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.exploration.
Alexander Graham Bell explored the science of sound and soon invented
the telephone (Robert Uhlig, �Mr. Watson, come here!� in A History of Great
Inventions, 1st ed.). His interest in the nature of sounds and telecommunication led
to his desire to invent the telephone (Encarta Encyclopedia, 2001 ed., s.v. �Bell,
Alexander Graham). Although most inventors chose to copy the electrical system
and the Morse Code, Alexander Graham Bell chose to use the tuning forks
(Encarta Encyclopedia, 2001 ed., s.v. �History of the Telephone�). He believed that
these forks would reduce the static on a line. "I have scarce dared to breathe [the
idea] to anybody for fear of being thought insane. I was uncertain of the
fundamental principle," explained Bell (Schuman 1999, 23). He had hoped to
transmit different pitches across a single line and used the make-and-break
circuitry system currency used in the Morse Code. However, with Bell's design, the
musical tones would be received and unscrambled so that the messages could
be translated into letters (Webb 1992, 117). The key difference in Bell's machine did
not cause the static noise that the other Multiple Telegraphs made. He called this
the Harmonic Telegraph because of the musical tones it sent (Trevor Day, �The
Telephone� Historical Inventions on File, 3rd ed.).
Since Samuel F. B. Morse's invention, the Morse Telegraph, was not a long-
term success, Bell created the telephone. At first, the telephone only sent sound
over a distance of one city or closer. Bell improved this by establishing long
distance telephony, or the transmission of sound between distant places, which
was established in three steps: (Encarta Encyclopedia, 2001 ed., s.v. �History of the
Telephone�)
1)The first step was the introduction of the long distance telephone,
originally a high efficient instrument installed in a telephone company, used to
communicate between two different cities (Encarta Encyclopedia, 2001 ed., s.v.
�History of the Telephone�).
2)The second step was the invention of the loading coil, which was a coil of
copper wire wound on an iron core and connected to the cable every mile or so,
increasing the speaking range to 1000 miles (Encarta Encyclopedia, 2001 ed., s.v.
�History of the Telephone�).
3)Third, long distance telephony used repeaters, or devices spaced along
the route of the call which amplified and repeated conversations into another
long distance instrument (Encarta Encyclopedia, 2001 ed., s.v. �History of the
Telephone�).
This enabled people to communicate from afar, such as from New York to
San Francisco, California. Although the sound over wires was not the best, it
helped many inventors in the future years improve the telephone by having
knowledge of the process of long distance sound (Elizabeth L. Newhouse,
�Alexander Graham Bell� in �Inventors and Discoveries - Changing Our
World�).
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