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Alexander Graham Bell

Canadian-American scientist inventor of telephone (1847-1922) · United States · Scientists · Died at 75

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He patented the telephone in 1876 and considered it an intrusion on his real work. Bell refused to keep one in his study, viewing the device that would reshape human connection as a distraction from what he actually cared about: the science of speech, hearing, and heredity.

ScientistsScientistPhysicsEntrepreneurshipScienceUnited StatesAmericas19th Century

A life in dates

1922Died2 August 19221914Edison MedalAward1913Hughes MedalAward1912Elliott Cresson MedalAward1907John Fritz MedalAward1902Albert MedalAward1901“I begin my work at about nine or ten o'clock in the evening and continue until four or five in the morning. Night is a more quiet time to work. It aids thought.”In their wordsInterview with Bell published in How They Succeeded (1901) by Orison Swett Marden, Ch. 2.

“Perseverance must have some practical end, or it does not avail the man possessing it. A person without a practical end in view becomes a crank or an idiot.”In their wordsInterview with Bell published in How They Succeeded (1901) by Orison Swett Marden, Ch. 2.

“I am a believer in unconscious cerebration. The brain is working all the time, though we do not know it. At night it follows up what we think in the daytime.”In their wordsInterview with Bell published in How They Succeeded (1901) by Orison Swett Marden, Ch. 2.

“You cannot force ideas. Successful ideas are the result of slow growth. Ideas do not reach perfection in a day, no matter how much study is put upon them.”In their wordsInterview with Bell published in How They Succeeded (1901) by Orison Swett Marden, Ch. 2.

1879Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAward1876“Mr. Watson - Come here - I want to see you.”In their words10 March 1876First intelligible words spoken over the telephone (10 March 1876), as recorded in Bell's Journal entry (10 March 1876). These are often

1847Born3 March 1847

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Alexander Graham BellAlexander Graham BellAlexander Graham Bell Museum Plaque, Baddeck, Nova Scotia bellmus2806Alexander Graham Bell Museum Plaque, Baddeck, Nova Scotia bellmus28061897 Poor's Northwestern Telephone Exchange Company1897 Poor's Northwestern Telephone Exchange Company710 Main Street, Cambridge, MA - Davenport Car Manufactory plaque710 Main Street, Cambridge, MA - Davenport Car Manufactory plaqueA Bell drawing showing a liquid transmitter from March 8, 1876A Bell drawing showing a liquid transmitter from March 8, 1876Aerial Experiment Association. Casey (second from right), Bell (centre), McCurdy, Curtis, and SelfridgeAerial Experiment Association. Casey (second from right), Bell (centre), McCurdy, Curtis, and SelfridgeAG Bell 1AG Bell 1Aileen Bell, full-length portrait, facing left, playing a piano LCCN95519197Aileen Bell, full-length portrait, facing left, playing a piano LCCN95519197

In their own words 10

,
Alexander Graham Bell
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. I begin my work at about nine or ten o'clock in the evening and continue until four or five in the morning. Night is a more quiet time to work. It aids thought.

    1901, Interview with Bell published in How They Succeeded (1901) by Orison Swett Marden, Ch. 2., Own words

  2. Perseverance must have some practical end, or it does not avail the man possessing it. A person without a practical end in view becomes a crank or an idiot.

    1901, Interview with Bell published in How They Succeeded (1901) by Orison Swett Marden, Ch. 2., Own words

  3. I am a believer in unconscious cerebration. The brain is working all the time, though we do not know it. At night it follows up what we think in the daytime.

    1901, Interview with Bell published in How They Succeeded (1901) by Orison Swett Marden, Ch. 2., Own words

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Awards

Canada's Walk of Fame2001
Person of National Historic Significance1977
National Inventors Hall of Fame1974
National Aviation Hall of Fame1965
Edison Medal1914
Hughes Medal1913
Elliott Cresson Medal1912
John Fritz Medal1907
Albert Medal1902
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science1879

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Alexander Graham Bell

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About this person

Born in Scotland in 1847, Bell grew up in a family steeped in elocution - his father, grandfather, and brother all worked on speech, while his mother and wife were both deaf. That confluence pushed him toward experiments with hearing devices, which led to the U.S. patent for the telephone on March 7, 1876. He co-founded AT&T in 1885, but spent his later decades chasing other obsessions: optical telecommunications, hydrofoils, aeronautics. From 1898 to 1903 he served as the second president of the National Geographic Society, writing for the magazine under the anagram H. A. Largelamb. His studies in heredity, less famous than the telephone, were called the soundest contribution to that science in nineteenth-century America. He died in 1922, decades past the invention that made his name.

Country
United States
Category
Scientists
Type
Scientist
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1847 to 1922 · aged 75

Scientists from the United States 6

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