Tufts University: 175 Years of Innovation

Former Tufts Physics and Astronomy Department Chair Amos Dolbear began a series of inventions and patents in 1885 which eventually led to the creation of the telephone. Throughout his extensive career studying physics and chemistry Dolbear invented tools such as the electric gyroscope, which was used to demonstrate the Earth’s rotation, and the opeidoscope– an instrument used to represent sounds visually– as well as the static telephone and a new system of incandescent lighting. Through his innovations in the field of digital communication Dolbear obtained a patent on the wireless telegraph before Heinrich Hertz or Guglielmo Marconi. When Tufts began admitting women in 1892, Dolbear was one of only three faculty members who fully supported the decision.