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BELL, Alexander Graham. "On the Production and Reproduction of Sound by Light", in the American Journal of Science, printed in New Haven, J.D. & E.S. Dana, 1880, third series, vol XX, no 118, pp 305-324 in the full volume of 480pp, with 8 plates (of 9). Newly rebound in a deep-rust-colored cloth, with the boards finely antiqued a lovely rebinding job. Very bright and fresh and sturdy. Fine copy. Pp 314-324 are sub-titled "Researches of Sumner Tainter and Alexander Graham Bell". [++] This is among the earliest appearance of Bell's fantastic invention utilizing his discovery of the photoacoustic effect--basically, transmitting wireless telephone conversations on a beam of light, a feat that would not be utilized until the last two decades of the 20th century. He was already mega-famous by the time he unveiled what he considered to be one of his greatest inventions. Working at his L Street lab as well as from his home (which was just a few blocks away from my store in Georgetown), he developed the photophone. When it was completed he considered the work so substantial and filled with so much potential that he left his plans on deposit in a sealed something-or-other until he announced the results for real, which came at a public lecture on August 27, 1880. Bell found this invention to surpass his telephone and phonograph--except that few people today recall the instrument, much less what it did. It was a fantastic thing, an elegant device utilizing his discovery of the photoacoustic effect--basically, transmitting wireless telephone conversations, transmitting speech on light rays, a feat that would not be utilized until the last two decades of the 20th century, a precursor to fibre-optic communication--it was just decades away from practical application. [++]In his article in Nature of September 23, 1880, electrical pioneer Sylvanus Thompson wrote that "sounds can be transmitted from one station to another wherever a beam of light can be flashed; .we may expect the slow spelling out of words in flashing signals of the heliograph to be superceded by the more expeditious whispers of the photophone" (page 481). Actually it seems that this paper beat the sponsor organization of Bell's August address into general print, though The Electrician seems to have bested them both with an article on September 18. The article from AM J Sci is very very close to being among the first, with the paper offered here appearing in October 1880. [++] "The photophone is a telecommunications device that allows transmission of speech on a beam of light. It was invented jointly by Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Charles Sumner Tainter on February 19, 1880, at Bell's laboratory at 1325 L Street in Washington, D.C."--Wiki [++] "Imagine a solar-powered telephone, and you're close to understanding the important gadget Alexander Graham Bell invented on June 3, 1880, four years after he had patented the telephone. Bell considered the photophone one of his most important inventions. He's probably right, since the technology behind the photophone led to the technology that helps computers send information around the world today."--America's Library [++] "The photophone was in fact the World s first device for wireless communications. So optical wireless communications came first and wireless radio communications appeared some years later. Bell did not just invent and patent the concept, he also built the Photophone and demonstrated it transmitting speech over distances of several hundred meters."--Visible Light Communications dot com. Also consult: Bibliography of Early Optical (Audio) Communications, [online source], by Chris Long and Mike Groth. There are numerous other contributors and papers in this volume--as space is challenged here, please write for a full description.
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