Alexander Graham Bell
Inventor of the telephone and pioneer in sound, speech, and heredity.
Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Alexander Melville Bell, a phonetician, and Eliza Grace Bell. He was originally named simply Alexander Bell, but at age ten he asked his father for a middle name like his brothers; on his eleventh birthday, his father allowed him to adopt “Graham” in honor of a Canadian family friend. Bell had two brothers, both of whom died of tuberculosis. His mother began losing her hearing when he was twelve, and this profoundly shaped his life’s work. He learned a manual finger language to converse with her and developed a technique of speaking directly into her forehead so she could hear him. Bell also showed early mechanical ingenuity: at age twelve, he built a dehusking machine using rotating paddles and nail brushes, which was used for years at a neighbor’s flour mill. He studied acoustics due to his mother’s deafness and became skilled in his father’s system of Visible Speech, able to recite written texts in languages he did not know. Bell attended the Royal High School in Edinburgh but left at fifteen with an undistinguished record, his main interest being science. He then spent a year in London with his grandfather, who instilled in him a love of learning and clear speech. At sixteen, Bell became a pupil-teacher of elocution and music at Weston House Academy in Elgin, and later attended the University of Edinburgh. His family’s long tradition in elocution—his father, grandfather, and uncle were all elocutionists—further directed his research toward hearing and speech, eventually leading to his patent for the first practical telephone in 1876. Bell considered this invention an intrusion on his scientific work and refused to have a telephone in his study. He later co-founded AT&T in 1885 and pursued inventions in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils, and aeronautics. He served as second president of the National Geographic Society from 1898 to 1903, writing under the pseudonym H. A. Largelamb, and also conducted notable research on human heredity.
- born
- March 3, 1847, Edinburgh, Scotland
- died
- August 2, 1922
- field
- Inventor, scientist, engineer
- nationality
- Scottish-born Canadian-American
- known_for
- Patenting the first practical telephone; co-founding AT&T
Lore & Background
Bell's father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech, and both his mother and wife were deaf, profoundly influencing Bell's life's work. His research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices, which eventually culminated in his being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone, on March 7, 1876. Bell considered his invention an intrusion on his real work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his study. Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including ground-breaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils, and aeronautics. Bell also had a strong influence on the National Geographic Society and its magazine while serving as its second president from 1898 to 1903. For National Geographic, Bell wrote under the pseudonym H. A. Largelamb, an anagram of his name. Beyond his work in engineering, Bell had a deep interest in the emerging science of heredity. His work in this area has been called 'the soundest, and most useful study of human heredity proposed in nineteenth-century America ... Bell's most notable contribution to basic science, as distinct from invention.'
Reader's Guide
Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847, to Alexander Melville Bell, a phonetician, and Eliza Grace Bell (née Symonds). He was born as just 'Alexander Bell'. At age 10, he made a plea to his father to have a middle name like his two brothers. For his 11th birthday, his father acquiesced and allowed him to adopt the name 'Graham', chosen out of respect for Alexander Graham, a Canadian being treated by his father who was also a family friend. Bell's mother began to lose her hearing when he was 12. Bell built his first invention, a dehusking machine, at age 12. He attended the Royal High School in Edinburgh but left at age 15. He later studied at the University of Edinburgh and was accepted for admission to University College London, though he did not complete his studies, as his family emigrated to Canada in 1870.
Did You Know?
- Bell built a homemade dehusking machine at age 12 that was used for years at a neighbor's flour mill.
- Bell mastered the piano with no formal training and became the family's pianist.
- Bell learned a manual finger language to communicate with his mother, who began losing her hearing when he was 12.
- Bell and his brother built a speaking automaton head that could say 'Mama'.
- Bell taught his family's Skye Terrier to growl and manipulated its mouth to produce sounds that seemed like speech.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"Mr. Watson — Come here — I want to see you." — Alexander Graham Bell "The final result of our researches has widened the class of substances sensitive to light vibrations, until we can propound the fact of such sensitiveness being a general property of all matter." — Alexander Graham Bell "There cannot be mental atrophy in any person who continues to observe, to remember what he observes, and to seek answers for his unceasing hows and whys about things." — Alexander Graham Bell "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success." — Alexander Graham Bell
More in Notable Figures
Elsewhere in the Historical Figures universe
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record