Antonio Meucci and Talk:Johann Schweighäuser: Difference between pages

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[[Image:300px-Antonio Meucci.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Antonio Meucci]]

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'''Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci''' ([[April 13]], [[1808]]&ndash;[[October 18]], [[1896]]) was an [[Italy|Italian]] inventor. He developed some form of voice communication apparatus in 1857. Antonio Meucci has long had champions, particularly in Italy, arguing he should be credited with the invention of "the telephone" (i.e. electrical voice communication). The ''Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti'' calls him the "inventore del telefono" (inventor of the telephone).<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 25|first=Allen|last=Kent|coauthors=Kent Kent|publisher=CRC Press|year=1978|id=ISBN 0-8247-2025-3}}, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0824720253&id=l8mIFaw53JUC&pg=PA171&lpg=PA171&sig=Lu4To8x9FOq16SRrJt5eMvmfJms p. 171] notes this claim in a discussion of nationalistic bias in encyclopedias</ref> Meucci set up the some kind of voice communication link in his Staten Island home that connected the basement with the first floor. He demonstrated his invention in 1860 and had a description of it published in New York ’s Italian language newspaper but was unable to raise sufficient funds to pay his way through the patent application. In 1876, Bell patented the electro-magnetic transmission of vocal sound by undulatory electric current. In 2001 the U. S. House of Representatives passed a resolution which says that Meucci's life and achievements of deserve recognition and that his ''work'' on telephony should be recognized, but does not say he "invented the telephone."

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==Biography==

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<!--Where does this material come from? IF it comes from http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/meucci.html, that's the personal website of Prof. Eugenii Katz. This website _does_ cite _its_ sources, but they are described as "biographies of Meucci available in the Internet" and some quick checking suggests that some of them, at least, do not meet reliable source guidelines, either.-->

Meucci was born in [[San Frediano]], a borough of [[Florence]], Italy. He studied [[chemical engineering|chemical]] and [[mechanical engineering]] at the [[Florence Academy of Fine Arts]] and later worked in theatres as a stage technician. He married costume designer [[Ester Mochi]] on [[August 7]], [[1834]]. He was alleged to be part of a conspiracy involving the Italian unification movement in [[1833]]&ndash;[[1834]], and was imprisoned for three months.

In October [[1835]], Meucci and his wife left Florence, never to return. They emigrated to the [[Americas]], stopping first in [[Cuba]], where Meucci accepted a job at [[Gran Teatro de Tacón]] in [[Havana]]. Since 1848 [[Gran Teatro de Tacón]] was not active any more. There Meucci was asked by some friends doctors to work on [[Franz Anton Mesmer]]'s therapy system on [[patient]]s suffering from [[rheumatism]]. Meucci developed a popular method of using electric shocks to treat illness. He used to give his patients two conductors linked to a Bunsen battery and ending with a cork. He also kept two conductors linked to the same Bunsens battery. He used to sit in his laboratory, while the Bunsen battery was places in a second room and his patients in a third room. While providing a treatment to a friend, in his laboratory Meucci reportedly heard his friend's scream through the piece of copper wire that was between them, from the conductors he was keeping near his ear. In order to continue the experiment without hurting his patient, Meucci covered the copper wire with a piece of paper. Through this device he reportedly heard inarticulated human voice <ref>[http://www.aei.it/ita/museo/mam_voce.htm Meucci's original drawings. Page maintained by the Italian Society of Electrotechnics]</ref>.

In [[1850]], Meucci and his wife immigrated to the [[United States]], settling in the Clifton area of [[Staten Island]], [[New York City|New York]], where he would live for the remainder of his life. For two years Meucci hosted [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]], who arrived in New York in 1850 and was a workman in Meucci's tallow candle factory.

According to an Italian researcher in telecommunications [http://www.esanet.it/chez_basilio/index.html Basilio Catania] and the [http://www.aei.it/ita/ Italian Society of Electrotechnics] in [[1856]] Meucci constructed the first electromagnetic telephone, made of an electromagnet with a nucleus in the shape of a horseshoe bat, a diaphragm of animal skin, stiffened with potassium dichromate and keeping a metal disk stickened in the middle. The instrument was hosted in a cylindrical carton box <ref>[http://www.aei.it/ita/museo/mam_t1em.htm Meucci's original drawings. Page maintained by the Italian Society of Electrotechnics]</ref>. He constructed this as a way to connect his second-floor bedroom to his basement laboratory, and thus communicate with his wife who was an [[Patient|invalid]] suffering from [[rheumatism]].

Though his assets had been substantial, they were quickly used up in the United States. Not only was Meucci helping his countrymen to reach America, but there was also an expensive accident in one of his laboratories. His private finances dwindled so that he soon had to live on public funds and by depending on his friends. While he was recovering from injuries that befell him in a boiler explosion aboard the Staten Island Ferry, Westfield, Antonio Meucci's financial and health state was so bad that his wife Ester sold his drawings to a second-hand dealer to raise some money. Meucci then only had the money to pay for a "caveat" since [[1871]] to [[1874]] while looking for fundings for a true patent.

On the initiative of the Italian American deputate Vito Fossella, with the [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:H.RES.269: Resolution 269] the U.S. House of Representatives recognised the work previously done by [[Antonio Meucci]]: the Resolution recognised that in 1870 Meucci gave his prototypes to Western Union , which afterwards claimed they had lost them; at the same time, Meucci could not find money to renew his "caveat"; Bell worked in the same department where Meucci's prototypes were allegedly stored and later on patented the telephone as his own invention <ref> [http://www.house.gov/fossella/Press/pr020611.htm Vito Fossella's Press Release House on Resolution 269]</ref>.

As recounted by an Italian newspaper columnist, Meucci gave his prototypes to Edward B. Grant, Vice President of the American District Telegraph Co. of New York (today Western Union). After two years, when Bell granted the patent and Meucci went to Western Union to protest, Grant claimed he had lost his documents; [[Alexander Graham Bell]] worked in the same department where Meucci's prototypes were allegedly stored <ref>[http://www.radiomarconi.com/marconi/meucci.html Il Corriere della Sera - Domenica 16 Giugno 2002], pages in Italian</ref>. (A 2005 tv series produced by the Italian National Broadcasting Network, depicts Edward B. Grant as cheating Meucci<ref>[http://www.raifiction.rai.it/raifictionarticolo/0,,3742,00.html RAI "Meucci l'Italiano che ha inventato il telefono"]</ref><ref>[http://www.international.rai.it/tv/programmi/scheda.php?id=887 RAI International "Meucci l'uomo che ha inventato il telefono"], pages in Italian</ref>).

When Bell secured his own patent in 1876 Meucci took Bell to court in order to state his priority, but being too poor to hire a legal team, he was defended only by lawyer Joe Melli, an orphan whom Meucci treated as a son. Witnesses of the chronology of Antonio Meucci's invention of the telephone were not taken into consideration in the trial.

While the trial "The U.S. Government Versus Alexander Graham Bell" was going on, the Bell telephone company obtained reason in the parallel trial "The U.S. Government Versus Antonio Meucci" by a sentence on July 19th 1887 by judge William J. Wallace, according to which Meucci had realised a mechanic and not an electric telephone. This sentence was regarded by historian Giovanni Schiavo as one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in the history of the U.S. <ref>Catania Basilio [http://www.comunicazioni.it/it/Img/20/1%20vita_meucci.PDF "Antonio Meucci una vita per la scienza e per l'Italia, vol.1] [http://www.comunicazioni.it/it/Img/20/2%20vita_meucci.PDF "Antonio Meucci una vita per la scienza e per l'Italia, vol.2](in Italian), summary of Meucci's life and work and his trial against Alexander Graham Bell.</ref>.

In fact, when the Bell telephone company sued Meucci's backers for patent infringement, their defense was that they could not have infringed on Bell's patent, since Meucci's "telephone" had never even worked!{{citation needed}} The question of whether Bell was the true inventor of the telephone is perhaps the single most litigated fact in U.S. history, and the Bell patents were defended in some 600 cases. Bell never lost a case. HR 269 directly contradicts findings of courts in New York, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Ohio, Maryland, and numerous others states. (See among others American Bell Telephone Co. v. Dolbear, 15 Fed. Rep. 448; American Bell Telephone Co. v. Spencer, 8 Fed. Rep. 509, and American Bell Telephone Co. v. Molecular Telephone, 32 Fed. Rep. 214.)

Contrary to the implications in HR 269, the U.S. courts looked into Antonio Meucci’s claims extensively and were very unequivocal in their findings. Meucci was a defendant in American Bell Telephone Co. v. Globe Telephone Co. and others (the court’s findings, reported in 31 Fed. Rep. 729) The judge was scathing in his criticism of Meucci’s claims and his behavior, and concluded that Meucci was deliberately involved in attempts to defraud investors. Meucci died before the Court reached a verdict and the case was closed.

==Invention of the telephone==

There exists much dispute over who deserves priority as the first inventor of the telephone, although it seems [[Alexander Graham Bell]] was the first to transmit articulate speech by undulatory currents of electricity. A history of the telephone says "To bait the Bell Company became almost a national sport. Any sort of claimant, with any sort of wild tale of prior invention, could find a speculator to support him. On they came, a motley array, `some in rags, some on nags, and some in velvet gowns.' One of them claimed to have done wonders with an iron hoop and a file in 1867; a second had a marvelous table with glass legs; a third swore that he had made a telephone in 1860, but did not know what it was until he saw Bell's patent; and a fourth told a vivid story of having heard a bullfrog croak via a telegraph wire which was strung into a certain cellar in Racine, in 1851 <ref>[http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/CasTele.html Casson, Herbert N., "The History of the Telephone," Chicago: McClurg, 1910, p. 96-97]</ref>.

Meucci was recently recognized by the [[US House of Representatives]], in [http://www.house.gov/fossella/Press/pr020611.htm House Resolution 269], dated [[11 June]] [[2002]], as stated, "Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the life and achievements of Antonio Meucci should be recognized, and his work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged." The [[Parliament of Canada]] retaliated by passing a resolution recognizing Canadian immigrant [[Alexander Graham Bell]] as the "real inventor of the telephone." [http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/chambus/house/debates/211_2002-06-21/han211_1140-e.htm] [http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/chambus/house/debates/211_2002-06-21/han211_1200-e.htm]

An Italian researcher in telecommunications [http://www.esanet.it/chez_basilio/index.html Basilio Catania] and the [http://www.aei.it/ita/ Federazione Italiana di Elettrotecnica ] have devoted a Museum to Antonio Meucci making a [http://www.aei.it/ita/museo/mam_intel.htm chronology of his inventing the telephone] and tracing the history of the two trials opposing Antonio Meucci and Alexander Graham Bell [http://www.esanet.it/chez_basilio/meucci.htm] [http://www.aei.it/ita/museo/mam_hpg1.htm]. They both support the claim that Antonio Meucci was the real inventor of the telephone.

According to [http://www.esanet.it/chez_basilio/index.html Basilio Catania], in 1834 Meucci constructed a kind of [http://www.aei.it/ita/museo/mam_tela.htm acustic telephone] as a way to communicate between the stage and control room at the theatre "Teatro della Pergola" in Florence. This kind of pipe-telephone is still working.

Also according to Catania, in [[1856]] Meucci constructed the first electromagnetic telephone, made of an electromagnet with a nucleus in the shape of a horseshoe bat, a diaphragm of animal skin, stiffened with potassium dichromate and keeping a metal disk stickened in the middle. The instrument was hosted in a cylindrical carton box <ref>[http://www.aei.it/ita/museo/mam_t1em.htm Meucci's original drawings. Page maintained by the Italian Society of Electrotechnics]</ref>. He constructed this as a way to connect his second-floor bedroom to his basement laboratory, and thus communicate with his wife who was an [[Patient|invalid]] suffering from [[rheumatism]].

In august 1870, Meucci obtains transmission of voice at a mile distance by using as a conductor a tress of copper wire isolated by cotton. According to an [http://www.aei.it/ita/museo/mam_cain.htm Affidavit of lawyer Michael Lemmi] drawings and notes by Antonio Meucci dated september 27th 1970 show that Meucci understood inductive loading on long distance telephone lines 30 years before any other scientists.

It has been said that legally, "if Meucci had been able to pay the $10 fee to maintain the caveat after 1874, no patent could have been issued to Bell" ([http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_Antonio_Meucci.htm Mary Bellis]).

==Garibaldi-Meucci Museum==

The [[Sons of Italy|Order of the Sons of Italy in America]] maintains a Garibaldi-Meucci Museum in [[Staten Island]]. The museum is located in a house that was built in 1840, purchased by Meucci in 1850, and rented to [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] from 1850 to 1854. Exhibits include Meucci’s models and drawing and pictures relating to his life.

==Meucci in popular culture==

In the [[1990]] [[film|motion picture]] ''[[The Godfather Part III]]'', the character [[Joe Mantegna|Joey Zaza]] mentions Meucci as the inventor of the telephone.{{citation needed}}

In the television series ''[[The Sopranos]]'', the character [[Tony Soprano]] also mentions Meucci as the inventor of the telephone, stating "he was robbed" of being given proper credit.{{citation needed}}

In 2005 the Italian National Broadcasting Network produced a tv series showing Meucci as the true inventor of the telephone and Alexander Graham Bell as obtaining credit by more or less legal means[http://www.rai.it/raifictionarticolo/0,,3701,00.html Meucci L'Italiano che ha inventato il telefono] [http://www.international.rai.it/tv/programmi/scheda.php?id=887 Meucci L'uomo che ha inventato il telefono] (pages in Italian)

==See also==

*[[Alexander Graham Bell]]

*[[Emile Berliner]]

*[[Thomas Edison]]

*[[Philipp Reis]]

*[[Telephone]]

==References==

<references/>

==Further reading==

*[http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_Antonio_Meucci.htm Bellis Mary "The History of the Telephone - Antonio Meucci"]

* Catania Basilio [http://www.esanet.it/chez_basilio/meucci.htm articles and books about Antonio Meucci's priority]

*Catania Basilio [http://www.comunicazioni.it/it/Img/20/1%20vita_meucci.PDF "Antonio Meucci una vita per la scienza e per l'Italia, vol.1] [http://www.comunicazioni.it/it/Img/20/2%20vita_meucci.PDF "Antonio Meucci una vita per la scienza e per l'Italia, vol.2](in Italian), summary of Meucci's life and work and his trial against Alexander Graham Bell.

*Dossena Tiziano Thomas ,[http://www.dossena.org/tiziano/meucci.html Meucci, Forgotten Italian Genius], Bridge Apulia USA 1999

*Italian Society of Electrotechnics (Federazione Italiana di Elettrotecnica) [http://www.aei.it/ita/museo/mam_hpg1.htm Sala Antonio Meucci]

*Rossi Adolfo, ''Un Italiano in America''. La Cisalpina , Milano 1881.

*Schiavo, Giovanni E., ''Antonio Meucci : inventor of the telephone'', New York : The Vigo press, 1958, no ISBN, IT\ICCU\SBL\0234690 ([http://www.internetculturale.it/moduli/opac/opac.jsp Italian National Library System]).

*Sterling Christopher H., 2004, CBQ REVIEW ESSAY: HISTORY OF THE TELEPHONE (PART ONE): Invention, Innovation, and Impact. Communication Booknotes Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 4, Pages 222-241 (doi: 10.1207/s15326896cbq3504_1)

*Vassilatos Gerry ''Lost Science'' (ISBN 0-945685-25-4, [http://fusionanomaly.net/hearingthroughwiresthephysiophonyofantoniomeucci.html possible excerpt], [http://www.strangemag.com/lostscience.html review])

*[http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/3/4/0/13401/13401-h/13401-h.htm#13 ''Scientific American'' Supplement No. 520, December 19, 1885]

*[http://www.icehouse.net/john1/mucci.html Hearing Through Wires] - John Bedini's Antonio Meucci-page.

*[http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/meucci.html An excellent history of Meucci] with photos and copies of his diagrams and instruments

Garibaldi-Meucci Museum:

*[http://www.garibaldimeuccimuseum.org/ The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum]

*[http://statenislandusa.com/pages/garibaldi.html The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum (Staten Island site)]

US Congress Resolution 269, recognizing Meucci:

*[http://www.esanet.it/chez_basilio/us_congr_res.htm] Full text of resolution on a personal website

<!--These Thomas links would be more authoritative... but they don't work. If anyone knows how to fix them, please do.-->

*[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:HE00269:@@@L&summ2=m& Summary and status of Resolution 269]

*[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:1:./temp/~c107LSJRsg:: HRes 269, text of 17 Oct 2001]

*[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:2:./temp/~c107LSJRsg:: HRes 269, text of 11 Jun 2002]

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