THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL INVENTORS OF ALL TIME

7 The 100 Most Influential Inventors of All Time 7

of Washington, D.C., Bell continued his experiments in
communication, which culminated in the invention of the
photophone—transmission of sound on a beam of light;
in medical research; and in techniques for teaching speech
to the deaf.
In 1880 France honoured Bell with the Volta Prize; and
the 50,000 francs (roughly equivalent to U.S. $10,000)
financed the Volta Laboratory, where, in association
with Charles Sumner Tainter and his cousin, Chichester A.
Bell, Bell invented the graphophone. Employing an
engraving stylus, controllable speeds, and wax cylinders
and disks, the graphophone presented a practical approach
to sound recording. Bell’s share of the royalties financed
the Volta Bureau and the American Association to Promote
the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf (since 1956 the
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf). May 8,
1893, was one of Bell’s happiest days; his 13-year-old
prodigy, Helen Keller, participated in the groundbreaking
ceremonies for the new Volta Bureau building—today
an international information centre relating to the oral
education of the deaf.
In 1885 Bell acquired land on Cape Breton Island in
Nova Scotia. There, in surroundings reminiscent of his
early years in Scotland, he established a summer home,
Beinn Bhreagh, complete with research laboratories.
In 1898 Bell succeeded his father-in-law as president of
the National Geographic Society. Convinced that geog-
raphy could be taught through pictures, he sought to
promote an understanding of life in distant lands in an
age when travel was limited to a privileged few. Again he
found the proper hands, Gilbert Grosvenor, his future
son-in-law, who transformed a modest pamphlet into a
unique educational journal reaching millions throughout
the world.