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The telephone, a distraction and more
By Doris Bingham
We know from grade school days that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, a practical device for communicating with the neighbors and with known and unknown persons around the world. It is considered to be one of the most important inventions of all time. Yet Bell himself found such an instrument a distraction from his many other interests. He refused to have a telephone in his study.
We don't hear much about them, but Bell is credited with other inventions and experimented in many directions. His first invention at the age of 12 was a dehusker for wheat. Another childhood invention was a mechanical talking man though all he could say was "Mama." In later years he is credited with making a metal detector and developing a primitive form of air conditioning. He worked on such items as a hydrofoil boat and experimented with some initial attempts at aircraft.
His grandfather and father were interested in elocution and the transmission of sound. His mother was virtually deaf which led him to a deep interest in enhancing communication for those without hearing as well as developing new and better ways of transmitting sound.
Perhaps it was inevitable that Alexander would turn his inventive mind primarily to the development of a device such as a telephone which would involve the transmission of sound and thus become a significant part of our lives.
Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He moved with his family to London in 1865, and later to Canada before coming to Boston where he lived when he got his patent on the telephone.
The telephone is, of course, what he is most noted for and is the significant contribution that has affected all our lives. More than a century since Bell’s first telephone was patented in 1876 the related communication instrument in the form of a cell phone has become prevalent with residents from ages 8 to 80 on most every city and country sidewalk as well as in today’s homes and offices around the world.
For most of us it's become an essential item to take wherever we go and if we forget to bring the cell phone we feel cut off from the world, almost disoriented, when it means we are forcibly out of communication with others with whom we expect to be instantaneously in contact.
With Bell's attitude toward a phone in his study, it seems likely that Bell would agree with those who consider today’s cell phone a dangerous distraction for drivers of automobiles. The controversy goes on which has led in some states to making illegal the use of the cell phone by drivers. Some of us would like to see that as a nationwide policy. I figure that anyone who calls me can wait for an answer at least until I find a safe place to park.
And we wonder if the versatile scientist Alexander Graham Bell could have foreseen the extent to which the telephone in today’s modified form as the cell phone could be also a political weapon fueling intense controversy on the streets of such countries as Iran, the sounds of which would be picked up around the world.
Contact Doris Bingham at dbingham@hotmail.com.
We don't hear much about them, but Bell is credited with other inventions and experimented in many directions. His first invention at the age of 12 was a dehusker for wheat. Another childhood invention was a mechanical talking man though all he could say was "Mama." In later years he is credited with making a metal detector and developing a primitive form of air conditioning. He worked on such items as a hydrofoil boat and experimented with some initial attempts at aircraft.
His grandfather and father were interested in elocution and the transmission of sound. His mother was virtually deaf which led him to a deep interest in enhancing communication for those without hearing as well as developing new and better ways of transmitting sound.
Perhaps it was inevitable that Alexander would turn his inventive mind primarily to the development of a device such as a telephone which would involve the transmission of sound and thus become a significant part of our lives.
Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He moved with his family to London in 1865, and later to Canada before coming to Boston where he lived when he got his patent on the telephone.
The telephone is, of course, what he is most noted for and is the significant contribution that has affected all our lives. More than a century since Bell’s first telephone was patented in 1876 the related communication instrument in the form of a cell phone has become prevalent with residents from ages 8 to 80 on most every city and country sidewalk as well as in today’s homes and offices around the world.
For most of us it's become an essential item to take wherever we go and if we forget to bring the cell phone we feel cut off from the world, almost disoriented, when it means we are forcibly out of communication with others with whom we expect to be instantaneously in contact.
With Bell's attitude toward a phone in his study, it seems likely that Bell would agree with those who consider today’s cell phone a dangerous distraction for drivers of automobiles. The controversy goes on which has led in some states to making illegal the use of the cell phone by drivers. Some of us would like to see that as a nationwide policy. I figure that anyone who calls me can wait for an answer at least until I find a safe place to park.
And we wonder if the versatile scientist Alexander Graham Bell could have foreseen the extent to which the telephone in today’s modified form as the cell phone could be also a political weapon fueling intense controversy on the streets of such countries as Iran, the sounds of which would be picked up around the world.
Contact Doris Bingham at dbingham@hotmail.com.
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