The invention of the telephone is a subject of great controversy, central is which is the patent issued to Alexander Graham Bell on March 7, 1876. Many problems and questions surround this patent, not the least of which was its collision in the Patent Office with a strangely similar invention by archrival Elisha Gray. A flood of lawsuits followed the patents issue; at one point the government attempted to annul Bells patent and launched an investigation into how it was granted. From court testimony, contemporary accounts, government documents, and the participants correspondence, a...