DATABASE NOTES: This is a database of display text for hotspots and areas. The delineation characters are as follows: £ - beginnning of database; ¶ - end of index, beginning of label; º - end of label, beginning of description; • - end of description, beginning of instructions; ^ - end of instructions, beginning of next data record. For the purpose of locating specific lines, no blank lines are to exist in the database.
£
1,#PHONAUTOGRAPH,#FRAME,EXP:PhonoAuto
(Explorable Object: Phonautograph)
┬╢
Label:
EAR PHONAUTOGRAPH
(CIRCA 1874)
┬║
Description:
The phonautograph was used to make sound waves "visible." Bell's phonautograph had a mouthpiece attached to an actual human ear. A thin stylus was attached to a tiny bone in the ear. When words were spoken into the mouthpiece, the ear bones vibrated, causing the stylus to move back and forth on a piece of moving smoked glass. The movement of the stylus recorded the pattern of the sound wave.
Bell's ear phonautograph was more accurate than earlier phonautographs created by Leon Scott and Charles Morey.
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To examine the phonautograph:
1. Click and hold down the mouse button to turn the phonautograph in different directions. Let go to stop turning.
2. Click on the mouthpiece to see how the phonautograph operates.
3. The magnifying glass cursor will show you places where you can zoom in. The reveal cursor will show you places where you can look inside the phonautograph.
Related Investigations:
Sound Mixer
Pitch & Frequency
^
2,#PHONAUTOGRAPH,#PICT,BNTLGEO1.PIC
(National Geographic Magazine cover)
┬╢
Label:
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
(DECEMBER, 1906)
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Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Bell's father-in-law, Gardiner Hubbard was one of the founders of the National Geographic Society in Washington, in 1888. In 1897, when Hubbard died, Bell became president of the Society. As president, Bell helped set the direction for the Society's magazine National Geographic Magazine. Some of his recommendations included having "a multitude of good illustrations and maps," as well as "dynamical pictures - pictures of life and action - pictures that tell a story." The magazine became famous for it's fascinating illustrations and photographs.
^
3,#PHONAUTOGRAPH,#PICT,BNTLGEO1.PIC
(National Geographic Magazine cover)
┬╢
Label:
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
(DECEMBER, 1906)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Bell's father-in-law, Gardiner Hubbard was one of the founders of the National Geographic Society in Washington, in 1888. In 1897, when Hubbard died, Bell became president of the Society. As president, Bell helped set the direction for the Society's magazine National Geographic Magazine. Some of his recommendations included having "a multitude of good illustrations and maps," as well as "dynamical pictures - pictures of life and action - pictures that tell a story." The magazine became famous for it's fascinating illustrations and photographs.
^
4,#PHONAUTOGRAPH,#PICT,BWAXCYL.PIC
(Wax Cylinder Phonograph)
┬╢
Label:
WAX CYLINDER PHONOGRAPH (1886)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
In the mid-1880s Bell started looking into ways to improve Thomas Edison's tin-foil phonograph. This wax cylinder phonograph was created with the help of Bell's cousin Chichester Bell and scientist Charles Sumner Tainter. The wax-coated cylinders were more durable than Edison's tin foil, recorded clearer sounds, and allowed for longer recordings. The phonograph also had a sapphire stylus for better sound reproduction.
Although Bell is best remembered for his work on the telephone, most of his 30 patents were for other inventions. This file cabinet contains a few of the patents for devices Bell invented.
^
7,#DESK,#PICT,BPHOTO4.PIC
(Bell, Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan Photo)
┬╢
Label:
ALEXANDER BELL, HELEN KELLER, AND ANNE SULLIVAN (1894)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Bell first met Helen Keller in 1887, when Helen was six years old. Bell suggested that Helen's father contact the Perkins Institute for the Blind about educating the deaf-blind girl. This initiated the connection between Helen and Anne Sullivan, her teacher. Helen Keller later dedicated her autobiography, The Story of My Life, to Bell. This photo was taken when Helen (on the left) was 13.
^
8,#DESK,#PICT,BPHOTO9.PIC
(Bell with Grandson Photo)
┬╢
Label:
BELL WITH HIS GRANDSON MELVILLE (CIRCA 1920)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
This photo shows Bell with Melville Bell Grosvenor, his grandson, in the doorway of Bell's laboratory on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.
^
9,#DESK,#PICT,BTELE.PIC,B1919PH.AIF
(1919 Telephone)
┬╢
Label:
TELEPHONE (1919)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Candlestick-shaped phones such as this one became popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Some had the first numbered dials for automatic dialing. Before that time, a person making a call simply lifted the earpiece and waited for an operator to come on line. The operator then took the number and completed the call.
Bell's variable-resistance telephone used a dish of liquid in the transmitter. This page from one of Bell's laboratory notebooks lists some of the liquids Bell tested in the transmitter.
^
11,#DESK,#FRAME,SCRAPBOOK
(Scrapbook)
┬╢
Label:
BELL'S SCRAPBOOK
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1870, Bell moved to the United States to teach at a school for the deaf in Boston, Massachusetts. Although the telephone is Bell's best-known invention, he created many other useful devices, such as the induction balance, a precursor to the iron lung, the first facsimile machine, land-mine detectors, disc phonographs, and improvements for airplanes and hydrofoils. Bell died at his home in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, on August 2, 1922.
This scrapbook contains photographs and illustrations of some of the important people, places, and events in Bell's life.
^
12,#DESK,#Pict,BLTRL3.PIC
(contextual paper 2)
┬╢
Label:
Bell's Telephone Experiment Notes (March 9, 1876)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Beginning on March 8, 1876, Bell began a series of experiments that resulted in the first working telephone. On March 9, Bell set the device shown in this sketch. That afternoon, Bell sang into the hole at the top of the box. The variation in pitch came through the receiver. Then Watson spoke into the mouthpiece. Bell noted that, "When Mr. Watson talked into the box, an indistinct mumbling was heard at S (the receiver). I could hear a confused muttering sound like speech but could not make out the sense." The next day, Bell created the first working telephone.
^
13,#DESK,#AREA,DESK,9,BDSKAMB.AIF
(Desk Area)
┬╢
Label:
BELL'S DESK
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
14,#DESK,#AREA,DESK,9,BDSKAMB.AIF
(Desk Area)
┬╢
Label:
BELL'S DESK
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
15,#QTVR,#FRAME,BTETKITE
(Kite animation out window)
┬╢
Label:
TETRAHEDRAL KITE (1908)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Around the turn of the century, Bell started experimenting with flying machines. At first, Bell hoped to design a kite that could carry a person through the air. He created numerous kites built out of triangular pieces, known as tetrahedrals. The tetrahedral kites were strong, light, and stable. However, the kites created too much drag to use as flying machines. This ring-shaped kite was one of the many kite shapes Bell tested. Unfortunately, this kite shape had a tendency to crash.
^
16,#AERODYNAMICS,#TEXT
(propeller)
┬╢
Label:
HYDROFOIL PROPELLER (CIRCA 1912)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Bell used a propeller like this one on his early hydrofoil boats, including the HD-1 and HD-2.
The early hydrofoils looked a lot like stubby seaplanes. In fact, Bell began working on hydrofoils in the hopes of creating a way to help airplanes take off from the water. Eventually he designed the HD-4, which held the world's speed record for hydrofoils for 10 years.
^
17,#AERODYNAMICS,#FRAME,AERILON
(Explorable Object: aileron)
┬╢
Label:
AIRPLANE AILERON
(CIRCA 1908)
┬║
Description:
Bell helped create several aircraft, including this airplane. He also devised several improvements for airplanes. One of these was the airplane aileron, or wing flap. Ailerons are used to help control airplane turns.
Bell's interest in flight began when he was young. Even before the Wright brothers flew the first airplane in 1903, Bell believed that flying machines were possible. In 1907, Bell formed a group called the Aerial Experiment Association whose purpose was to come up with new and improved airplanes.
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To examine the airplane:
1. Click and hold down the mouse button to turn the airplane in different directions. Let go to stop turning.
2. Click on the pilot to see how the plane and ailerons operate.
3. The magnifying glass cursor will show you places where you can zoom in.
Related Investigation:
Aerodynamics
^
18,#AERODYNAMICS,#PICT,BHYDROFL.PIC
(Hydrofoil)
┬╢
Label:
THE HD-4 HYDROFOIL (1918)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
One of Bell's interests was in hydrofoils-a type of boat that is raised out of the water by ladder-like stilts or blades called foils. Because the hull of the boat is out of the water, hydrofoils can move more quickly than regular boats.
A basic hydrofoil had already been created in 1906 by Enrico Forlanini, an Italian airship designer. Bell started working on his own designs in 1911. Bell's last hydrofoil, the HD-4, was built in 1918. On September 9, 1919, the HD-4 set a world's marine speed record of 70.86 miles per hour. This record was unbroken for the next 10 years.
^
19,#AERODYNAMICS,#PICT,BLAMB.PIC
(Lamb Fetus in Jar)
┬╢
Label:
LAMB FETUS
(CIRCA EARLY 1890s)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
When Bell bought his home "Beinn Bhreagh" in Nova Scotia, he also acquired a flock of sheep. In 1889 Bell noticed that almost half the lambs in his flock were twins, even though lambs normally are single births. Bell began a series of breeding experiments to see if he could increase lamb production by increasing the number of twin births. During the experiments, Bell also devised instruments for testing wool strength, processes for extracting oil from wool, devices for controlled feeding, and freeze-proof watering troughs.
Bell's photophone could transmit a human voice on a beam of light-it was the first system for "wireless" communication. The photophone transmitter was made of a thin glass disk that was mirrored on one side. A series of mirrors and lenses focused sunlight on the disk. When a person talked, the disk vibrated, changing the intensity of the sunlight bouncing off the disk to the receiver.
The photophone had a range of a few hundred feet and was never put into practical use. However Bell's idea of communicating using light became possible with the creation of modern lasers and fiber optics.
^
22,#PHOTOPHONE,#PICT,BPTPHNRC.PIC
(Photophone Receiver)
┬╢
Label:
PHOTOPHONE RECEIVER (1880)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
The photophone was the first wireless method for transmitting speech. It consisted of two parts: a transmitter and a receiver.
The photophone receiver used an unusual chemical element called selenium, which responds electrically to a beam of light. When light from the photophone transmitter reached the selenium, the selenium changed the amount of current in the circuit. This allowed voices to be transmitted to a set of telephone earpieces.
^
23,#PHOTOPHONE,#AREA,PHOTOPHONE,2,BPHTAMB.AIF
(Photophone Area)
┬╢
Label:
PHOTOPHONE APPARATUS
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
24,#TELEGRAPH,#TEXT -- NO ART
(Ear Model)
┬╢
Label:
MODEL OF HUMAN EAR (CIRCA MID-1800s)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Bell's work with the deaf sparked his interest in sound and hearing. Because of his work in this field, Bell's name is now used in the term that describes the relative loudness of a sound-the decibel.
^
25,#TELEGRAPH,#PICT,BTETCAND.PIC
(Tetrahedral Candlestick)
┬╢
Label:
TETRAHEDRAL CANDLESTICK
(CIRCA 1902)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Bell wanted to make kites that could carry a human in the air. While searching for a kite frame that was strong and light, Bell began combining triangle shapes. He discovered that a tetrahedral structure made with four triangles-three on the sides and one on the base-was extremely strong and durable.
Because of his fascination with tetrahedrals, Bell created many objects that used the shape, including this candlestick. Bell believed that the tetrahedral would be important not only for his kites but also in architecture. In fact, tetrahedral structures were later made famous by architect Buckminster Fuller.
^
26,#TELEGRAPH,#AREA,TELEGRAPH,3,BPHTAMB.AIF
(Harmonic Telegraph Area)
┬╢
Label:
TELEGRAPH TABLE
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions
^
27,#TELEGRAPH,#FRAME,ACT:TELEGRAPH
(Activity: Harmonic Telegraph Experiment)
┬╢
Label:
HARMONIC TELEGRAPH (1874)
┬║
Description:
Before he invented the telephone, Bell searched for ways to send several simultaneous telegraph messages along a single wire. This device was the first telegraph that could send multiple sounds through a telegraph wire.
The telegraph consists of several transmitters and receivers. The steel reeds on the transmitters and receivers are tuned to different pitches. When a transmitter reed vibrates, it sends a changing current through the wire to the receivers. Only the receiver reed that is tuned to the same pitch as the transmitter reed will vibrate when the current reaches the receivers.
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To use the telegraph:
1. Zoom in on a receiver, then click on the black marks on the end of the reed to tune each receiver. Changing the position of the reed will change the pitch. When the receiver is in tune with a transmitter reed, it will vibrate.
2. To change the number of tones sent at one time, click on the switches next to the transmitters to open (left) or close (right) that circuit.
3. Click on the mallet to test the telegraph.
Related Investigations:
Pitch & Frequency
Sound Mixer
^
28,#STOVE,#FRAME,INSIT
(Bell in Rocking Chair)
┬╢
Label:
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
29,#STOVE,#PICT,BPHOTO12.PIC
(Mabel Bell Photo)
┬╢
Label:
MABEL HUBBARD BELL (1885)
┬║
Description
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Alexander Bell met his future wife, Mabel Hubbard, when she became his pupil in 1872. She was 16 at the time. (Mabel had become completely deaf at the age of five after she was ill with scarlet fever.) Mabel and Bell were married on July 11, 1877.
^
30,#STOVE,#AREA,STOVE,2,BSTVAMB.AIF
(Stove Area)
┬╢
Label:
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
31,#TELEPHONE,#PICT,BPHOTO13.PIC
(Owl Painting)
┬╢
Label:
MABEL HUBBARD BELL'S PAINTING OF A NIGHT OWL (CIRCA 1875)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
This picture of a owl was painted by Bell's wife, Mabel, during their engagement. The painting symbolized Bell's "night owl" habits-he often worked until 4 in the morning and then slept until 11.
^
32,#TELEPHONE,#PICT,BTELE2.PIC,BWALLPH.AIF
(Wall Telephone)
┬╢
Label:
WALL TELEPHONE
(CIRCA 1885)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
By the 1880s Bell's telephone had evolved from a novelty to a widely used method of communication. Bell, with inventors such as Thomas Edison, continued to improve the telephone.
This wall telephone included a combined transmitter and receiver, so a person could both talk and listen using the same device. The user had to turn the handle while listening. The phone also used Thomas Edison's improved transmitter, which used carbon rather than a liquid.
Bell's telephone was the first device that could send and receive voices on a wire. The telephone worked when sound waves in the transmitter mouthpiece vibrated a needle. The needle and a liquid converted the vibrations into a varying electric current. The receiver turned this current back into sound.
Bell conducted many experiments to produce a telephone that transmitted voices clearly. This experiment was used to test how changing the mouthpiece shape, the needle position, and the liquid affected the transmission of sounds.
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To test a telephone:
1. Click on the mouthpiece you wish to test.
2. Click on the bottle of liquid you wish to test.
3. Click on the base of the telephone transmitter. Then click on one of the black marks on the needle guide to adjust the needle position. When the needle is in the position you want to use, click on the dish.
4. To start the test, click just above the top of the mouthpiece, where you see the "mouth" cursor.
Bell's telephone was the first device that could send and receive voices on a wire. The telephone worked when sound waves in the transmitter mouthpiece vibrated a needle. The needle and a liquid converted the vibrations into a varying electric current. The receiver turned this current back into sound.
Bell conducted many experiments to produce a telephone that transmitted voices clearly. This experiment was used to test how changing the mouthpiece shape, the needle position, and the liquid affected the transmission of sounds.
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To test a telephone:
1. Click on the mouthpiece you wish to test.
2. Click on the bottle of liquid you wish to test.
3. Click on the base of the telephone transmitter. Then click on one of the black marks on the needle guide to adjust the needle position. When the needle is in the position you want to use, click on the dish.
4. To start the test, click just above the top of the mouthpiece, where you see the "mouth" cursor.
Related Investigations:
Resistance
Circuits
^
37,#INDUCTION,#FRAME,AUDIOMETER
(Audio Meter movie & Background still)
┬╢
Label:
AUDIOMETER (1879)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Bell's audiometer was used to measure hearing ability in people who were partially deaf. The device consisted of two flat coils. An electric current was sent through one coil; the other coil was placed in a circuit with a telephone receiver. When the two coils were brought near each other, a sound was produced in the receiver. The closer the coils, the louder the sound. The distance between the two coils was precisely measured so it was easy to determine exactly how loud a sound a person could hear.
^
38,#INDUCTION,#PICT,BPHOTO2.PIC,BPAPER.AIF
(Diagram -Human Ear)
┬╢
Label:
DIAGRAM OF HUMAN EAR
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Bell was fascinated by the science behind speech and hearing. He avidly studied the anatomy of the ear to better understand how sounds are heard. He also dissected and experimented with human ears from cadavers obtained from a local medical school.
^
39,#INDUCTION,#PICT,BPHOTO3.PIC,BPAPER.AIF
(Visual Speech Diagram)
┬╢
Label:
VISIBLE SPEECH ALPHABET DIAGRAM (1864)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Bell's father - Alexander Melville Bell - created the Visible Speech alphabet. It is a code of written symbols that indicates the position and action of the lips, mouth, and throat used to produce various sounds. The alphabet was one of the most successful systems for teaching the deaf how to speak.
^
40,#INDUCTION,#PICT,BTETCAN2.PIC
(Tetrahedral Candlestick)
┬╢
Label:
TETRAHEDRAL CANDLESTICK
(CIRCA 1902)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Bell wanted to make kites that could carry a human in the air. While searching for a kite frame that was strong and light, Bell began combining triangle shapes. He discovered that a tetrahedral structure made with four triangles-three on the sides and one on the base-was extremely strong and durable.
Because of his fascination with tetrahedrals, Bell created many objects that used the shape, including this candlestick. Bell believed that the tetrahedral would be important not only for his kites but also in architecture. In fact, tetrahedral structures were later made famous by architecture Buckminster Fuller.
^
41,#INDUCTION,#FRAME,ACT:INDUCTION
┬╢
Label:
INDUCTION BALANCE (1881)
┬║
Description:
Bell invented this induction balance to try to locate an assassin's bullet in the body of President James Garfield. However, the bullet was too deep for Bell's device to detect, and the President died on September 19, 1881.
The induction balance was one of the first metal detectors. Two telephone circuits near each other can produce a noise, called an induced tone. Bell's device contained two wire circuits positioned so the tone could not be heard unless the paddle passed over a metal object. Bell later created another device that was used successfully for decades to locate bullets.
ΓÇó
Instructions:
To use the induction balance:
1. Use the mouse to move the paddle over different objects. When the paddle passes over a metal object, you will hear a tone.
2. When you are done, click on the table to put down the paddle.
Related Investigation:
Induced Current
^
42,#INDUCTION,#PICT,BPIPE.PIC
(Pipe and Pipe Rack)
┬╢
Label:
BELL'S PIPE RACK
(CIRCA MID-1890s)
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
Bell started smoking a pipe in the 1890s. (Before then he smoked cigars). Every morning after his usual breakfast - coffee, two eggs, and Scotch oatmeal with cream and brown sugar - Bell would spend an hour or so reading the morning newspaper and smoking. Then he would dress and begin the day's business.
^
43,#INDUCTION,#AREA,Induction,7,BIBAMB.AIF
(Activity: Induction Balance)
┬╢
Label:
INDUCTION BALANCE TABLE
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
44,#INDUCTION,#AREA,Induction,7,BIBAMB.AIF
(Activity: Induction Balance)
┬╢
Label:
INDUCTION BALANCE TABLE
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
^
100,#QTVR,#TEXT,EDISON
┬╢
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
In order to explore the lab of Thomas Edison and James Watt call 1-800-829-7962 or order from http://www.hminet.com. Also available from all good software stores.
^
101,#QTVR,#TEXT,WATT
┬╢
┬║
Description:
ΓÇó
Instructions:
In order to explore the lab of Thomas Edison and James Watt call 1-800-829-7962 or order from http://www.hminet.com. Also available from all good software stores.
