The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell's Secret: by Seth Shulman, tells the tale and assesses the evidence as to whether Alexander Graham Bell actually invented the telephone. The author asserts, as others have suggested in the past, that Bell's own notebooks show a decided shift in his design following a visit to the Patent Examiner's office.

It is probable that we will never know facts any better than Shulman has come to understand them. Given that these events occurred over 100 years ago, it seems that the matter may be of interest to avid readers, history buffs and the academic community more than to engineers or the business community.

What intrigues me about the story, though, is that whether Bell invented the telephone or not, he knew it had a value that Elisha Gray, the presumed inventor, seemingly did not. From my understanding, Gray was only trying to improve telegraphic communications, a key issue of the day; whereas, Bell was addressing far greater needs with the power of voice communication.

There are many, many similar stories where one person's vision and understanding of the needs of others, of the common good, trumped that of another person. Both may have had similar intellects, work ethic and resources; but the one who looked to the future and to the unconstrained possibilities succeeded where the one rooted in the past and narrow boundaries lost out.

Two worthy reviews of Shulman's book include: MSNBC, CSMonitor.