Reis was born in Gelnhausen, Germany, the son of Marie Katharine (Glöckner) and Karl Sigismund Reis, a master baker. His father belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran church. Reis's mother died while he was an infant, … See more

Reis imagined electricity could be propagated through space, as light can, without the aid of a material conductor, and he performed some experiments on the subject. The results were described in a paper, "On the Radiation of Electricity", which, in 1859, he … See more

Besides Reis and Bell, many others claimed to have invented the telephone. The result was the Gray-Bell telephone controversy, … See more

• Legat, V. 1862. Reproducing sounds on extra galvanic way [cited 26 March 2006]. Available here.
• Thompson, Sylvanus P., Philipp Reis: Inventor of the Telephone, London: E. & F. N. Spon, 1883.
• Munro, John, Heroes of the Telegraph, 1891. See more

Later, Reis continued his teaching and scientific studies, but his failing health had become a serious impediment. For several years it was only by … See more

In 1878, four years after his death and two years after Bell received his first telephone patent, European scientists dedicated a monument to Philip … See more

• German inventors and discoverers
• History of the telephone See more