Robyn Conley-Weaver

The importance of Alexander Graham Bell by Robyn M. Weaver is part of The Importance of Series Published by Lucent Books. This series describes the lives of significant men and women in a broad range of areas including politics, music, art, literature, philosophy, science, sports and religion. Alexander Graham Bell was a prominent person whose contributions to society are undeniably monumental. In the opening section, a timeline describes important dates in Alexander Graham Bell’s life from living with his grandfather in London to opening his own school and meeting Helen Keller. Bell was always fascinated with communication and working with the deaf even at a young age. Bell opened up his own school and became a professor at Boston University where he met his wife Mabel. Thomas Watson was an associate of Bell assisted him with a planning for the telephone. On Feb 14, 1876 a patent gave Alexander the right to be the sole producer of telephones in the U.S. for the next 19 years. He never stopped working which led to the invention of other things and finally served as the president of the National Geographic society. I appreciated that this biography did not just simply list facts, instead went deep into personal stories and impact then and now. Primary and secondary sources were highlighted which enhanced the experience of conversations or letters. Photos and illustrations were used to help the reader gain a better understanding of the particular life and times of Alexander Graham Bell. Although the book is a bit dated, students would be inspired by this biography of Bell. He was a determined selfless inventor, and most of them probably couldn’t image life pre phone. Grade 6 and up.… (más)