Inventions & Innovation: Telephone

Instrument that communicates speech sounds over a distance by means of wires or microwaves. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented a prototype, which employed a diaphragm of soft iron that vibrated to sound waves. These vibrations caused disturbances in the magnetic field of a bar magnet, causing an electric current of fluctuating intensity in the thin copper wire wrapped around the magnet. This current could be transmitted along wires to a distant device that reversed the process to reproduce audible sound. Later changes separated the transmitter from the receiver, and replaced the magnet with batteries.

To be sure, both authors hardly neglect technical and economic develop- ments. [...]Hochfelder explains the telegraph's evolution from single-circuit, sender-to-receiver transmissions to self-relaying quadruplex systems able to transmit numerous messages all at once over single wires. True, John says little or nothing about linemen, switchboard operators, or repairmen. [...]his discussion of the devices' use during World War I is limited to the home front rather than expanded to the battlefield. The "bottom line," though, is John's convincing emphasis on political economy in all instances.\n John stresses the persistent role of political thought, of public opinion, and of political debates in the evolution of the two technologies and of the ideo- logical as well as physical systems constructed to operate and expand them.

While there are a number of studies on how the Spanish Civil War affected the national economy and industry, the impact on Telecomunications has not been researched in depth. In the present work we analyse the Telephone Network of Gipuzkoa, which fell to Franco's army in September 1936, with the sole exception of Eibar’s telephone exchange, which remained with the republicans until March 1937. Thanks to preserved documents in a number of archives, we discuss several issues that highlight the strategical significance of the Telephonic Networks in the Spanish Civil War. This work shows, as a partial conclusion applicable to the Telephone Network of Gipuzkoa, the importance of assessing the Telephonic Networks in order to have a full understanding of the Civil War in Spain. Further studies on the Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España would therefore be of much needed.

On this day in 1878, Alexander Graham Bell patented the first telephone.

We've been talking a lot about milestones in communications history lately, including Thomas Edison's invention of the telegraph and the phonograph. At this time of rapid development, Alexander Graham Bell was working on finding a way to transmit speech by wire.

Begin the first of four lectures on telecommunications technology by tracking the landline telephone system, known in the trade as “plain old telephone service.” Follow the pair of copper wires from your landline phone to the multi-pair cables strung from power poles to the all-important local exchange and beyond.

A man with an ear for music thought he could build a “harmonic telegraph.” He thought this would be possible because he had misinterpreted the writings of a researcher writing in German—a language he did not know. This program profiles Alexander Graham Bell and his work on telephony. The big question is: what happens in that wire? Bell and his assistant ultimately proved that different tones would vary the strength of an electric current in a wire. Eventually, the telephone—or better said, its wiring—leads to the Internet and the wireless communication of today. Looking to the future, are we headed toward a “phoneless” call? Part of the series Quirky Science. (25 minutes)