Alexander Graham Bell found guilty of plagiarism after 130 years

Stuart Corner
Monday, 07 January 2008 07:20

Opinion and Analysis

"...underneath the legal intricacies and the suspicions of foul play, it appears that by any rational standard Bell actually invented the telephone; Gray had not transmitted speech at the time of the filings and would not do so for many months afterwards. Indeed the final irony of the drama is that, as of February 14 1876 [the date of the filings] no one had transmitted a single intelligible human word, but it would not be long before someone did [Bell to Watson on 10 March, view his notebook entry here ].

So perhaps Shulman has at last confirmed what was long suspected but remained unproven despite repeated investigations at the time. The book should be an interesting read, but given the history of these accusations, it hardly lives up to its claims that it "challenges the reputation of an icon of invention, rocks the foundation of a corporate behemoth [AT&T], and offers a probing meditation on how little we know about our own history."