The Life and Legacy of Nikola Tesla
Mechanical and electrical engineer, Nikola Tesla was an influential leader in the electrical sciences. Not only did he become top competitors with his former employer, Thomas Edison, he created the worldwide standard: Alternating current. This futurist had a rough life, starting out poor, becoming rich, then losing it all again. This genius was a visionary and created many theories that are proven today. But this visionary was laughed at and excluded from the scientific community. His detailed life story has become a lesson for all human beings today.
According to American National Biography Online, “Nikola Tesla was born on July 9th, 1856 in Smiljan, Croatia. He was the son of Milutin Tesla, a minister in the Serbian Orthodox Church.” Nikola Tesla was a son of an Orthodox priest, and he was strongly urged to continue in his path. But, Tesla found his life’s purpose when he first saw his mother experimenting with and creating electrical appliances to help with their lives. He also studied physics, mathematics, and mechanics at a university in
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Prague. This futuristic genius didn’t stop there. Finding a new life, Tesla moved to the United States. Here, he delved into his studies and found himself working with Thomas Edison, a famous engineer at the time. Edison saw the potential in this young engineer and gave him a job, and Tesla worked tirelessly on Edison’s inventions. The two were vastly different, both in their educations and personalities, but both proved to be extremely full of themselves. Tesla found that he was cheated by Edison, since Edison refused to uphold his side of a bet that they had agreed on. After that, Tesla finally got enough money to create his own company, the Tesla Electric Light Company. In this time, Tesla patented some of his most famous works: AC generators, wires, transformers, lights, and a 100 horsepower AC motor. Some of the reasons for the split between Edison and Tesla were that Tesla had created AC and believed that it would be better for the world if they used AC. Edison, however, claimed that his DC electricity was safer and a better choice. Edison even publicly tortured an elephant named Topsy publicly to prove that AC was not safe. The elephant was killed, and by its unnecessary death, we can see that the highly esteemed Thomas Edison is still great inventor and a genius, but he is also a murderer. Tesla formed a partnership with George Westinghouse after Westinghouse, an engineer himself, bought all of Tesla’s patents for a large sum of money. The money was used for later projects, and Westinghouse joined the battle between Tesla and Edison as a financial helper to Tesla. Westinghouse popularized AC, and Edison eventually lost the “war.” Nikola Tesla created an alternating current system of generators, motors and transformers and held 40 patents on the system, which George Westinghouse bought. Tesla was extremely determined to supply America with AC, and he wanted to better America and the world. According to http://www.teslasociety.com/biography.htm, “Edison did not want to lose his DC empire, and a bitter war ensued. This was the war of the currents between AC and DC. Tesla-Westinghouse ultimately emerged the victor because AC was a superior technology. It was a war won for the progress of both America and the world.” AC became a worldwide standard. The very same hydroelectric power plant that powers part of New York from Niagara Falls is the same one that Tesla envisioned. Tesla on Edison: "If he had a needle to find in a haystack, he would not stop to reason where it was most likely to be, but would proceed at once, with the feverish diligence of a bee, to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. ... I was almost a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor." ~New York Times, October 19, 1931 (the day after Edison died) As shown in the quote above, both Edison and Tesla would commonly criticize the other’s work. After Tesla was forced to forfeit a large project to save him from bankruptcy, Tesla moved back into his small apartment. In this time, Tesla created many theories that were considered “hare-brained” by other scientists. Tesla had stated that he could broadcast actually power across the world from a radio transmitter. The scientific community immediately dismissed this idea because they believed that radio waves could not be bent down and transferred like that. Years later, it was proved to be possible. During the second World War, Tesla proposed the idea for a series of “death ray” towers. These towers would act as a national defense system that could shoot down planes from miles away. This idea was dismissed as well, but was, once again, proved to be plausible. This pattern of professionals who would not admit that Tesla was correct gave Tesla a bad name, and therefore excluded him from the scientific community. The poor man was an outcast, his name erased from the genius ideas that he had created. Refusing the admit that they were wrong about Tesla, they instead chose to escape public humiliation by taking Tesla out of the picture. What can we learn from this? We can learn that the electricity running behind your laptop cords is alternating current. We can also learn that, from the example of the scientific community, that admitting your wrong is an important part of honor. People like Tesla deserve credit for their actions, and we should not make assumptions as to whether they are making crazy ideas full of supposed “idiocy.” Instead, if we are to be proven wrong in our first assumptions about their ideas, we are to instead of face the humiliation and admit that we were wrong.
The difference between us and the scientists back then is that we have an example. And, we can learn from this example. It takes a true man with true courage to stand up and continue working, even after being made fun of by your peers. In a nutshell, Tesla, a man of extraordinary genius, was driven away from his own scientific community. Tesla had a myriad of scientific achievements, and some of which are very famous. Finally, stripped of his fame and fortune, Tesla was not credited with many of his scientific achievements. I believe that we can all learn from Tesla’s life, and that through his life, we can all be
changed.
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer and physicist. He was also considered an eccentric genius and recluse. Tesla is best known for his feud with Thomas Edison over AC power Versus DC Power. He was also well known for inventing the Tesla Coil which is still used in radio technology today. Nikola Tesla was mostly forgotten until the 1990’s when there was a resurgence of interest in popular culture.
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was an eccentric man that was many lifetimes ahead of his generation. He was a man that dreamed of giving the world an unlimited supply of wireless energy. His genius imagination allowed him to think outside the box and solve issues that others had thought were unsolvable. Nikola Tesla proposed his vision for a system powered by an alternating current generator to Thomas Edison and was shot down because Thomas Edison’s power structure had already been established using a direct current system. The two butt heads however Nikola Tesla was relentless. After being used and rejected by Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla picked himself and went toe to toe with the most prolific inventor. The stage for David vs Goliath was set. Through Nikola Tesla’s borderline obsession to solve the design for an alternating current motor and sacrificing his own opportunity to become a wealthy man, we now live in a very efficient world where everyone reaps the rewards of his genius, few know his name, and even fewer know what he did.
Nikola Tesla (Physicist, Inventor, Futurist) – Nikola Tesla was a Serbian American electrical engineer, inventor, physicist, futurist and mechanical engineer who was recognized for his assistance in the proposal of alternating current (AC) for the system of electricity. He was born on July 10, 1856 in Smiljan, Austrian Empire which is presently known as Croatia. His father was named Milutin Tesla and was an Orthodox Priest. While his mother, Duka Tesla, was good in making home mechanical appliances, craft tools and has the skill to memorize Serbian poems.
In the 1880s, there was a war going on in the United States. Backstabbing, secrecy, and death were common. However, this war had no weapons. It was a dual between two geniuses. These two men are the fathers of modern technology. The War of Currents was a battle between the famous inventor Thomas Edison, and the mysterious genius Nikola Tesla. Tesla and Edison engaged in an epic competition to create the most efficient, cheap, usable form of electricity. Everyone knows who Thomas Edison was, but not many people know of Nikola Tesla. Tesla was an unappreciated mastermind who changed the world with his inventions, performed many strange experiments, and practically invented usable electricity.
As James Levine is famous for saying, “I was lucky that I met the right mentors and teachers at the right moment.” To me, one of the greatest mentors of innovative scientific history was Nikola Tesla. That being said, if given the opportunity to spend the next year of my life in a different time period I would like to live during the year 1942 so I could work beside Tesla. This was the year before Tesla died, a time when he had experienced the full scope of his expertise and could impart that wisdom to me. My questions about his popularity would be answered in full. Questions about Tesla’s integrity could lead to the answer to the legendary disputes about what was rightfully his. Legends about genius inventions that could only be imagined
The Earth is not a piece of quartz - it’s like a stone with many imperfections and scratches, and though it retains its scratches, it attempts to heal them; it bandages its wounds. To heal a wound, though, it must be first isolated: and in the case of the world, it is literal flaw that resides with the mask of a wound - combated, though not incapacitated, by the innovators of the Earth. A telephone, refrigerator, microwave, civil rights and gender equality - not only technology, but even a concept as imperative as liberation or equality have altered the globe (as humans see it), for the better: technology has made life easier for humans, ideal rights and equality have been gifted to those that require it, and efforts have been exclaimed in order to protect the natural amenities that are taken for granted. The reason adhered to by the innovators, dedicated to creating the aforesaid circumstances, is rather simple: they endeavor as they do because of the profit that befits not only themselves, but the world in doing so. When Alexander Graham Bell and Antonio Meucci developed the telephone, they distributed communication among the masses (a profit), and thereby changed the globe for the better; that same reason is reflected throughout the ages: Percy Spencer, inventor of the microwave, gained favorable avail via his invention for not only himself, but the Earth as well. Thus, the innovators of the world retain that reason: they change things for the better because of the positive benefit that would befit doing so - the positive benefit for not only themselves, but the world. Nikola Tesla, one of those innovators, arguably fathomed that reason more than anyone. “Born on July 9, 1856, in Smijan, Croatia, Tesla was the child of a clergy...
Nikola Tesla is a man that many individuals associate with brilliance. Moreover, Tesla is a name that ignites impulses within an individual’s brain which illuminate, via bio-circuitry, the thought association of Tesla and brilliance, similar to the force we term as electricity. Brilliance however, shouldn’t be the only descriptive word to come to mind when thinking of one of the greatest engineers and inventors to live. Innovation and determination should be undoubtedly included in the list of descriptive words of Mr. Nikola Tesla. For without the innovative mind of Tesla, midcentury inventions as well as current technological advances would be nonexistent, or worse, credited to Thomas Edison.
Although Faraday was unsuccessful when it came to money, he was very successful in the field of science, namely electric science. One of his most important discoveries is that of electro-magnetic induction. It was this experiment, and others of the like, that brought about the discoveries of Maxwell, Rutherford, and Einstein, and elevated Faraday from the son of a poor blacksmith, to a great man of modern science.
words Nikola Tesla are likly to summon up the image of a crackpot rather than
"Were we to seize and eliminate from our industrial world the results of Mr. Tesla's work, the wheels of industry would cease to turn, our electric cars and trains would stop, our towns would be dark, our mills would be dead and idle. Yes, so far reaching is his work that it has become the warp and woof of industry... His name marks an epoch in the advance of electrical science.
Thomas Alva Edison was declared the most important man of the century according to Time magazine. He graced the world with his incandescent bulb, powered by a rapidly growing electrical movement of which he was a major leader. What most people do not understand is the fact that if the “Wizard” had his way, there would be a power plant every several miles, scattered about the land like sprinkles on a cupcake. At the time, direct current was the only choice, inhibiting as it was. Then, thanks to a man names Nikola Tesla, an alternating current motor was invented, allowing much more efficient electricity travel. This is just one example of the impact Telsa has had on the modern world. The forgotten father of science, Tesla, is responsible for numerous complex inventions that have changed and will continue to change the modern world.
Thomas Alva Edison was considered one of the greatest inventors and industrial leader. He had over 1000 inventions but none greater then his ability to develop a system that would provide people with a wide safe stable and efficient light and power. This also lead to other countries such as Europe and South America to follow this wonderful invention that modernized the world forever.
When two great minds clash, the entire world takes notice. Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla are both known for their ingenious brilliance, their innovation, and their impact on the electrical industry, and although they are both well-known inventors in their own right, the main event that brought their fame to its peak was the “War of
Thomas Edison is widely regarded as one of the most influential inventors and innovators of the Twentieth Century. Edison’s efforts ushered in a new era of technology; a world in which electricity would be harnessed and made to bow before man’s will. Walter Lippman wrote, “It is impossible to measure the importance of Edison by adding up the specific inventions with which his name is associated” (qtd. in Baldwin 409). Edison’s decades long career was a synergistic melding of his success as an inventor and his prowess as a promoter and businessman. He exemplified the ideals of intelligence married to hard work and perseverance. He forever changed the landscape of American invention and the limits of technological change (Baldwin 409).
Nikola Tesla is regarded as one of the most brilliant inventors in history. His work provided the basis for the modern alternating current power system, as well as having developed both radio and the fluorescent light bulb. He worked with Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, among others. He was also widely misunderstood by his peers and the public at large.