Reluctant genius : Alexander Graham Bell and the passion for invention

Format:

Book (regular print)

Title:

Reluctant genius : Alexander Graham Bell and the passion for invention

Other title(s):

Alexander Graham Bell and the passion for invention

Author:

Gray, Charlotte.

ISBN:

9781559708098

Edition:

1st U.S. ed.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

466 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Contents:

pt. 1. Circuits and connections, 1847-1876 -- ch. 1. The great white plague, 1847-1870 -- ch. 2. The backwoods of Canada, 1870 -- ch. 3. Boston bound, 1871-1874 -- ch. 4. A Brahmin childhood, 1857-1873 -- ch. 5. Good vibrations, 1873-1875 -- ch. 6. The fateful "twang," 1875 -- ch. 7. Nantucket passion, 1875 -- ch. 8. Patent no. 174,465, 1875-1876 -- pt. 2. The struggle for balance 1876-1889 -- ch. 9. Ring for the future, 1876-1877 -- ch. 10. London life, 1877-1878 -- ch. 11. Litigation battles, 1878-1880 -- ch. 12. Sad losses, failed hopes, 1880-1885 -- ch. 13. Atlantic adventures, 1885-1887 -- ch. 14. A shifting balance, 1887-1889 -- ch. 15. Helen Keller and the politics of deafness, 1886-1896.

pt. 3. Monster kites and flying machines, 1889-1923 -- ch. 16. Escape to Cape Breton, 1889-1895 -- ch. 17. Monster kites, 1895-1900 -- ch. 18. Family remains, 1900-1906 -- ch. 19. Bell's boys, 1906-1909 -- ch. 20. The auld chief, 1909-1915 -- ch. 21. The last hurrah, 1915-1923 -- Epilogue : The legacies of Alexander Graham Bell -- Appendix : Patents issued by the U.S. Patent Office to Alexander Graham Bell and his associates -- Sources -- Photo sources -- Acknowledgments -- Index -- Maps -- Bell's Boston -- The Atlantic Coast of North America -- Beinn Bhreagh.

Summary:

Draws on new research to offer insight into the inventor's private life, as well as his passionate drive for new innovations, discussing the influence of his speech therapist father and deaf mother on his work, his tempestuous relationship with his wife, and his avoidance of fame and fortune.

Personal Subject:

Bell, Alexander Graham, 1847-1922.

Bell, Alexander Graham, 1847-1922 (OCoLC)fst00043571

Subject(s):

Inventors -- United States -- Biography.

Geographic Term:

United States.

Genre:

collective biographies.

Biographies.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Woodburn Public Library	921 Bell, Alexander G. 2006	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Salem Main Library	921 Bell, Alexander Graham 2006	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A major new biography of one of the giants of the golden age of invention whose innovations revolutionized the modern world.

Author Notes

Editor, journalist, and broadcaster Charlotte Gray was born in Sheffield, U.K. on January 3, 1948. She earned her M.A. from Oxford University and her honorary doctorate from Mount St. Vincent University in Nova Scotia. She moved to Canada in 1979.

Gray is a contributing editor to Saturday Night Magazine, and a frequent commentator on the CBC and CTV. She is a regular contributor to the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Chatelaine, and Elm Street magazine. Her book Mrs. King: The Life & Times of Isabel Mackenzie King won the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction and Canadian Authors' /Birks Foundation Award for Biography. Another of her books, Sisters in the Wilderness: The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Trail won the Canadian Booksellers Award for Non-fiction.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Booklist Review

Gray recounts both the inventor of the telephone's creation of the device and the projects he pursued once his future was secured. Bell is portrayed as imaginative and neurotic, but his marriage to a steadier sort kept him on even keel, if not exactly scientifically disciplined. She was Mabel Hubbard and is so present in Gray's work as to make it a dual biography. Deaf teenager Mabel met Bell when he taught the hearing-impaired, and Gray's story of their courtship is intertwined with the story of how Mabel's father became involved in Bell's side project of transmitting sound by wire, much in the scientific air in the 1870s. Without the worldly Mr. Hubbard's legal and business management, Bell might not have succeeded; certainly none of his subsequent inventions had the eclat of the telephone. Combining the household history of the Bells with that of Alexander's successive enthusiasms (Helen Keller, kites, airplanes, hydrocraft), Gray fairly portrays the attractions and exasperations of Bell's life. --Gilbert Taylor Copyright 2006 Booklist

Choice Review

Gray, a Canadian writer, has the knack for making famous people come alive in her biographies, and she has succeeded once again with this illuminating portrait of Bell's drive toward invention in the late 1800s and early 1900s. His private life is revealed in his relationships with his parents, his beloved wife, Mabel, coworkers, and financial supporters. The reader learns much about the man behind the genius who invented the telephone while he was trying to improve the telegraph; significantly advanced the development of the hydrofoil and airplane; dabbled in sheep breeding; introduced tetrahedral construction for strong wings, bridges, and roofs; and was the first to send sound over light beams. This biography of this ingenious celebrity is not the first, but it may be the most fascinating to read. Bell's lifetime involvement with teaching the deaf and his adherence to honesty and industry were an advantage in his inventive pursuits but often a detriment to social life. The rich text is enhanced by many black-and-white photographs, drawings, a very useful index, and discussion of the references. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. F. Potter formerly, University of California, Irvine