Technology: Nikola Tesla

A few days ago in class, we watched a movie about Nikola Tesla. Here  are some facts I learned about him.

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American engineer and physicist who lived from 1856-1943. Tesla made dozens of breakthroughs in the production, transmission and application of electric power. He also invented the first alternating current (AC) motor and developed AC generation and transmission technology, among a few things.

Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan, Croatia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1863, Tesla’s brother Daniel was killed in a riding accident. The shock of the loss unsettled Tesla, who reported seeing visions—the first signs of his lifelong mental illnesses.

Tesla studied math and physics at the Technical University of Graz and philosophy at the University of Prague. In 1882, he came up with the idea for a brushless AC motor and started making the first sketches of its rotating electromagnets.

Tesla arrived in New York in 1884. Soon after arriving, he was hired as an engineer at Thomas Edison’s Manhattan headquarters. Tesla worked there for a year and impressed Edison with his diligence. One day, Edison told Tesla he would pay $50,000 for an improved design for his DC dynamos. After months of experimentation, Tesla presented a solution and asked for the money. Edison demurred, saying, “Tesla, you don’t understand our American humor.” This caused Tesla to quit.

After an unsuccessful attempt to start his own Tesla Electric Light Company, Tesla found backers to support his research into alternating current. In 1888, he was invited to address the American Institute of Electrical Engineers on his work. His lecture caught the attention of George Westinghouse, the inventor who had launched the first AC power system near Boston.

Westinghouse hired Tesla, licensed the patents for his AC motor, and gave him his own lab. In the 1890s, Tesla invented electric oscillators, meters, improved lights and the high-voltage transformer known as the Tesla coil. He also experimented with X-rays, gave short-range demonstrations of radio communication, and piloted a radio-controlled boat around a pool in Madison Square Garden. Together, Tesla and Westinghouse lit the 1891 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and partnered with General Electric to install AC generators at Niagra Falls, creating the first modern power station.

In 1895, Tesla’s New York lab burned, destroying years’ worth of notes and equipment. He tried to get back up on his feet, but funds ran out. Tesla spent his last years feeding pigeons and claiming to communicate with them. Tesla died in his hotel room on January 7, 1943.

Tesla was a great engineer who created many things. The world wouldn’t be where it is today without him. Even though he may not have been recognized for his accomplishments in his time, we should definitely appreciate the things he did for us now.

Fun Fact: During the 1890s, the author Mark Twain struck up a friendship with inventor Nilola Tesla.