Alexander Graham Bell: Eugenicist

Abstract

The author examines the little-known views of Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, on the importance of quality breeding. Inspired by the success of animal breeders, and concerned about the need for maintaining the quality of the human race in order that mankind would be able to cope with future advances in human technology, Bell developed a pronounced interest on genetic research but argued that emphasis should be placed on positive eugenics, that is to say on increasing the percentage of births amongst persons of proven lineage rather than on negative eugenics, which aimed at preventing the reproduction of genetically-handicapped individuals. Key Words: Alexander Graham Bell, positive eugenics, negative eugenics Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), the inventor of the telephone, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of Alexander Melville Bell, a specialist in the science of speech, who developed a physiological alphabet to represent visually the articulating position of the vocal organs for each sound. It was not inappropriate, therefore, that his son, Alexander Graham, should become a teacher of speech for the deaf, and from that vantage point should employ his outstanding talents to the invention of the telephone (1873-76). Famed as he is for this achievement, it is perhaps less known that in the course of his life he solved many other technical problems, developing a technique for locating bullets in human bodies without surgery, designing a recorder for Edison's phonograph, and determining a method for achieving stability of balance in early flying machines. But it is even less widely known that he was a devoted believer in the need to sustain the genetic quality of the human race, and that he was an ardent advocate of positive eugenics - of the need to improve the human breed by increasing the percentage of what he called superior individuals in future generations. Characteristic of the more far-sighted and highly educated members of Western nations during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth century was the serious commitment to social ideals of many practical scientists. It may safely be said that despite the massive genetic and material waste of the Great War, something of the Victorian confidence in the future of mankind survived. This is evidenced, amongst other things, by the readiness with which those who had seen so many of the finest of European youth eliminated before they could produce offspring, thereby depriving posterity of the genes that they carried in trust for their nation, confidently asserted that bloodiest of wars was a War to end all Wars. Ironically they made this assertion while the statesmen of Europe were constructing the Treaty of Versailles which carried in its terms a guarantee of World War II. But much of that optimism did remain, particularly in light of the rapid technological advances which saw in one lifetime the replacement of the horse by the automobile and the airplane, and of visual flag signals by the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell was one of those dedicated optimists who sought above all to build a better future for mankind. Significantly, he was also one of the leading advocates of human genetic improvement, being an enthusiastic supporter of the new eugenics movement which found support from most sides of the political spectrum wherever men who actually wished to serve mankind, rather than to advance their own selfish interests, were to be found. He is to be honored amongst the most high-minded and enlightened idealists of the beginning of the twentieth century, when men believed that scientific progress would be wisely applied for the benefit of mankind. As such, he and his confreres contrast markedly with the intellectual leaders of today, who have seen how uncertain is the basis for any belief that mankind can be trusted to utilize its vast new power to reshape the planet with wisdom. …