Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An instrument by which a beam of light may be made to transmit spoken words to a distance.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Physics) An apparatus for the production of sound by the action of rays of light.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun a
device thattransmitted sound on abeam oflight
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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In 1879, Professor Graham Bell, the inventor of the speaking telephone, and Mr Summer Tamter, brought out an ingenious apparatus called the photophone, by which music and speech were sent along a beam of light for several hundred yards.
The Story of Electricity John Munro 1889
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Bell continued his experiments in communication, which culminated in the invention of the photophone — transmission of sound on a beam of light; in medical research; and in techniques for teaching speech to the deaf.
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These included 14 for the telephone and telegraph, 4 for the photophone, 1 for the phonograph, 5 for aerial vehicles, 4 for hydroairplanes, and 2 for a selenium cell.
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It took almost fifty years of experimentation to convert Bell's idea for a photophone into a medium that could broadcast Herbert Hoover's speech.
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Bell called it a photophone, a device that would allow a person not just to speak to someone else but to look at home in the process.
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Jeff Jarvis calls it anonymous instant photophone moblogging, a phrase which is giving me a heavy wallop of jargon vertigo right about now.
Boing Boing: December 28, 2003 - January 3, 2004 Archives 2003
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In addition, Bell invented the photophone to demonstrate that light could be used to carry sound information, which in turn eventually led to the development of motion pictures with sound.
The Pawprints of History STANLEY COREN 2002
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In addition, Bell invented the photophone to demonstrate that light could be used to carry sound information, which in turn eventually led to the development of motion pictures with sound.
The Pawprints of History STANLEY COREN 2002
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In addition, Bell invented the photophone to demonstrate that light could be used to carry sound information, which in turn eventually led to the development of motion pictures with sound.
The Pawprints of History STANLEY COREN 2002
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In addition, Bell invented the photophone to demonstrate that light could be used to carry sound information, which in turn eventually led to the development of motion pictures with sound.
The Pawprints of History STANLEY COREN 2002
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