Long before Alexander Graham Bell became synonymous with the telephone, a schoolmaster in 19th century Germany had made voices travel along a wire. History truly comes alive here. In Philipp Reis: Inventor of the Telephone, physicist Silvanus P. Thompson offers a meticulous Philipp Reis biography that restores a forgotten pioneer to the centre of the history of telephone invention. Combining biographical sketch, documentary testimony, and translations of Reis's original scientific papers alongside contemporary reports, this scientific biography annotated edition opens a window onto early telephone history and the world of nineteenth century science history. Thompson traces how an experimental curiosity became a working speaking-telephone, and reveals the debates that later shaped Alexander Graham Bell history and public memory. The result is an engrossing inventor biography book, both human story and foundational history of technology book. As a curated telephone history source collection, it preserves voices from the moment a new medium was imagined, tested and disputed. For readers of alexander graham bell history, telecom history enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by how ideas become world-changing devices, it offers both vivid context and primary evidence. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions. Restored for today's and future generations. More than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure. Equally at home on the desk as a reference for engineering students or on the shelf of the serious collector, this classic volume remains a landmark in the intertwined stories of invention, communication and modern life.