Friday, February 20th, 2009

The Telephone Gambit

Left: excerpt from Elisha Gray sketch Feb 11, 1876. Right: Excerpt from Alexander Graham Bell's March 9, 1876 lab notebook. USPTO / Library of Congress

Are the standard stories about Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone accurate? While many people have heard the accounts of the invention of the telephone, including the famous 'Watson, come here!' moment -- did all that really happen? In this segment, we'll talk with author and journalist Seth Shulman, author of the book 'The Telephone Gambit.'

While doing research into inventors Bell and Edison, Shulman read through Bell's original research notebooks -- and came across clues that Bell's invention may not have come about exactly as told in the stories. We'll find out more about Bell, Elisha Gray, and the patent battle over the phone.