A major new biography of one of the giants of the golden age of invention whose innovations revolutionized the modern world. The popular image of Alexander Graham Bell shows an elderly American patriarch, memorable only for his paunch, his Santa Claus beard, and the invention of the telephone. In this magisterial reassessment, Charlotte Gray delves into the private life that supported his genius.
Reluctant Genius
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
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Gray recounts both the inventor of the telephone's creation of the device and the projects he pursued once his future was secured. Bell is portrayed as imaginative and neurotic, but his marriage to a steadier sort kept him on even keel, if not exactly scientifically disciplined. She was Mabel Hubbard and is so present in Gray's work as to make it a dual biography. Deaf teenager Mabel met Bell when he taught the hearing-impaired, and Gray's story of their courtship is intertwined with the story of how Mabel's father became involved in Bell's side project of transmitting sound by wire, much in the scientific air in the 1870s. Without the worldly Mr. Hubbard's legal and business management, Bell might not have succeeded; certainly none of his subsequent inventions had the eclat of the telephone. Combining the household history of the Bells with that of Alexander's successive enthusiasms (Helen Keller, kites, airplanes, hydrocraft), Gray fairly portrays the attractions and exasperations of Bell's life. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"[A] splendid new biography . . . RELUCTANT GENIUS is a winner." -- Washington Times, September 17, 2006
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Famous Man, of Whom Little is Really Known,
By
This review is from: Reluctant Genius: Alexander Graham Bell and the Passion for Invention (Hardcover)
It is common knowledge that Bell invented the telephone. (Although as many times as I got called during this last election I'm not so sure it was a good idea.) But it was a time when great advances were being made in such devices. There were other inventors such as Meucci in Europe and Oki in Japan who were doing the same thing.
What is less known is that Bell was an inventor in many areas, rather like Edison or Tesla, he worked in many areas: sonar, ultra sound, iron lung, electric heating, and many more. Perhaps as outstanding was his subsequent creation of The Bell Telephone Company. He had the ability to make the fundamental invention and then to capitalize on it to create a giant company where there had been nothing before, rather like Bill Gates was able to do in our time. This is a major biography, it contains original research and understanding into his life combined with an excellent writing style that brings his life to life.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book, interesting and involving,
By Minsky "Auto Buff" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Reluctant Genius: Alexander Graham Bell and the Passion for Invention (Hardcover)
This was a great read and a finely illustrated history of Alec Bell's life. I appreciated the author's weaving in of Alec's wife, Mabel, throughout the book and how she was an integral part of his life in many ways.
The book occasionally repeats itself and gets a little tedious, mainly in the way it paints Alec as the constant tinkerer and you as a reader get frustrated in the way he wastes so much time on certain pursuits (the sheep raising being one), but this really in no way detracts from the enjoyment of reading this book. Wonderfully detailed and very entertaining, this is a terrific read and comes highly recommended.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A complex individual emerges from these pages, making for a satisfying read indeed.,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Reluctant Genius: Alexander Graham Bell and the Passion for Invention (Hardcover)
Both general-interest libraries strong in biographical representation and college-level science collections where inventor biographies are strong will want Reluctant Genius: Alexander Graham Bell and the Passion for Invention. It represents the first major biography on Bell in thirty years and probes the life of a man whose inventions changed the world. Born of a deaf mother, Bell developed a passion for sound at an early age, investigating the science of sound and joining the race to invent the first 'speaking telegraph'. While he's best known for inventing the telephone, he also participated in the race to develop the airplane, and invented the hydrofoil - as well as investigated a president's murder. A complex individual emerges from these pages, making for a satisfying read indeed.
Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch
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