Alexander Graham Bell: A Life

The first biography of the inventor to explore fully Bell's humanitarian as well as his scientific works.

"Watson, come quickly, I need your help!" With these words, immortalized in textbooks and on film, Alexander Graham Bell ushered in the age of telecommunications, in 1866. As far as most people are concerned, Bell's career as an inventor and scientist ends there. Few alive today realize that until his death in 1922, Bell continued to make important contributions in the education of the deaf, phonetics, acoustics, aviation, architectural engineering, animal husbandry, and genetics. He also invented aircraft, the iron lung, a portable device for distilling sea water, the telephonic probe (precursor to the sonograph), and the hydrofoil. Alexander Graham Bell gives us a finely etched portrait of the man who, during his lifetime, was hailed as one of the greatest scientific minds of all time. Mackay has unearthed a great deal of new information about the inventor's early life and provides unique psychological insight into Bell's relationships with his family, his fascination with science, and the roots of his deep and unswerving altruism.

James Mackay (Glasgow, Scotland) is also the author of Burns (awarded the prestigious Saltire Prize), William Wallace: Brave Heart, Michael Collins: A Life and Allan Pinkerton: The First Private Eye.