Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell


     Alexander Graham Bell is a name of great significance in American

history today.  A skillful inventor and generous philanthropist, he astounded

the world with his intuitive ideas that proved to be both innovative and

extremely practical in the latter half of the 19th century.  Most notable, of

course, are Bell's work in developing the telephone and his venerable life-long

endeavor to educate the deaf.  Originally, his only wish was to help deaf people

overcome their difficulty in learning verbal communication, and later was pushed

into researching the possibility of a device that could transmit the human voice

electronically over a distance.  After building his first working telephone

model, Bell's fame spread quickly as people in America and around the world

began to realize the awesome potential this wonderfully fascinating new device

held in store for society (Brinkley 481).  His telephone an instant success and

already a burgeoning industry, A. G. Bell decided to turn his attention back to

assisting the deaf and following other creative ideas including the development

of a metal detector, an electric probe which was used by many surgeons before

the X ray was invented, a device having the same purpose as today's iron lung,

and also a method of locating icebergs by detecting echoes from them.  With his

many inventions (especially the insanely popular and universally applied

telephone), his efforts to educate the deaf, and the founding and financing of

the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf (now

called the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf),  Alexander Graham

Bell has become a very important historical figure indeed (Berstein 9).

     Perhaps a key factor in Bell's successful life was his invigorating

background.  His family and his education definitely had a deep influence on his

career.  Born in Scotland, his mother was a painter and an accomplished musician,

his father a teacher of the deaf and speech textbook writer.  His father

invented "Visible Speech," a code of symbols which indicated the position of the

throat, tongue, and lips in making sounds.  These symbols helped guide the deaf

in learning to speak.  His grandfather, also named Alexander Bell, had similarly

specialized in good speech.  He acted for several years and later gave dramatic

readings from Shakespeare.   Young Alexander Graham Bell had a great talent for

music.  He played by ear fThis is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now!


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