The Telephone Gambit

Hi!

I've been reading "The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell's Secret" by Seth Shulman. It is a fascinating read that effectively accuses Bell of stealing the idea of the telephone transmitter from Elisha Gray. The evidence is pretty convincing, especially a quote attributed to Zenas Fisk Wilber, the patent examiner in charge of telegraphy:

I am convinced by my action while Examiner of Patents that Elisha Gray was deprived of proper opportunity to establish his right to the invention of the telephone and I now propose to tell how it was done.

The whole story is very involved, but the author does a fine job of making the case that the telephone patent should have gone to Gray.

What bothers me about this whole story is not just what it implies about the creation of one of the most important inventions in history, but what it implies about history itself. Ask just about anyone over the age of 10 who invented the telephone and most will reply "Alexander Graham Bell" without hesitation or doubt. In the late 19th century, though, this was a subject of much discussion and debate. It wasn't until the history books got hold of the story that all doubt was erased.

It makes me wonder: What's going on now that is quote controversial, but though the lens of history, will seem crystal clear? Will my great-grandchildren be just as convinced that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction? Will they think that President Obama's citizenship was legitimately being questioned well into his first term of office? Most importantly, will they think baseball fans must have also been on drugs in 1998 to think that Sosa and McGwire weren't? It makes me think and I hope it does you, too...

Thanks,
Matt