Johann Philipp Reis

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/johann-philipp-reis

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Johann Philipp Reis born?January 7, 1834
2. Where was Johann Philipp Reis born?Gelnhausen, Germany
3. What is Johann Philipp Reis known for?Pioneered the concept of voice transmission over wires; coined the term 'telephone'
4. What is the career?Self-taught scientist and inventor, also worked as a teacher
5. Who was Johann Philipp Reis?He was a German inventor born in 1834 who built the first telephone that could send voices over distance.
6. What did Reis invent in 1861?He made the first make‑and‑break telephone, the first device that could transmit human voice through electric signals.

Autodidacticism: The process of learning a subject or skill by oneself, without formal instruction.
Make-and-break telephone: An early telephone design where an electrical contact is repeatedly made and broken to transmit sound signals.
Electronic signals: Patterns of electrical current or voltage used to encode and transmit information, such as sound or data.
Proof of concept: A demonstration that a proposed idea, theory, or technology is feasible and can be made to work.