Tom L. Matthews

Retelling: At an early age, Alexander Graham Bell, called "Alec" grew an appetite for accomplishment by inventing a tool to husk a wheat kernel. He is most famous for his invention of the telephone, but this book elucidates the very important contributions he made beyond this one invention, including a method for teaching the deaf to speak, the founding of the National Geographic Society, and his attitude toward knowledge and learning. Photographs related to Bell's life and inventions make his story feel more real.

Thoughts and Feelings: I was impressed by Bell's fortitude. My favorite quote of his, from the many in this book was: "There are no unsuccessful experiments. If we stop here it is we who are unsuccessful, not the experiment" (p. 58). My juggling partner and I have a debate about whether 'initial success' or 'perseverance' make a better juggler. I imagine it's a little of both, but I always argue that perseverance is more important.… (altro)

Neighbors came to find out what was crying “mama” at the Bell house as teenager Alexander and his brother Melly “used the larynx, or voice box, of a dead sheep to create a speaking machine.” Tom L. Mathews book called Always Inventing is a Photobiography of Alexander Graham Bell. This book goes through Alexander’s life and the important work he did to educate and help the hearing-impaired. This lifelong commitment led him to invent the telephone.
This book starts with Alex as a young man and in narrative form tells about his grandfather (also named Alexander Bell) who studied acting, literature, grammar and speech. Alexander Graham Bell’s father (Alexander Melville Bell) created “a universal phonetic alphabet, and an alphabet of symbols that represented any sound the human voice could make.” Alex’s mother was nearly deaf and encouraged his interest in the piano. As Alex grew older he fell in love and married Mabel Hubbard (his deaf student).
Alexander growing up in Edinburgh, Scotland started inventing as a young boy at the age of eleven when he invented a wheat-husking device. On March 10, 1876 he (assisted by Thomas Watson) created “a telephone that could carry conversation.” This was a big step in history. “Alec made communications history when he said: “Mr. Watson—Come here—I want to see you.” Alex’s interest in inventing continued throughout his life as he invented a telephonic probe (a type of metal detector) that saved the lives of many soldiers, and he invented the “vacuum jacket” which was the “prototype for the iron lung.”
This book is filled with amazing photographs showing: Alexander Graham Bell as a young man with his family, sketches of some of his inventions, pictures of replicas of the first telephone, photos of some of the first telephone wiring in New York City, and photos of people in his life (i.e. Mabel Hubbard, Thomas Watson, Helen Keller, even Queen Victoria whom he visited on his honeymoon to England). “Bell writings from the Alexander Graham Bell Family Collection, Library of Congress and photos from the Grosvenor Collection” are some of the credits in this book so the accuracy of the content of this book is excellent.
This book is geared for ages 9-12 (grades 3-junior high) as the information is in depth especially with Alexander’s invention of the telephone. It would be excellent to use in the classroom because the students can observe Alexander Graham Bell’s life in pictures and see a model of the first telephone that carried Alex’s voice. Younger children would appreciate the photos as they could see what the first telephone looked like. This book can be used in the classroom in studying sound and electricity and incorporating these two together. The photos draw you to the reality of the great inventor that brought the telephone to its existence. The book expresses Alexander Graham Bell’s life and the amazing influence on our lives.… (altro)