element14 Community
element14 Community
    Register Log In
  • Site
  • Search
  • Log In Register
  • Members
    Members
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Achievement Levels
    • Members Area
    • Personal Blogs
    • Feedback and Support
    • What's New on element14
  • Learn
    Learn
    • Learning Center
    • eBooks
    • STEM Academy
    • Webinars, Training and Events
    • Learning Groups
  • Technologies
    Technologies
    • 3D Printing
    • Experts & Guidance
    • FPGA
    • Industrial Automation
    • Internet of Things
    • Power & Energy
    • Sensors
    • Technology Groups
  • Challenges & Projects
    Challenges & Projects
    • Design Challenges
    • element14 presents
    • Project14
    • Arduino Projects
    • Raspberry Pi Projects
    • Project Groups
  • Products
    Products
    • Arduino
    • Dev Tools
    • Manufacturers
    • Raspberry Pi
    • RoadTests & Reviews
    • Avnet Boards Community
    • Product Groups
  • Store
    Store
    • Visit Your Store
    • 'Choose another store...'
      • Europe
      •  Austria (German)
      •  Belgium (Dutch, French)
      •  Bulgaria (Bulgarian)
      •  Czech Republic (Czech)
      •  Denmark (Danish)
      •  Estonia (Estonian)
      •  Finland (Finnish)
      •  France (French)
      •  Germany (German)
      •  Hungary (Hungarian)
      •  Ireland
      •  Israel
      •  Italy (Italian)
      •  Latvia (Latvian)
      •  
      •  Lithuania (Lithuanian)
      •  Netherlands (Dutch)
      •  Norway (Norwegian)
      •  Poland (Polish)
      •  Portugal (Portuguese)
      •  Romania (Romanian)
      •  Russia (Russian)
      •  Slovakia (Slovak)
      •  Slovenia (Slovenian)
      •  Spain (Spanish)
      •  Sweden (Swedish)
      •  Switzerland(German, French)
      •  Turkey (Turkish)
      •  United Kingdom
      • Asia Pacific
      •  Australia
      •  China
      •  Hong Kong
      •  India
      •  Korea (Korean)
      •  Malaysia
      •  New Zealand
      •  Philippines
      •  Singapore
      •  Taiwan
      •  Thailand (Thai)
      • Americas
      •  Brazil (Portuguese)
      •  Canada
      •  Mexico (Spanish)
      •  United States
      Can't find the country/region you're looking for? Visit our export site or find a local distributor.
  • Translate
  • Profile
Personal Blogs
  • Members
  • More
Personal Blogs
Legacy Personal Blogs No, Alexander Graham Bell did not invent the telephone
  • Blog
  • Documents
  • Mentions
  • Sub-Groups
  • Tags
  • More
  • Cancel
  • New
Blog Post Actions
  • Subscribe by email
  • More
  • Cancel
  • Share
  • Subscribe by email
  • More
  • Cancel
Group Actions
  • Group RSS
  • More
  • Cancel
Engagement
  • Author Author: bluescreen
  • Date Created: 28 Jul 2015 4:58 PM Date Created
  • Views 3399 views
  • Likes 4 likes
  • Comments 10 comments
Related
Recommended

No, Alexander Graham Bell did not invent the telephone

bluescreen
bluescreen
28 Jul 2015

image

 

I came across a fascinating bit of historical correction today. Generations of children in the United States (including me) were raised to revere Alexander Graham Bell as the inventor of the telephone. We learned about how his work with the deaf led to interest about the artificial transmission of sound, and how he filed the first patent for the telephone in 1876.

image

But while Bell may have been the first to patent the telephone, he was not the first to have invented it.

 

That honor goes to a little-known Italian immigrant named Antonio Meucci.

 

image

 

After moving from Italy to Staten Island in 1850, Meucci began to experiment with the electromagnetic transmission of sound. In 1856, he succeeded in building a functioning telephone which he described in his notes:

 

It consists of a vibrating diaphragm and an electrified magnet with a spiral wire that wraps around it. The vibrating diaphragm alters the current of the magnet. These alterations of current, transmitted to the other end of the wire, create analogous vibrations of the receiving diaphragm and reproduce the word. (translated)

 

Meucci developed over 30 different types of telephones, but began running into financial problems. Unable to secure funding for his invention, it was not until 1871 that he finally applied for protection of his idea. In one of history's most bitter lessons, his caveat omitted any mention that the variable electrical conduction in the transmission wires was to be converted to sound-- the key point of the telephone. Meucci's poor command of English may have been the prime factor in his inability to secure a patent with his poorly-written caveat. To make matters worse, the Western Union affiliate laboratory he had been working with lost the functioning models of his invention. Five years later, Alexander Graham Bell successfully filed his patent for the telephone, and has been credited with its invention ever since.

 

Meucci tried to challenge Bell's claim, but failed in court. He died nearly penniless and unknown to history until 2002, when the US Congress officially recognized him as the true inventor of the telephone.

 

The history of engineering is rife with disputes about where credit truly lies-- from William Shockley and the discovery of the transistor, to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and Xerox PARC. And, of course, the advent of patent trolls has caused the entire system of intellectual property to break down because worthless claims are being accorded patent protection.

 

What do you think? How can engineers ensure that they receive credit for their inventions?

  • Sign in to reply

Top Comments

  • johnbeetem
    johnbeetem over 8 years ago in reply to D_Hersey +4
    Don Hersey wrote: Trigonometry, in whole cloth, was a result of a project of the Portuguese state, done by an appointed committee. Spherical was invented first, then plane. This is the sequence in…
  • johnbeetem
    johnbeetem over 8 years ago +3
    "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." -- Isaac Newton From what I've seen, there are very few truly original inventions. Most are based on a continuum of prior work, adapting…
  • jw0752
    jw0752 over 8 years ago +2
    I have found that for my own sanity and health it is best to be willing to let go. Though not in the electronics area, there are currently 3 products on the market that were designed by my wife and me…
  • bluescreen
    bluescreen over 8 years ago

    Another one of my favorite examples.

     

    You don't have permission to edit metadata of this video.
    Edit media
    x
    image
    Upload Preview
    image

     

    You don't have permission to edit metadata of this video.
    Edit media
    x
    image
    Upload Preview
    image

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • johnbeetem
    johnbeetem over 8 years ago in reply to D_Hersey

    Don Hersey wrote:

     

    Trigonometry, in whole cloth, was a result of a project of the Portuguese state, done by an appointed committee.  Spherical was invented first, then plane.  This is the sequence in which it should be taught, IMHO...  The Portuguese wanted trig for cartography and navigation.  They vastly improved both.

    Is that why they put sine waves over the letters ã and õ?  image

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +4 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • D_Hersey
    D_Hersey over 8 years ago

    You poor fellow, I just love this topic!  Let me give another example in the history of invention:  Trigonometry.

     

    Trigonometry, in whole cloth, was a result of a project of the Portuguese state, done by an apointed committee.  Spherical was invented first, then plane.  This is the sequence in which it should be taught, IMHO. 

     

    So if some neo-con blathers at you 'No government program ever generated anything novel!" and you don't feel like saying 'Penicillin,' or 'Sauk vaccine,' you can say 'trigonometry.'

     

    The Portuguese wanted trig for cartography and navigation.  They vastly improved both.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • D_Hersey
    D_Hersey over 8 years ago

    Another guy is Kepler, a man who's work I completely admire.  He did fundamental investigating into polyhedra and tessellations, among other things.  The extensible soccer ball that Buckminster Fuller popularized is often attributed to him, but what, then, is that under the lion's paw at the Palace of Heavenly Peace?

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +1 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • D_Hersey
    D_Hersey over 8 years ago

    Sometimes a guy has discovered so much that so much is named after him that we just need other hooks.  I am thinking of Leonhard Euler, in particular.  FT would be more fairly attributed to him according to the scholars I have encountered, for example.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +1 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
>
element14 Community

element14 is the first online community specifically for engineers. Connect with your peers and get expert answers to your questions.

  • Members
  • Learn
  • Technologies
  • Challenges & Projects
  • Products
  • Store
  • About Us
  • Feedback & Support
  • FAQs
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal and Copyright Notices
  • Sitemap
  • Cookies

An Avnet Company © 2023 Premier Farnell Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Premier Farnell Ltd, registered in England and Wales (no 00876412), registered office: Farnell House, Forge Lane, Leeds LS12 2NE.

ICP 备案号 10220084.

Follow element14

  • X
  • Facebook
  • linkedin
  • YouTube