THE VISIONS OF TESLA - When Nikola
Tesla saw a drawing of Niagara Falls as a boy he told his uncle he’d place a
wheel underneath to harness its power. He went to university but didn’t finish,
before immigrating to America from Europe in 1884. Tesla found work quickly at
Thomas Edison’s laboratory, often interacting closely with the brilliant
inventor. Edison’s electrical system, based on direct current power (DC), was
supplying light to homes in Manhattan but its reach was limited to a mile. Not
long after leaving Edison, Tesla showed his alternating current (AC) motor
design to George Westinghouse, another captain of industry. AC waves have gaps
between the peaks, transmitting a secondary wave to fill in, thus switching
directionality back and forth. A vision of AC came to Tesla in the form of a
picture, allowing him to see the transmission of power over long distances.
Meanwhile, Edison was shut out of the company he founded (Edison Electric) and
further humiliated with a name change to General Electric. When Niagara Falls
was harnessed as a power source in 1896 as Tesla predicted, General Electric
dropped DC which obliterated it forever. Even today, AC is still the standard.
Tesla’s ideas surpassed what he was able to accomplish in his lifetime.
Particle beam weapons, the Tesla coil, radio antennas, the quark, remote
control, neon/ fluorescent lights, X ray, seismic activity, radar and
atmospheric energy transmission. Tesla demonstrated the principles behind the
radio nearly ten years before Guglielmo Marconi. Radio patents were issued to
Tesla, then reversed to Marconi, only to be posthumously credited back to
Tesla. Westinghouse convinced Tesla to foolishly give up his patents early on
during the AC/DC energy wars. At the age of 86 in 1943, Tesla died penniless,
the recipient of more than 800 patents. Science looks to his notebooks for new
discoveries to this day.
Very interesting! There is a show on netflix called Murdoch Mysteries that has a neat episode about Tesla at this time period.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know anything about Nikola Tesla before reading this, thanks for sharing all this. I'm going to watch the Netflix episode now that I want to learn more.
ReplyDeleteAmazing. Great images and very interesting information about Tesla. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWOW! I had never heard of the guy! Amazing! Chelmsford in the UK (where I live) proudly presents itself as the 'Birthplace of radio' because of Marconi. Doesn't even mention Tesla. Makes you think.
ReplyDeleteChad, this is a fascinating post. I will look into Tesla now that you have alerted us to him so skillfully. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a lot of early scientists died pennilessly while their findings have drastically changed life.
ReplyDeleteExcellent blog post!
ReplyDeleteIt's a real shame he was cheated out of his patents. The same thing happened to Philo Farnsworth in the television patent wars with RCA and the Ford and Chrysler automatic windshield wiper patent wars with Robert Kearns. You'd think that companies would realize the importance of the people who invent things. Without their forward thinking and talents we would have no technology at all. Excellent post.
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