What if...? How often have we contemplated certain
occurrences in the light of what has or hasn't happened?
In a book by W. Erb about the Leica
company is a short paragraph with a transcript from a newspapaer article that translates as follows:
“On September 1864, the 39th meeting
of the German Naturalists and Physicians took place in Giessen. (Giessen is a
town very close to Wetzlar) Particular
efforts were made to remain competitive during the subsequent exhibition of
microscopes. For the young mechanic
(Ernst Leitz) there was a special task.
Phillip Reis planned to demonstrate his invention, the telephone, since
his first try in Frankfurt on October 16, 1861, had failed. Ernst Leitz successfully completed the
preliminary work with the help of his technical knowledge, so that on September
21, 1864, the final recognition was not denied the inventor.”
Phillip Reis
Reis' Telephone
Ernst Leitz
Photograph by Oskar Barnack
After reading that short paragraph
one has to wonder: What if Ernst Leitz had become interested in
telephones? Could there have been a
Leitel (Leitz Telephone)? Considering
the fact that Ernst Leitz did not start his work at the Wetzlar Optical
Institute until 1865, this seems to be a possibility.
It is also interesting to note that Alexander Graham Bell did not show his invention of the telephone until 1876, twelve years later, yet he is generally credited with the invention of the telephone. The above account very much proves that this is not at all the case.
Alexander Graham Bell
Besides Reis and Bell, many others
claimed to have invented the telephone. The result was the Gray-Bell telephone
controversy, one of the United States' longest running patent interference
cases, involving Bell, Thomas Alva Edison, Elisha Gray, Emil Berliner, Amos
Dolbear, J. W. McDonagh, G. B. Richmond, W. L. Voeker, J. H. Irwin, and Francis
Blake Jr. The case started in 1878 and was not finalized until February 27,
1901. However, regardless of the claims
by Bell and others, nobody demonstrated a working telephone prior to Phillip
Reis.
Why do so many people believe that A. G. Bell invented the telephone?
ReplyDeleteProbably for the same reason that many believe that Henry Ford invented the automobile or that the wright brothers invented the airplane.
ReplyDeleteThe first automobile was invented by Karl Benz. When the issue of flight and the Wright brothers come up, there usually are a lot of qualifications because thy certainly weren't the fist ones to fly. Then the qualification goes to motorized flight, but that isn't correct either, because motorized dirigibles preceded them as well. Then we go back to heavier than air flight, but that too was preceded by several others as well, namely Otto Lilienthal. The Wright brothers were in close contact with him and based several of their early designs on his experience and advice. So it finally comes down to the first motorized, heavier than air flight, but that too is being questioned.
DeleteWhy are we talking about cars and airplanes here?
ReplyDeleteI am sorry, I guess I did get carried away a bit.
Delete