Remembered as the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell was also an outstanding teacher of the deaf, a prolific inventor of other devices, and a leading figure in the scientific community. He invented the graphophone, the first sound recorder, as well as the photophone, which transmitted speech by light rays. Among his other innovations were the audiometer, a device for the deaf; the induction balance, used to locate metallic objects in the human body; and disc and cylindrical wax recorders for phonographs. The prestigious journal Science, which became the official publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, was founded primarily through his efforts. Bell was also involved in establishing the National Geographic Society.

Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a family of speech educators. His father, Alexander Melville Bell, had invented visible speech, a code of symbols for all...