 2003