People
ALEXANDER GRAHAM Be II
By Cynthia Klingel and Robert B. Noyed
~ SPIRIT of America !!)
ALEXANDER GRAHAM Be II
SPI RIT of America®
ALEXANDER GRAHAM Bell
INVENTOR
By Cynthia Klingel and Robert B. Noyed Content Adviser: Judith Tu lloch, H istorian, Parks Canada, Atlantic Service Centre
The Child's World® Chanhassen, Minnesota ALEXANDER GRAHAM Be II Pllbli. Ackuowledgmellts The Ch ild's \'({o rld ": Mary Bere ndes, Pub li shing Direc tor Editorial D irec ti ons, Inc.: E. Russe ll Primm , Emily ]. Dolbea t, and Pam R osenberg, Editors; Dawn Fri edman, PhotO Researcher; Linda S. Ko utris, PhotO Selec tor; Sa rah E. De Capua, Copy Editor; Susan Ashl ey, Ptoofreader; Tim G riffin, Indexer Pboto Cover: O scar White/Corbi s; Parks Canada/Al exander Graham Bell National Histori c Site or Canada: 22 , 28; Corbis: 2, 2 1, 24, 25; Bettmann /Corb is : 6, 20 ; Sea n Sexton Coll ec ti on/Corbi s: 9; Hulton-Deutsc h Coll ec t ion/Corbis: l 3; Dave G. Ho use r/Corbis: 16; Library of Cong ress: 7,8, 10, 12, 14 , l 7, 18, 19 , 23,26, 27. Reg is I r({. ! ion The Child 's \,({o rld", Spirit of Ame ri ca ' , and their assoc iated logos are the sa le property and reg istered trademarks of The Child 's Wo rld<. Copyrig ht © 2003 by The Child 's World· . All ri g hts reserved . No part of this book may be reprod uced or utili zed in any form or by any mea ns \vithour wrirten perm iss ion fro m th e publishe r. Librtfl )' 0/ Cougress Catcdogillg-ill-P"bliccl fi OJ/ Da fa Klingel, Cynrhia Firrere r. Alexander G raham Bell , inventor / by Cynrhia K lingel and Robert B. N oyed . p. em . "Spi rit 01' Ame ri ca. Summary: A bi ograp hy of rh e teac her and in venro r best know n for hi s wo rk with rh e cl eaf and hi s in ve ntion of th e telephone . I ncl udes bi bl iograph ical references and index. Contents: A fami ly of edu ca rors-A g row in g interes t- Inventing the teleph one A successful life-Time line. ISBN 1-56766-367-2 (lib. bdg. : alk. papet) 1. Bell , Alexa nd er G raham, 1847- 1922-]uvenile literature. 2. Telepho ne-H istory- Juvenile literature 3. lnventors-Un ited States-Bi ography- J uvenil e literatu re. [l . Bell , Alexander Graham, 1847- 1922. 2. Telephone. 3. Inv en tO rs. ) /. Noyed , Robert B. 11. Title, TK6 143.B4 K572003 62 1.385 '092-dc2 1 [B) 2002 15 1667 Contents Chapter ONE A Family ofEducators 6 Chapter Two A Growing Interest 12 Chapter THREE Inventing the Telephone 18 Chapter FOUR A Successful Life 24 Time Line 29 Glossary Terms 30 For Further Information 31 Index 32 ONE A Family ofEducators ALEXANDER GRAHAM B ELL IS BEST KNOWN AS Bell opens the telephone line the inventor of the telephone. He also invented providing service between New York and Chicago. many other devices that helped people. Bell spent much of his life learning about speech and helping deaf people to speak. Alexander Bell was born on March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Alexander's parents, Alexander Melville and Eliza Grace Bell, did not give him a middle name when he was born. When he was about 11 years old, a family friend named Alexander Graham came to visit. Bell decided to use the name "Graham" as his middle name. 6 He then became known as Alexander Graham Bell. His family usually called him Alec, however. Alexander's father was a professor of speech and elocution at Edinburgh University. Elocution is the art of public speaking. Bell's father was a speech expert. He was interested in helping people with speech and hearing difficulties. Alexander's mother was a talented artist and musician who taught her sons how to play the piano. She was also deaf Alexander Graham Bell Alexander had two brothers. Eliza taught as a )loung bO)l all of her sons at home. Alexander was a curious child who loved to read. He learned how to play the piano at a young age. When he was a child, he told his parents that he wanted to be a musician. At the age of 11, Alexander began attend ing Royal Edinburgh High School. The school had many rules, which Alexander did not like. He studied Latin and Greek but was 7 not interested in most other subjects. He left the school after four years and never received his diploma. Alexander also lived for a short time with his grand father, Alexander Bell, in London, England. His grandfather had once taught speech and elocution at St. Andrews Grammar School. Later he moved to London to open a speech school. Alexander's grandfather was strict with his grand Bell 's grandfather had a son and wanted him to study every day. great influence on his lift. Alexander loved and admired his grandfa ther. While he was living with him, Alexander became more interested in speech. He learned a lot from his grandfather about the human voice. After a year in London, Alexander Graham Bell returned to Edinburgh to live with his family. Bell did voice experiments with his dog. He trained the dog to growl on command. When the dog growled, Bell moved the dog's mouth and throat. These movements made it sound as if the dog was speaking! 8 Alexander also began working with his Interestin Fact brother on a talking machine. They used a tin As a boy, Bell built a tube, a wooden box, cotton, and rubber. talking robot. When they blew through the tube, they could make the machine say «Mama" in a high-pitched voice. They shared this inven tion with many of their friends. Alexander Graham Bell's interest in speech and language The Bell family lived in Edin grew as he became an adult. burgh, Scotland until 1865. 9 Interestin Fact Bell continued to work on his inventions Today's cellular until his death on August 2, 1922. He was 7S phones, lasers, and years old. On the day of his funeral, all tele fiber optics are based phones throughout the United States were silent on Bell's early for one minute to honor the great inventor. invention of the Mabel, deeply saddened by her husband's death, photophone, a device that uses a died five months later. beam of light to The Bell Telephone Company, now transmit sound. known as American Telephone and Telegraph, or AT&T, still exists. It is hard to imagine life without the telephone. Alexander Graham Man)' people attended Bell's invention truly changed communication the funeral ofAlexander Graham BelL. throughout the world forever. 28 LINE 1847 Alexander Bell is bo rn in 1873 Bell teaches at Boston Uni versity. Edinburgh, Scotl and on March 3. Mabel Hubbard beco mes one of hi s students. 1858 Bell adopts the middle name "Graham" in honor of a family fri end 1875 T homas Watson begins worki ng nam ed Alexander Graham. with Bell on hi s experiments. 1862 Bell moves to Londo n to spend a 1876 Be ll is granted the patent for his year with his grandfather. telephone on M arch 7. H e demonstrates the telepho ne at the Philadel phia 1863 Bell begins teaching at Weston Centennial Exhibition on June 25. H ouse Academy. 1877 Be ll , Watso n, Hubbard, and Bell's grandfather dies. T he 1865 Sanders fo rm the first telephone family m oves to London. company on July 9. T hey call it the Bell 1867 Edward Bell , Alexander G raham Telephone Company. Bell and Mabel Bell's brother, dies of tubercul os is. Hubbard are marri ed two days later. 1868 Bell begins taking cl asses at 1880 Bell receives the Volta Prize from Unive rsity College in Lo ndon. the French gove rnment. 1870 Melvill e Bell, Al exander's older 1898 Bell is elected pres ident of the brother, dies of tuberculosis. T he Bell National Geographic Society. family moves to Canada. 1922 Al exander G raham Bell dies. 1871 Bell moves to Boston and begins 1923 M abel Hubbard Bell dies. teaching at the Boston School for D eaf Mutes. 1872 Bell m eets Gardiner G reene Hubbard, a Boston attorney. 29 TERMS anatomy (eh-NAT-eh-mee) observatory (ub-ZUR-va-tor-ee) Anatomy is the study of th e stru cture of An obse rvatory is a building that co mains humans, animals, or plants. Bell studied scientific instruments for making observations. human anatomy. Muse ums called pl anetariums often have an observato ry with telescopes for studyin g th e artifacts (AR-ti-faktz) planets and stars. Artifacts are tools and objects used in th e pas t. Museums co main many artifacts. patent (PAT-nt) A patent is a document that says a ce rtain devices (dih-VICE-ez) perso n or company is the only one with the Dev ices are pi eces of equipment that do ri ght to make or se ll an in ve ntion for a specifi c jobs. The transmitter is a dev ice that ce rtain number of yea rs. Al exa nder Graham sends sound over wi res to anoth er dev ice Be ll was give n a patent for hi s tel eph one. ca ll ed a rece iv er. physiology (fiz-ee-OL-uh-jee) diffusion (dif-YOO-zhen) Ph ys iology is th e study of how li vin g bodi es Diffusion is th e sprea d of so mething, like an wo rk. Bell studied human phys iology. idea, from one gro up of peo ple to anoth er. The National Geographi c Society was form ed strict (STRIKT) for the diffusion of geographi c knowl edge. To be trict mea ns to make sure oth er people fo ll ow rules and behave well. Bell's diploma (di-PLOH-mah) grand father was strict and made su re that A diploma is a ce rtificate give n to a perso n Bell studied every day. who graduates from a schoo l. Al exander Graham Bell left high school with out transmitter (trans-MIT-ur) receiving his diploma. A transmitter is a pi ece of eq uipment that se nds so unds to a receive r. Wires may electromagnet (ih-Iek-troh-MAG-net) co nn ect the transmitter to th e rece iver. An electromagnet is a mag net that beco mes stronge r when electri ci ry passe through i(. vibrations (vy-BRAY-shunz) Bell used an elec tromagnet to turn so und Vibrations are rapid back-and-forth vibrati ons in to elec tri city. move ments. Bell wo uld touch hi s throat when he spoke to feel th e vibrati ons of his financier (fin-an-SIR) voca l cords. A fi nancier is a perso n who wo rks at raisi ng and invest in g large amounts of money. Be ll 's fat her-in -law was a finan cier. 30 INFORMATION web Sites Visit our homepage fo r lots of links about Alexander G raham BeU: http://www.childsworld.com/links.html Note to Parents, Teache1's, find Libmrians: \'l/e rourinely ve riry o ur \'l/eb links to make sure rh ey're s ~fe, ~ c r i v e sires-so enco urage your re ~d e r s to check (h em our! Books MacLeod, Elizabeth. Alexander Graham Bell: An Inventive Life. New York: Kids Can Press, 1999. Sherrow, Victoria. Alexander Graham Bell. Minneapolis: Carol rhoda, 200 l. Shuter, Jane. Alexander Graham Bell. C hicago: H ein emann Library, 2000. Places to Visit or Contact Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site of Canada To find out more about the life and work ofAlexander Graham Bell PO. Box 159 Baddeck, Nova Scoria Canada BOE 1BO 902/295-2069 National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution To see the exhibit Info rmation Age: People, Information & Society 14 th Street and Constitution Ave nue, N.W. Washington, DC 20013-7012 202/357-2700 31 aero nautics, 23, 27 London, England, 8, 13 Alexander G raham Bell London University, 14 Nati onal Histori c Site, 16-17 AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph), 28 Melville H ouse, 17 metal detector, 15 Beinn Bhreagh es tate, 22-23 Bell , Al exa nder (grand fat her), 8, 13 National Geographic Channel, 11 Bell , Alexander Graham Natio nal Geographic magazin e, 11 birth of, 6 National Geographi c Society, 10- 11 childhood of, 7, 8-9 Nova Scotia, Canada, 16, 27 death of, 23, 28 education of, 7- 8, 12, 14 patents, 19-20 marriage of, 25, 27 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 24 as teacher, 12, 14, 15, 18 photophone, 28 Bell , Alexander Melville (fa ther), 6, 7, 13, 15 Bell , Edward (brother), 15 Royal Edinburgh High School, 7 Bell , Eli za Grace (moth er), 6, 7 Bell H omes tead, 17 Sanders, Georgie, 18 Bell, Mabel (wife), 18, 23,25, 28 Sanders, Thomas, 18, 19,25 Bell , Melville (brother), 15 Smithsonian Institution, 27 Bell Telephone Company, 25 , 28 speech, 6, 7, 8-9, 12 Boston, Massachusetts, 15 Boston University, 18 telegraph, 15, 19 Brantford, Ontario, 17 telephone, 19- 2 1, 24, 28 telephone lines, 24 Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, 22 Centennial Exhibition, 24 vacuum jacket, 26-27 Visible Speech system , 13-14, 15 Edinburgh, Scotland, 6 vocal physiology, 18 Volta Laboratory, 26 Garfield , James, 15 Volta Prize, 26 "harm oni c telegraph," 15 Watson, T homas, 19,20-21 Hubbard, Gardiner Greene, 10, 18 , 19,25 Weston House Academy, 12 Hubbard, Mabel. See Bell, Mabel. 32 People pirit of America®is a comprehensive book collection that focuses exclusively Son the American experience-our history, culture, politics, and the diverse people who have built our great nation. ur People, the second installment of the Spirit of America® collection, is O an ongoing biographical series that presents the lives of famous historical figures, the events that shaped their lives, their accomplishments, and their impacts on our nation. Spirit of America®: Our People reveals the true stories about the individuals who contributed so greatly to our country's development. Other Spirit of America® series: Our Cultural Heritage Our Presidents ISBN 1- 56766- 367- 2 t hild'S aOO-599-READ )WorldOWWW.CHILD5WORLD.COM