Did you know that the first metal detector was built to save lives? Did you know that it was built to save the life of the American President James Garfield.
And that is not all. The first metal detector was invented by the same person that invented the telephone! No other than Alexander Graham Bell.
95% of all humans currently on earth use Graham's inventions. The device on which you read this article is based on the invention of the telephone which was invented by Bell who also invented the metal detector.
Modern life as we know it would be impossible without the man who invented the metal detector and telephone. Fact.
That's interesting right?
Ok. Here is the story.
President Garfield Gets Shot
On the morning of July 2, 1881, Charles Guiteau shot President James Garfield. President Garfield was on his way to the train station. When he entered the waiting room of the station Guiteau fired twice at the President using a revolver.
The first bullet just grazed the president's shoulder but the second bullet struck him in the back. It was lodged in the tissue near his pancreas. Guiteau went quietly into custody and since the police officers missed to check him for weapons he still had his revolver when he arrived at the police station. He could have shot more people there but did not.
The President was rushed back to the White House as the public was still in confusion about what happened.
The attacker was mentally ill.
Looking at the facts Guiteau was probably mentally ill. He experienced a lot of trauma and developed a delusion that God himself ordered him to kill President Garfield.
Source: Cartoon depicting Charles Guiteau.
Trouble Finding the Bullet in the President Body
Garfield’s doctors tried several times to remove the bullet but failed every time. Bell knew about the problem and wrote a letter to the president's doctors telling them that he could develop a metal detector to detect the bullet. He actually had developed such a device while inventing the telephone. He would just need to modify it. The president's doctor rejected that at first but asked Bell a couple of weeks later to try since the doctors still had not been able to locate and extract the bullet.
Bell Builds the First Metal Detector
Bell met the doctors and immediately began developing the machine, testing it on Civil War veterans who still had bullets lodged in their own bodies. The machine functioned well during those tests.
Source: History Collection
Bell Uses The First Metal Detector on President Garfield
Finally Bell went to see the president. He assembled his metal detector and started screening the President’s back with it. But the detector did not function as it did during the tests which caused some questions in Bell's mind. The signal was dull and static. He could not detect any metal object with the machine like that. So he went home to modify and improve the machine.
The second time he tried Bell was able to locate a spot where the detector emitted a weak signal. But it was still different than during the tests. Bell was not satisfied with the result.
Interferences Caused by A Metal Bed
Analysing why the metal detector would not work on President Garfield as it did on the soldiers during the test, Bell realised that Garfield's bed was made out of metal. So Bell tested the detector on other metal beds and indeed it produced the same interference as he did when treating President Garfield. So he successfully identified the reason for such interferences. During the early tests the detecting was done on bodies without any metal in the direct vicinity.
The President Dies Before Bell Could Use The Detector Again
He modified the detector again but it was too late. President Garfield was moved to another place and died shortly after. It is said that he did not die because of the bullet but from the infections caused by his doctors. His doctors did not use sterile equipment and did not even wash their hands properly so the wounds got infected.
This is the story of how the first metal detector was developed. It was for a noble cause and to save lives.
And the inventor of the metal detector was no one else than Alexander Graham Bell, one of the most important investors of all time.
Technical Problems and Solutions Developed
It is also interesting because this story described all the trouble Gold and treasure hunters go through with older generations metal detectors. The metal bed in which President Garfield lies causes the same interferences as hot rocks and highly mineralized soil. So the detectors get confused and make it difficult to find metal objects. That is exactly the reason why technologies like ground balancing, ground tracking and noise chancel features were invented. Nearly all modern metal detectors incorporate such features and make life for gold and treasure hunters much easier.
Various Applications of Metal Detectors
Source: CEIA Industrial Detector
So there are various types of metal detectors today for various purposes. You can read more about it here.
The medical and industrial applications of metal detectors were developed further as well of course. So besides gold and treasure detectors there are larger industrial metal detecting machines detectors used to detect metall objects in …
food products
animals and humans
consumables (tobacco etc)
pharmaceutical products
facilities and structures
…
This list is not exhaustive.
List of Major Metal Detector Manufactures for Industrial and Medical Purposes
The use of such devices is mandatory in certain sensitive industries like food and pharmaceuticals. Medical applications are many as well. For instance before a patient is allowed into an MRI he should be checked for metal objects in or on his body which would otherwise heat up. Examples of manufactures for such metal detecting devices for medical and industrial applications are:
Conclusion
95% of all humans today use devices that would not exists if it were not for Graham Bells invention of the phone. The very device you use right now to read this article is based on it. So Graham Bells inventions touch everyones lives, including yours and mine. And that means the is a connection between the inventor of the metal detector and everyone of us.
If someone asks you who invented metal and gold detectors, you have your answer now. Alexander Graham Bell is the inventor of the metal detector.
When I learned this I found this interesting. I would not have suspected that.
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