ASSIGNMENT #2

Invention of the telephone

The modern telephone is the culmination of work done by many individuals and the history of the invention of the telephone is a very confusing collection of claims and counterclaims, made no less confusing by the many lawsuits which attempted to resolve the patent claims of several individuals. This article covers the early years 1844-1898, from conception of the idea of an electric voice-transmission device, failed attempts to use "make-and-break" current, successful experiments with electromagnetic devices by Alexander Bell and Thomas Watson, to commercially successful telephones in the late 19th century. This is a summary of the attempts, success and failures of individual inventors during that half century.

The story begins with a non-electrical string telephone or "lover's telephone" that has been known for centuries, comprising two diaphragmsconnected by a taut string or wire. Sound waves are carried as mechanical vibrations along the string or wire from one diaphragm to the other. The classic example is the tin can telephone, a children's toy made by connecting the two ends of a string to the bottoms of two metal cans, paper cups or similar items. The essential idea of this toy was that a diaphragm can collect voice sounds from the air, as in the ear, and can also transmit voice sounds through a string or wire for reproduction at a distance.