Nikola Tesla- a brilliant inventor, physicist and engineer of Serbian origin. He owns more than 100 patents in Electricity and Wave Physics. His most famous inventions made in the field of electrical and radio mechanics.
Brief biography of Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was born July 10, 1856 in the village of Smiljan in modern Croatia. His father - Milutin Tesla, Serbian Orthodox priest Diocese of Srem. His mother - Georgina Tesla (Mandic), daughter of a priest.
Childhood and studies
Tesla Jr. had three sisters and one (elder) brother, who died after falling from a horse when Nikola was 5 years old. Nikola graduated from the first grade of school in his native village, and the remaining 3 years in the city Gospic, where his parents moved after his father was promoted.
In 1870 Nikola completed three years of study at the lower gymnasium of Gospić and immediately entered the higher school in the city Karlovac. In 1873 he graduated from college and received a matriculation certificate.
In 1875 after a 9-month illness (cholera, dropsy), Nikola Tesla entered a technical school in Graz. There he began to study electrical engineering.
First job
In 1879 Nikola got a job as a teacher at the gymnasium in Gospic, where he himself studied. Work at Gospic did not suit him. The family had little money, and only thanks financial assistance from his two uncles, Petara and Pavla Mandić, young Tesla was able to leave in January 1880 to Prague, where he entered the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Prague. He studied for only one semester and was forced to look for work.
Tesla's first inventions
From 1880 to 1882, Tesla worked as an electrical engineer for the government telegraph company in Budapest, which at that time was engaged in the installation of telephone lines and the construction of a central telephone exchange.
In February 1882, Tesla figured out how to use a phenomenon in an electric motor that later became known as rotating magnetic field.
Work at the Edison company
At the end of 1882 Nikola got a job at Continental Edison Company in Paris. One of the company's largest works was the construction of a power plant for the railway station in Strasbourg.
At the beginning of 1883, the company sent Nikola to Strasbourg to solve a number of operational problems. In his free time, Tesla worked on manufacturing asynchronous motor models, and later demonstrated his work at the Strasbourg City Hall.
Working for Edison himself
In summer 1884 Tesla went to America, to New York. He got a job at a company ( Edison Machine Works) as a repair engineer for electric motors and DC generators. But he quit after Edison did not pay him the promised 50 thousand dollars for “innovation.”
Work in the project
After working for just a year at Edison's company, Tesla gained fame in business circles. Upon learning of his dismissal, a group of electrical engineers invited Nikola to organize his own company related to electric lighting issues.
Tesla projects for use alternating current they were not inspired, and then they changed the original proposal, limiting themselves to only the proposal to develop a project arc lamp for street lighting.
A year later the project was ready. Instead of money, the entrepreneurs offered the inventor part of the shares of the company created to operate the new lamp. This option did not suit the inventor, and the company responded by trying to get rid of him, trying to slander and discredit him.
Own company
in spring 1887 Nikola Tesla with the support of an engineer Brown and his friends are creating their own company to equip street lighting with new lamps. The company was called Tesla Arc Light Company.
Nikola Tesla rented a house on Fifth Avenue not far from the building occupied by Edison's company as an office for his company in New York.
A bitter dispute broke out between the two companies competitive fight, known in the United States as the “War of the Currents.”
Research activities
In July 1888, the famous American industrialist George Westinghouse bought more than 40 patents from Tesla, paying an average of 25 thousand dollars for each.
In 1888-1895 Tesla was researching high-frequency magnetic fields in his laboratory. These years were the most fruitful: he received many patents for inventions.
On March 13, 1895, a fire broke out in a laboratory on Fifth Avenue. The building burned to the ground, destroying the inventor's most recent achievements.
New laboratory and new achievements
Thanks to Edward Adams From the Niagara Falls company, Tesla received $100,000 to equip a new laboratory. Already in the fall, research resumed at a new address: 46 Houston Street.
At the end of 1896, Tesla achieved radio signal transmission over a distance of about 48 km.
Research in Colorado Springs
In 1899 Nikola Tesla moved to the small town of Colorado Springs, where he began to study the nature of lightning and thunderstorms. These studies led the inventor to think about the possibility of transmitting electricity wirelessly over long distances.
Tesla directed his next experiment to explore the possibility self-creation standing electromagnetic wave.
Based on the experiment, Tesla concluded that a specially created device allowed him to generate standing waves that propagated spherically from the transmitter, and then converged with increasing intensity in diametrically opposite point globe, somewhere near the islands of Amsterdam and Saint-Paul in the Indian Ocean.
Return to New York
In 1899, Nikola returned from Colorado to New York. After 1900, Tesla received many other patents for his inventions. in various fields of technology:
- electric meter,
- frequency meter,
- a number of improvements in radio equipment,
- innovations in steam turbines.
On May 18, 1917, Tesla was awarded the Edison Medal.
although he himself resolutely refused to receive it.
Hard work
In 1917, Tesla proposed the principle of operation of the device for radio detection of submarines.
In 1917-1926, Nikola Tesla worked in different cities of America. In 1934, Tesla's article was published in Scientific American, which caused widespread resonance in scientific circles.
Accident
One day, Tesla had an accident - he was hit by a car. After this incident, the already elderly Nikola Tesla remained bedridden forever.
Moreover, he fell ill with pneumonia and received a chronic form of this disease. On the night of January 7-8, 1943 Nikola Tesla died in his hotel room at the New Yorker Hotel.
On January 12, his body was cremated and an urn containing his ashes was placed in Fairncliffe Cemetery in New York. In 1957 it was moved to the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade.
Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856, in Smiljan, in the Austrian Empire. Primary school the future inventor graduated from Gospic. He then entered the lower real gymnasium and completed his studies in 1870. In the autumn of the same year, young Tesla entered the Karlovac Higher Real School. He received his matriculation certificate in 1873.
In 1875 Tesla became a student at Graz technical school, where he began to study electrical engineering. After completing his studies, he began studying teaching activities in the “native” Gospic gymnasium.
In January 1880, the young man was able to continue further education. He became a student at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Prague. But lack of money forced him to give up his dream of getting a higher education. After studying for only 1 semester, Tesla went in search of work.
Collaboration with Edison
In the summer of 1884, Tesla came to the USA and got a job at T. Edison's company. He was hired as an engineer for the repair of electric motors and DC generators.
The innovative ideas of the young inventor were received ambiguously by Edison. In the spring of 1885, Tesla was offered a $50,000 deal by his employer. The subject of the deal was a constructive improvement of DC electric machines, which were invented by Edison himself.
The scientist began to implement this project. Very soon, twenty-four varieties of Edison's machine were presented to Edison. The regulator and switch have been updated and significantly improved. The improvements were approved by the customer, but he refused to pay. When Tesla was indignant, Edison noticed that he still did not understand national humor well. The enraged inventor immediately quit.
New York laboratory
After his dismissal, Tesla began to collaborate with a group of electrical engineers who invited the inventor to found his own company. He worked on an arc lamp project for street lighting. The project was ready in 12 months. But Tesla again did not receive the reward.
In the summer of 1888, the American industrialist D. Westinghouse bought more than 40 patents from the scientist. For each of them, $25,000 was paid. The entrepreneur also invited a talented scientist to his company for a highly paid position. Tesla agreed, but the work did not bring him much satisfaction, since it prevented him from developing his own ideas. Therefore, despite the entreaties of his employer, the scientist returned to his New York laboratory.
In the spring of 1895, the laboratory was destroyed by fire. But the inventor said that he could restore all his discoveries from memory.
Material assistance was provided to him by E. Adams, who provided the inventor with 100 million dollars. A new laboratory was equipped with this money.
Major achievements and inventions
Studying the short biography of Nikola Tesla, you should know that in the winter of 1896 he managed to achieve the transmission of a radio signal over a distance of up to 48 kilometers.
In May 1917, the scientist was awarded the Edison Medal. Tesla himself refused to accept it for a long time. In the same year, the inventor proposed the principle of operation of a device for radio detection of submarines.
In 1925-1926 Tesla developed a gasoline pipe for the Philadelphia company Budd Company.
In 1934, Tesla published a resonant article in which he discussed the limits of the possibility of obtaining ultra-high voltages by charging spherical containers with static electricity from rubbing belts. According to the scientist, the discharges of this electric generator could not help study the structure of the atomic nucleus.
The famous scientist also owns the most useful inventions. He developed and used fluorescent lamps. This happened 40 years before their “discovery” by industry.
Tesla invented the electric motor. It was later popularized by a machine named after the scientist.
It was thanks to Tesla that the concept of the robot was “born”. He came to the conclusion that every Living being driven by external impulses. The inventor said that man is an automaton, equipped driving force. This “automatic machine” simply reacts to external stimuli.
Death
Nikola Tesla passed away on the night of January 7–8, 1943. The scientist always demanded that he not be disturbed. Therefore, a special sign was posted on the door of his New York room. For this reason, the body of the great inventor was discovered only 48 hours after his death. On January 12, his body was cremated. An urn containing the ashes was placed in Ferncliffe Cemetery.
Other biography options
- As a student, Tesla became addicted to playing cards. He lost almost all his money. When he happened to win, he gave money to the losers.
- At the end of the 90s, a “war of currents” broke out between Tesla and Edison. Despite the tricks of his former employer, Nikola Tesla emerged victorious. It was alternating current that began to be used in the country.
Description of the presentation by individual slides:
1 slide
Slide description:
2 slide
Slide description:
Nikola Tesla was a remarkable scientist. He was a Serbian inventor of Austro-Hungarian origin who developed the field of electrical engineering. At the same time he was a great physicist and supporter of modern electricity. Contemporaries called him “the man who invented the 20th century”, as his experiments somehow led to the next level of industrial revolution.
3 slide
Slide description:
Tesla was born in a small village Smilijan, which is now in Croatia, on July 10, 1856, in the family of an Orthodox priest. Regardless his father’s wish to see Nikola as a priest, the future scientist was always convinced he wanted to become an engineer. In 1882 he graduated from a prestigious university in Graz. By that time he was already invited to work in Paris for one large corporation.
4 slide
Slide description:
Soon he presented his first electric motor and got acquainted with Th. Edison. The later invited him to New York to work as an engineer, which was more than pleasant for the young inventor. Unfortunately the two talented inventors couldn’t work together and Tesla decided to quit. In 1888 he settled his own company and sold over 40 patents for large sums of money. Finally, he was financially free at the extent that he could devote more time to his beloved experiments.
5 slide
Slide description:
Almost 7 years he dedicated to experimenting with the magnetic field and high frequencies. Starting from 1899 he led a series of experiments, proving that electrical current can be easily passed through the ground. A year later he returned to New York City to build the tower for transatlantic link establishment. The money for the project was donated by one rich banker whose surname was Morgan.
6 slide
Slide description:
Tesla later confessed that his main aim was to create a machine capable of transmitting electricity to any corner of the planet. The great scientist died in 1943 at the age of eighty-six. The range of his discoveries was incredibly wide. He was the founder of the system of high voltages, the first samples of electromechanical generators, the rotating magnetic field, etc. In 1891 during the public lecture he demonstrated the principles of radio communication
Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856, according to a new style, in the village of Smilyan, Austrian Empire, near the city of Gospić, in the territory of modern Croatia. His parents were Serbs, his father Milutin Tesla, a priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church, his mother Duka Tesla (Mandić), an inventor with own business for the manufacture of home equipment. He had an older brother, Danilo, who died in an accident when Nikola was five years old, and three sisters, Milka, Angelina and Maritsa. In 1862, the Edison family moved to Gospić, where Nikola began his studies.
While studying at the Karlovac Higher Gymnasium, he amazed teachers with his ability to perform integral calculations in his head, which they found very difficult to believe. Probably, thanks to his talent, he completed the four-year gymnasium program in three years. After this, for some time he studied at the Austrian Polytechnic Institute of Graz, and until 1980 at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague. Unfortunately, no exact data has been preserved about the academic degrees awarded to him; it is possible that he simply did not complete his studies at either higher educational institution.
Nikola Tesla's career
Tesla did not stay in one place for too long; for four years, starting in 1880, he managed to work at the Budapest Telephone Company, then in Paris, at the Continental Edison company. And so, already in June 1884, after a tedious journey across the Atlantic, during which his money and part of his luggage were stolen, Tesla arrived in New York with only four cents in his pocket and a letter of recommendation from Charles Batchelor addressed to Thomas Edison : “I know two great men, one of them is you, and the other is this young man.” How accurately the contents of the letter are conveyed is unknown, and the point is not important,
Edison hired Tesla to work at Edison Machine Works. However, he did not remain in this company for long; the salary that Edison offered was too meager, so in 1885 he resigned.
Having created his own company, Tesla Electric Lights & Manufacturing, in 1886, but without receiving financial support, he was forced to earn a measly $2 a day digging ditches. Thus, the winter of 1886–1887, which turned out to be a time of “terrible headaches and bitter tears,” made him doubt the value of the education he received. But Tesla never ceased to be faithful to science. In 1888, he began working with George Westinghouse in the laboratories of the Pittsburgh company Westinghouse Electric & Manufacture. And after receiving the status of a naturalized resident of the United States in 1891, his research was just beginning to gain momentum. So in 1897 he received a patent for a radio, a year later he demonstrated a radio-controlled boat to the American military and then to the public, and in the same year he developed the first spark plugs for internal combustion engines.
Unfulfilled hopes
Having moved to Colorado Springs, from 1899 to January 1900 Tesla conducted grandiose experiments with high voltage voltage. Then, having received initial investment from John Morgan, he began the construction of the Wardenclyffe Tower on Long Island, with the help of which he planned to demonstrate the transmission of electrical energy across the Atlantic Ocean without the use of wires. But these plans were not destined to come true, since they ran counter to Morgan’s plans, and therefore the investment was stopped. Tesla tried in vain for about fifteen years to get money for his project from Morgan. With the outbreak of the First World War (1914-1918), he ceased to receive funds from his patents in European countries, and in 1917 his power station on Long Island was destroyed for fear of being used for their own purposes by German spies.
Perhaps excessively intense mental activity, obsession and the inability to carry out his plans contributed to the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder, which he suffered in subsequent years. The illness was accompanied by extremely strange behavior, obsession and aversion to certain things. His scientific work slowed down a bit, he registered his last patent in 1928, but this project did not have much practical value. The years passed. He no longer sought investment for his projects and preferred to be content with the pension he received from Yugoslavia. There was enough money for theoretical research, which, however, was no longer as fruitful as before.
Nikola Tesla, life beyond science
Tesla had an eidetic memory, spoke Slovak, Czech, English, French, German, Italian and Latin languages. Mentioning his talents, he talked about a strange illness, bright flashes before his eyes, accompanied by visions in the form of words and ideas that helped him in solving scientific problems. No less amazing was his ability to imagine his inventions in great detail before starting to implement them. Apparently, Tesla was completely absorbed in scientific activities, no matter what company he worked for, he brought many innovations to its work, and, judging by his words, he never slept more than two hours a day, sometimes working on his inventions without sleep and rest.
He loved to play billiards, chess and cards, which he picked up while studying in Graz, sometimes spending up to 48 hours straight on the game, was a connoisseur of food and drink, and a connoisseur of good music and poetry. He made friends with writers Mark Twain, Robert Underwood Johnson, and other creative people. Tesla preferred to spend most of his time alone, but when he appeared in public, many people greeted him positively and with admiration, especially when he gave spectacular displays of his inventions. Acquaintances described him as a versatile person, with a good-natured character, occasionally harsh and critical of people. Nikola Tesla never married, adhering to a vow of celibacy, and was convinced that relationships with women would harm his scientific abilities, although women loved him and made attempts to win his heart.
In the later years of his life, Tesla became a vegetarian, preferring only milk, bread, honey and vegetable juices from food. He saw barbaric reflections in eating meat, arguing that killing animals is “senseless and cruel”; in addition, he believed that eating meat products negatively affects mental activity and health in general. He had warm feelings for animals, closer to old age he fed pigeons, and even nursed wounded birds in order to release them into the wild again, and when he could not feed the pigeons on his own, he paid the boys to do it for him. The last ten years of his life at the hotel, in general, were a calm time, there were no more tense moments of constant struggle for his ideas, there were no endless trials and errors in the implementation of his plans, but in no case did he abandon scientific activity. But time is merciless; on January 7, 1943, at the age of 86, Tesla died of coronary thrombosis in his room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel.
Nikola Tesla's legacy
Thanks to Nikola Tesla, the science of that time stepped far forward; he was one of the founders of the modern system for transmitting electricity over distance, and gave birth to many inventions in the field of electrical engineering. His developments in electromagnetism helped inform the research activities of Michael Faraday, and his patents and theoretical work became the basis for modern communications and radio systems. Many of his developments still remain the object of study by modern scientists and researchers, but among hoaxers there is an opinion that the listed achievements of Nikola Tesla are just the tip of the iceberg, and that most of his inventions are simply kept silent. Someone is still, based on Tesla’s work, trying to find a way to wirelessly transfer energy over a distance and obtain free electricity. In any case, the title of Great Inventor was given to him not without reason.
In contact with
Nikola Tesla Essay, Research Paper
My great grandmother was born on September 30, 1895 in Strum, Wisconsin, and used to tell us the most important invention for the home, in her lifetime, was the clothes washing machine. Now history always seems to make the present era seem more civilized, when in fact, it is probably only cleaner, thanks to my grandmother’s favorite invention. But, I wonder if it is easier. Certainly, there were many patents issued in the 1880's for inventions that truly would change the lives of future generations, and a handful of these amazing contrivances would have a great impact on that which is truly important to an industrialized nation: the machinery that speeds business , business being the true backbone of a country, but to a country girl whose family depended on farming, the clothes washing machine still stands out as the one that saved her the most time.
So this essay will delve into the era of the 1880’s and focus on one of the most important inventors that ever lived, Nikola Tesla. Many business machines were patented before Nikola Tesla patented the alternating-current “electromagnetic motor” in 1888 (while the popular Thomas Edison was stubbornly clinging to direct-current motors), but soon more and more inventors were realizing this new source of harnessed power could bring glorious miracles to business, thus providing them with even more glorious profits. But first, the washing machine, truly in honor of my great grandmother, who will be 105 years old this year.
Before the days of washing machines, people got dirt out of their clothes by pounding them on rocks and washing the dirt away in streams. Sand was used as an abrasive to free the dirt. Soap was discovered at Rome’s Sapo Hill where ashes containing the fat of sacrificial animals were found to have good cleaning powers. The earliest washing “machine” – the scrub board – was invented in 1797.
In 1874 William Blackstone, a Bluffton, Indiana merchant and manufacturer of corn planters, built a birthday present for his wife. It was a machine that was removed and washed away dirt from clothes. It consisted of a wooden tub in which there was a flat piece of wood containing six small wooden pegs. The inner mechanism looked something like a small milking stool. It was moved back and forth by means of a handle and an arrangement of gears. Dirty clothes were snagged on the wooden pegs and swished about in hot soapy water. Mr. Blackstone began to build and sell his washers for $2.50 each. Five years later he moved his company to Jamestown, New York where it is located today and where it still produces washing machines.
Competitors moved in quickly – there have been more than 200 washing machine manufacturers in the U.S. in the past century. Competition has kept keep prices down. Many early washing machines cost less than $10.
A wringer, invented in 1861, was added to the washer. Metal tubs replaced wooden types around 1900. Drive belts made possible use of steam or gasoline engines in the early 1900s and electric motor power for the first time in 1906. A rotary handle and a flywheel underneath operated Maytag's first washer, built in 1907. In 1875 there had been more than 2,000 patents issued for various washing devices. Not every idea worked, of course. One company built a machine designed to wash only one item at a time.
What may have been the first “laundromat” was opened in 1851 by a gold miner and a carpenter in California. 10 donkeys powered their 12-shirt machine. Earliest washers were hand powered by means of a wheel, pump handle, or similar device. One was driven by twisted ropes that powered the washer by “unwinding” somewhat like the use of a rubber band to power model airplanes. One washer contained rollers that were pushed back and forth by hand to squeeze out dirt. Several featured “stomping” devices and one – called a “Loca-motive” was moved rapidly back and forth on a track washing the clothes by slamming them against the walls of the tub.
Now, a little about that inventor, Nikola Tesla:
NikolaTesla was born in Smijlan, Croatia in 1856. He had an extraordinary memory and spoke six languages. He spent four years at the Polytechnic Institute at Gratz studying math, physics, and mechanics. What made Tesla great, however, was his amazing understanding of electricity. Remember that this was a time when electricity was still in its infancy. The light bulb hadn’t even been invented yet.
When Tesla first came to the United States in 1884, he worked for Thomas Edison. Edison had just patented the light bulb, so he needed a system to distribute electricity. Edison had all sorts of problems with his DC system of electricity. He promised Tesla big bucks in bonuses if he could get the bugs out of the system. Tesla ended up saving Edison over $100,000 (millions of dollars by today’s standards), but Edison refused to live up to his end of the bargain. Tesla quit and Edison spent the rest of his life trying to squash Tesla’s genius (and the main reason Tesla is unknown today).
Tesla devised a better system for electrical transmission, alternating current, or AC. AC offered great advantages over the DC system. By using Tesla's newly developed transformers, AC voltages could be stepped up and transmitted over long distances through thin wires. DC could not (requiring a large power plant every square mile while transmitting through very thick cables). Of course, a system of transmission would be incomplete without devices to run on them. So, he invented the motors. This was no simple achievement – scientists of the late 1800’s were convinced that no motor could be devised for an alternating current system, making the use of AC a waste of time. After all, if the current reverses direction 60 times a second, the motor will rock back and forth and never get anywhere.
“If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search.” “I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor.” – Nikola Tesla
Tesla solved this problem easily and proved everyone wrong. He was using fluorescent bulbs in his lab some forty years before industry “invented” them. At World’s Fairs and similar exhibitions, he took glass tubes and molded them into the shapes of famous scientists’ names – the first neon signs that we
See all around us today. I almost forgot – Tesla designed the world’s first hydroelectric plant, located in Niagara Falls. He also patented the first speedometer for cars.
Word began to spread about his AC system and it eventually reached the ears of one George Westinghouse. Tesla signed a contract with Westinghouse under which he would receive $2.50 for each kilowatt of AC electricity sold. Suddenly, Tesla had the cash to start conducting all the experiments he ever dreamed of. But Edison had too much money invested in his DC system, so Tommy did his best to discredit Tesla around every turn. Edison constantly tried to show that AC electricity was far more dangerous than his DC power.
‘George Westinghouse was, in my opinion, the only man on this globe who could take my alternating-current system under the circumstances then existing and win the battle against prejudice and money power. He was a pioneer of imposing stature, one of the world’s true nobleman of whom America may well be proud and to whom humanity owes an immense debt of gratitude.” – Nikola Tesla
Tesla counteracted by staging its own marketing campaign. At the 1893 World Exposition in Chicago (attended by 21 million people), he demonstrated how safe AC electricity was by passing high frequency AC power through his body to power light bulbs. He then was able to shoot large lightning bolts from his Tesla coils to the crowd without harm. Nice trick!
When the royalties owed to Tesla started to exceed $1 million, Westinghouse ran into financial trouble. Tesla realized that if his contract remained in effect, Westinghouse would be out of business and he had no desire to deal with the creditors. His dream was to have cheap AC electric available to all people. Tesla took his contract and ripped it up! Instead of becoming the world’s first billionaire, he was paid $216,600 outright for his patents.
In 1898, he demonstrated to the world the first remote controlled model boat in Madison Square Garden. Tesla had a dream of providing free energy to the world. In 1900, backed by $150,000 from financier J.P. Morgan, Tesla began construction of his so-called “Wireless Broadcasting System” tower on Long Island, New York. This broadcasting tower was intended to link the world’s telephone and telegraph services, as well as transmit pictures, stock reports, and weather information worldwide. Unfortunately, Morgan cut funding when he realized that it meant FREE energy for the world. Tesla ran into financial trouble after Morgan cut funding for the project and the tower was sold for scrap to pay off creditors.
The world thought he was nuts – after all, transmission of voice, picture, and electricity was unheard of at this time. What they didn’t know was that Tesla had already demonstrated the principles behind radio nearly ten years before Marconi’s supposed invention. In fact, in 1943 (the year Tesla died), the Supreme Court ruled that Marconi’s patents were invalid due to Tesla’s previous descriptions. Still, most references do not credit Tesla with the invention of radio. (Side note: Marconi’s radio did not transmit voices – it transmitted a signal – something Tesla had demonstrated years before.) At this point, the press started to exaggerate Tesla’s claims. Tesla reported that he had received radio signals from Mars and Venus. Today we know that he was actually receiving the signals from distant stars, but too little was known about the universe at that time. Instead, the press had a field day with his “outrageous” claims.
In his Manhattan lab, Tesla made the earth into an electric tuning fork. He managed to get a steam-driven oscillator to vibrate at the same frequency as the ground beneath him the result? An earthquake on all the surrounding city blocks. The buildings trembled, the windows broke and the plaster fell off the walls. Tesla contended that, in theory, the same principle could be used to destroy the Empire State Building or even possibly split the Earth in two. Tesla had accurately determined the resonant frequencies of the Earth almost 60 years before science could confirm his results. Don’t think he didn’t attempt something like splitting the Earth open (well, sort of).
In his Colorado Springs lab in 1899, he sent waves of energy all the way through the Earth, causing them to bounce back to the source. When the waves came back, he added more electricity to it. The result? The largest man-made lightning bolt ever recorded – 130 feet! – A world’s record is still unbroken! The accompanying thunder was heard 22 miles away. The entire meadow surrounding his lab had a strange blue glow, similar to that of St. Elmo's Fire. But, this was only a warm-up for his real experiment! Unfortunately, he blew out the local power plant’s equipment and he was never able to repeat the experiment.
At the beginning of World War I, the government desperately searched for a way to detect German submarines. The government put Thomas Edison in charge of the search for a good method. Tesla proposed the use of energy waves – what we know today as radar – to detect these ships. Edison rejected Tesla’s idea as ludicrous and the world had to wait another 25 years until it was invented. His reward for a lifetime of creativity? The prized (to everyone but Tesla) Edison Medal! A real slap in the face after all the verbal abuse Tesla took from Edison. The stories go on and on.
Industry’s attempt (obviously very successful) to purge him from the scientific literature had driven him into exile for nearly twenty years. Lacking capital, he was forced to place his untested theories into countless notebooks. The man who invented the modern world died nearly penniless at age 86 on January 7, 1943. More than two thousand people attended his funeral. In his lifetime, Tesla received over 800 different patents. He probably would have exceeded Edison’s record number if he wasn’t always broke – he could afford very few patent applications during the last thirty years of his life. Unlike Edison, Tesla was an original thinker whose ideas typically had no precedent in science. Unfortunately, the world does not financially reward people of Tesla’s originality. We only award those that take these concepts and turn them into a refined, useful product.
Cheney, Margaret, Tesla: Man Out of Time (Dell Publishing, 1981)
Tesla, N., Electrical Experiment (1919)
Tesla, N., The Strange Life of Nikola Tesla (unknown publishing date or place used) Book actually red on web page:www.neuronet.pitt.edu/~biodam/tesla/tesla.pdf
www.neuronet.pitt.edu/~bogdam/tesla/bio.thm
www.neuronet.pitt.edu/~bogdam/tesla/chicago.htm
www.neuronet.pitt.edu/~bogdam//tesla/niagara.htm
www.neuronet.pitt.edu/~biodam/tesla/tesla.pdf