Engineering Achievements

One of the Greatest Engineering Achievements: Telephones

The telephone has inevitably become integral part of our everyday lives. It is said to be the greatest invention of the 19th century. Ever since it was invented in 1876 [1], the telephone has been constantly developing and connecting the world in ways people believed to be impossible. Born in 1847, Scottish innovative engineer Alexander Graham Bell believed otherwise. Inspired by his hearing-impaired mother, Graham established a school for the deaf and mute. But he had always dreamed of building a machine that could help the deaf and mute hear and speak. His work in telegraphing led him to believe that voices could be reproduced over a distance. In 1879, at age 29, he received the

It has been integrated into homes, businesses and educational institutes. It is now viewed as an entertainment tool as well as a communication tool that is accessible to people from all walks of life. However this was not always the case. When the phone was first invented, it was only accessible to rich people because the materials that were needed to make a connection were very expensive. Bell hoped that the telephone would be affordable to poor people too. But it was constantly advertised as a tool that would increase wealth as well as employment and communication. The invention of the telephone lead to the development of city centers, office buildings and the concept of urban working societies. It has lead to the creation of jobs like operators and GPS services. It has changed the pace of businesses and made the world smaller and more accessible to all. The telephone has also provided security and safety for society that was not possible before. People are now only a phone call away from the fireplace, doctors or police. There are also telephone based security systems that keeps criminals away. It has also introduced the idea of long-distance relationships. Families and friends are now able to maintain close relationships through telephone regardless of the amount of miles between them. It is also an easier communication tool for a business deal or an idea. For example, politicians and governors use the telephone to make

The telephone has made communication more efficient and faster since it was first developed. There is no doubt that it has made a dramatic impact on societies social behavior by changing the way we communicate with each other. The telephone has fostered a whole host of new inventions, both the cellular phone and the internet are a result of the telephone system. As the future generation of engineers, it is our responsibility to learn from creative engineers like Alexander Bell and create innovations of our