The Telephone and Its Several Inventors: A History

On March 7, 1876, the U.S. Patent Office issued to a young inventor named Alexander Graham Bell what is arguably the most valuable patent ever: entitled "improvements in telegraphy," in truth it secured for Bell the basic principles involved in a telephone. On the same day that Bell filed his patent application, a caveat (a preliminary patent document) was filed by Elisha Gray. This coincidence sparked the first of many debates over whether Bell was the true inventor of the telephone. In the early 1860s Johann Phillipp Reis developed a version of the instrument, but his claims against Bell were hampered by the bungling of his lawyers in demonstrating his instrument in court. This work is a first look at the many men who developed the telephone and an examination of their claims against Bell's patent. A lay description of the phone is also provided, as well as a history of the development of the telephone system.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Acknowledgments      Telephone Chronology      viii Introduction      1. The Patent      2. The Poor Schoolmaster      3. Yellow Breeches Creek      4. Under Pressure      5. Inventors Galore!      6. A Great Undertaking      7. Long Distance      8. A Man from Oberlin      9. Western Union      10. The Military Telephone      11. Down on the Farm      12. Collecting Telephones      13. Hackers and Phreaks      14. Over the Waves      15. The Singing Wires      16. How They Worked      17. The New Kids on the Block      18. Conclusion      Appendices      1. Cities with Independent Telephone Companies      2. Cities That Once Had Independent Telephone Companies      3. Associations and Publications Related to Telephony      4. Insulator Manufacturers in the United States      5. Telephone Manufacturers      6. Some Communications Museums in the United States      7. Affidavits of Zenas Fisk Wilber      8. Affidavits of Alexander Graham Bell in Reply to That of Zenas Fisk Wilber      9. The Untold Story of the Telephone      10. Alexander Graham Bell’s Original Patent Application, 1876      11. Alexander Graham Bell’s Patent Application, 1877      Glossary      Bibliography      Index     

About the Author :
Lewis Coe of Crown Point, Indiana, is also the author of Wireless Radio (1996) and The Telegraph (1993).

Review :
“history buffs will find the book of interest. All levels”—Choice; “a labor of love...exceptionally well-researched, and contains a fine balance of technical and often startling historical information that grips the reader’s interest well past bedtime”—Inventor’s Digest; “excellent”—Dots and Dashes.