Charles Bourseul
Encyclopedia
Charles Bourseul was a pioneer in development of the "make and break" telephone
about 20 years before Bell
made a practical telephone.
Bourseul was born in Brussels
, Belgium, and grew up in Douai
, France. His father was a French army officer. Charles worked for the telegraph company as a civil engineer and mechanic. He made improvements to the telegraph system of L. F. Breguet
(a French instrument maker ) and Samuel F. B. Morse. Charles Bourseul experimented with the electrical transmission of the human voice and developed an electromagnetic microphone, but his telephone receiver was unable to convert electrical current back into clear human voice sounds.
In 1854 Bourseul wrote a memorandum on the transmission of the human voice by electrical currents that was first published in a magazine L'Illustration
(Paris), though no prototype was built. That is about the same time that Meucci
later claimed to have created his first attempt at the telephone in Italy.
Bourseul explained: “Suppose that a man speaks near a movable disc sufficiently flexible to lose none of the vibrations of the voice; that this disc alternately makes and breaks the currents from a battery: you may have at a distance another disc which will simultaneously execute the same vibrations.... It is certain that, in a more or less distant future, speech will be transmitted by electricity. I have made experiments in this direction; they are delicate and demand time and patience, but the approximations obtained promise a favourable result.”
Bourseul died in Saint-Céré
, France, at the age of 83.
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
about 20 years before Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
made a practical telephone.
Bourseul was born in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium, and grew up in Douai
Douai
-Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...
, France. His father was a French army officer. Charles worked for the telegraph company as a civil engineer and mechanic. He made improvements to the telegraph system of L. F. Breguet
Louis-François-Clement Breguet
Louis Francois Clement Breguet , was a French physicist and watchmaker, noted for his work in the early days of telegraphy...
(a French instrument maker ) and Samuel F. B. Morse. Charles Bourseul experimented with the electrical transmission of the human voice and developed an electromagnetic microphone, but his telephone receiver was unable to convert electrical current back into clear human voice sounds.
In 1854 Bourseul wrote a memorandum on the transmission of the human voice by electrical currents that was first published in a magazine L'Illustration
L'Illustration
L'Illustration was a weekly French newspaper published in Paris. It was founded by Edouard Charton; the first issue was published on March 4, 1843....
(Paris), though no prototype was built. That is about the same time that Meucci
Antonio Meucci
Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci was an Italian inventor, a compatriot of revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. He was best known for developing a voice communication apparatus which several sources credit as the first telephone....
later claimed to have created his first attempt at the telephone in Italy.
Bourseul explained: “Suppose that a man speaks near a movable disc sufficiently flexible to lose none of the vibrations of the voice; that this disc alternately makes and breaks the currents from a battery: you may have at a distance another disc which will simultaneously execute the same vibrations.... It is certain that, in a more or less distant future, speech will be transmitted by electricity. I have made experiments in this direction; they are delicate and demand time and patience, but the approximations obtained promise a favourable result.”
Bourseul died in Saint-Céré
Saint-Céré
Saint-Céré is a commune of 3, 540 people situated in the Lot valley in the Dordogne. The commune includes within its borders the castle of St-Laurent-Les-Tours, where the artist Jean Lurçat lived and worked for many years, and from which he operated a secret radio for the French Resistance...
, France, at the age of 83.
See also
- Johann Philipp ReisJohann Philipp ReisJohann Philipp Reis was a self-taught German scientist and inventor. In 1861, he constructed the first make-and-break telephone, today called the Reis telephone.- Early life and education :...
- Alexander Graham BellAlexander Graham BellAlexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
- Antonio MeucciAntonio MeucciAntonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci was an Italian inventor, a compatriot of revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. He was best known for developing a voice communication apparatus which several sources credit as the first telephone....
- Invention of the telephoneInvention of the telephoneThe invention of the telephone is the culmination of work done by many individuals, the history of which involves a collection of claims and counterclaims. The development of the modern telephone involved an array of lawsuits founded upon the patent claims of several individuals...