author
A. E. (Amos Emerson) Dolbear
1837–1910
A restless 19th-century inventor and teacher, he explored sound, electricity, and early wireless communication long before those fields were fully understood. His career mixed classroom science with bold experiments that helped shape the early story of the telephone.
2 Audiobooks
The Machinery of the Universe: Mechanical Conceptions of Physical Phenomena
by A. E. (Amos Emerson) Dolbear
The Telephone An Account of the Phenomena of Electricity, Magnetism, and Sound, as Involved in Its Action
by A. E. (Amos Emerson) Dolbear
About the author
Amos Emerson Dolbear was an American physicist and inventor, born in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1837 and later known for his work in acoustics, electricity, and communication technology. He taught at the University of Kentucky before joining Tufts College in 1874, where he led physics and astronomy for many years and became a familiar figure to generations of students.
He is especially remembered for experiments related to the telephone and for developing an early wireless telegraph system. Dolbear also wrote popular science books, including The Art of Projecting and Matter, Ether, and Motion, showing his talent for explaining technical ideas in a way ordinary readers could follow.
Though he worked in a time of fierce invention and patent disputes, his reputation endures as that of a curious, wide-ranging scientist who moved easily between research, teaching, and practical invention. He died in Massachusetts in 1910.