• Home

• Preface

• Alexander Graham Bell

• Telecommunications history

• How the telephone works

• Phone FUN facts

• Why the Phone Works When the Lights GO OUT

• FTTP (Fiber to the Prem)

• Future of Telecommunications

• Crossword Puzzle

• Word Search

• Glossary

• Credits

• Speech by Thomas Watson

Alexander G. Bell ... cont

On March 3, 1847 a boy, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, was named Alexander Graham Bell.

His dad, Alexander Melville Bell, was an inventor. His mother painted portraits, was a musician, and was deaf. His dad helped to invent a system to assist deaf mutes (people who can’t speak because they have never heard the sound of speech to be able to copy it as most folks do from birth.) The system was called Visible Speech. It showed how the lips, tongue, and throat are used to create sound.

Even though Alex only attended school for a few years, he never stopped learning. He taught himself by reading the books in his grandfather’s library.

At the age of 11 he invented a machine that could clean wheat! His grandfather, also an inventor, dealt with the hearing disabled as well. Alex decided to follow in the family footsteps as did his brother Melville (Melly) Bell. When they were teen-agers, Alex and Melly used the voice box of a dead sheep to make a speaking machine that said “Mama!”

Return to previous page.................... Go to Next Page.................... Go to next chapter (History)