The Unsung Scientist
The spread of civilization may be likened to a fire; first, a feeble spark, next a flickering flame, then a mighty blaze, ever increasing in speed and power.
-Nikola Tesla
Born on 10th July, 1856, Nikola Tesla was an American-Serbian who was raised in the Austrian Empire. He went on to become one of the greatest scientists in history with his countless contributions to the electrical system. Yet this man was rarely ever mentioned in our textbooks as compared to the likes of Einstein and Edison.
Today, I'll be discussing the story of a man who might've been the greatest scientist in history surpassing Einstein.
Nikola Tesla enrolled in the Graz University of Technology but had soon abandoned it as he did not know Greek and Czech, two subjects that were required at the time. He later received an education in engineering and physics and became an excellent inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist. Tesla gained practical experience at the Budapest Telephone Exchange. He was later given a job by Tivadar Puskás in the Continental Edison Company, he made quite a success there after making improved versions of generating dynamos and motors and later moved to the U.S. where he first met Thomas Edison. It is unclear why Tesla had resigned after working for six months for the Edison Machine works but it is stated in his own biography that the manager of the Edison Machine Works offered a $50,000 bonus to design "twenty-four different types of standard machines", "but it turned out to be a practical joke".
After leaving the Edison Machine works, Nikola Tesla started his own utility company, the Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing. He worked in getting patents for his AC motors and even electrical transmission equipment. The company had decided to run an electric utility and abandon the manufacturing side as the business had become too competitive. This new utility company abandoned Tesla's company and left him without a penny. He even lost his patents to the company as he exchanged them for stock.
In order to continue his work, he did small electrical repair jobs and ditch digging. That year, 1886, was one of the toughest times of his life.
But in 1887 Tesla, together with two men, Alfred S. Brown and Charles F. Peck, formed the Tesla Electric company. There, in his new lab, he developed, improved and created more new types of electric motors, generators, etc. Regardless to say, most of his inventions were based on AC and he was an advocate in popularising it's use in a time when DC was the predominant form of transmission of electricity.
By this time, there was a long 'Current war' of DC and AC between Edison and Nikola Tesla.
Contrary to popular belief, Thomas Edison was more of a Businessman than an Inventor, even the Incandescent lamp (the electric bulb) was one of the patents he stole.
The electric light bulb had been in use 50 years before his claim of the patent, it was invented by a British Inventor. In fact, Edison had lost all his patent rights in Britain and then the US.
This fact, stated above, is necessary to understand what kind of character he had and his motives for popularising DC.
I won't be going into much detail of Nikola Tesla's inventions but most of you don't know that he is responsible for most of our technology we use today! The AC polyphase induction motor used in Tesla™ cars, the remote control, X-rays and even transmitting wireless energy.
In the Current War, the Tesla coil was one of his key inventions that would buy the favour of all the people for AC. He created a large scale Tesla coil and stuck dozens of bulbs in the plain earth, he set off the Tesla coil which wirelessly lit all the bulbs in the field, a marvellous breakthrough in technology. To this, Edison was pulling on straws to keep the market in his favour and pick on straws he did!
A horrific event conducted by him to prove to people that AC was a dangerous source of energy, he did this by electrocuting an adult elephant by placing it over live wires running on AC. This tragedy was held live and even recorded for all to see.
I will not be linking the video here as it is extremely graphic, viewer discretion is advised, you may find it on YouTube.
Nevertheless, Tesla was not deterred, he went on to prove the use of AC with his transformers. At last, the market was now in favour of AC and later on the Edison Machine works changed over to DC.
Despite having made such extraordinary inventions which are used to this day, he is considered a 'mad scientist' by many even to this day. Regardless, fellow readers, he had a very sane, intuitive and philosophical mind, having an interest in poetry and believing in the existence of a God like Einstein did.
In the latter part of his life, he spent working on the Wardenclyffe Tower for about 16 years which was never completed.
The major and arguably the only reason why it's construction was halted was because of Tesla's primary backer for the project, J.P. Morgan who refused to fund anymore after discovering Tesla's plans to make the tower a source for transferring free electricity to the entire world and the competition from Gugelielmo Marconi's radio based telegraph system.
On a side note, there was a long feud in court between Tesla and Marconi over the invention of the radio which was in Tesla's favour but inevitably won by Marconi after he had lost all backing. After winning the patent from Tesla, Marconi received the Nobel prize in 1911 for the radio which made Nikola furious. He attempted to sue Marconi's company for infringement in 1915 but was in no financial condition to do so. Only after a few months of his death, the patent was returned to his name.
Bankrupt and having suffered two mental breakdowns, Nikola Tesla kept moving from hotel to hotel whenever he was behind in his bills. He later died alone on 7 January, 1943 in his room in the New Yorker Hotel.
Till the very end, the imitators had suppressed his work and achievements.
The papers found in his room were handed over to the Alien Property Custodian despite him having attained citizenship in 1891. It's speculated that those papers had not been released up until now, that too with redactions, as it might've contained information on his 'Death ray' that he was rumoured to have been working on.
Known to be a fanatic of electricity, Nikola Tesla did what he knew was best but in the end the world wouldn't let him have his way. It only realised his worth when it lost him.
For all we know, the Wardenclyffe Tower might have been successful in generating power from the earth and transmitting it wirelessly. Not to mention, his work was also related with antigravity.
To conclude this long drawn article of history, I'll leave you with three questions; Why do you think Edison is portrayed as a great inventor in pop culture? Why is it that most of the recordings and videos of Tesla are practically non-existent? And why did the FBI release his papers 73 years after his death even though it was reported that 'there was nothing which could constitute a hazard in unfriendly hands'?
These are questions that you must answer yourself through your own research and learn the truth of our society.
And remember the life and work of Nikola Tesla to whom we are accredited to this day.
Until next time.
Nikola Tesla enrolled in the Graz University of Technology but had soon abandoned it as he did not know Greek and Czech, two subjects that were required at the time. He later received an education in engineering and physics and became an excellent inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist. Tesla gained practical experience at the Budapest Telephone Exchange. He was later given a job by Tivadar Puskás in the Continental Edison Company, he made quite a success there after making improved versions of generating dynamos and motors and later moved to the U.S. where he first met Thomas Edison. It is unclear why Tesla had resigned after working for six months for the Edison Machine works but it is stated in his own biography that the manager of the Edison Machine Works offered a $50,000 bonus to design "twenty-four different types of standard machines", "but it turned out to be a practical joke".
After leaving the Edison Machine works, Nikola Tesla started his own utility company, the Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing. He worked in getting patents for his AC motors and even electrical transmission equipment. The company had decided to run an electric utility and abandon the manufacturing side as the business had become too competitive. This new utility company abandoned Tesla's company and left him without a penny. He even lost his patents to the company as he exchanged them for stock.
In order to continue his work, he did small electrical repair jobs and ditch digging. That year, 1886, was one of the toughest times of his life.
But in 1887 Tesla, together with two men, Alfred S. Brown and Charles F. Peck, formed the Tesla Electric company. There, in his new lab, he developed, improved and created more new types of electric motors, generators, etc. Regardless to say, most of his inventions were based on AC and he was an advocate in popularising it's use in a time when DC was the predominant form of transmission of electricity.
By this time, there was a long 'Current war' of DC and AC between Edison and Nikola Tesla.
Contrary to popular belief, Thomas Edison was more of a Businessman than an Inventor, even the Incandescent lamp (the electric bulb) was one of the patents he stole.
The electric light bulb had been in use 50 years before his claim of the patent, it was invented by a British Inventor. In fact, Edison had lost all his patent rights in Britain and then the US.
This fact, stated above, is necessary to understand what kind of character he had and his motives for popularising DC.
I won't be going into much detail of Nikola Tesla's inventions but most of you don't know that he is responsible for most of our technology we use today! The AC polyphase induction motor used in Tesla™ cars, the remote control, X-rays and even transmitting wireless energy.
A horrific event conducted by him to prove to people that AC was a dangerous source of energy, he did this by electrocuting an adult elephant by placing it over live wires running on AC. This tragedy was held live and even recorded for all to see.
I will not be linking the video here as it is extremely graphic, viewer discretion is advised, you may find it on YouTube.
Nevertheless, Tesla was not deterred, he went on to prove the use of AC with his transformers. At last, the market was now in favour of AC and later on the Edison Machine works changed over to DC.
Despite having made such extraordinary inventions which are used to this day, he is considered a 'mad scientist' by many even to this day. Regardless, fellow readers, he had a very sane, intuitive and philosophical mind, having an interest in poetry and believing in the existence of a God like Einstein did.
In the latter part of his life, he spent working on the Wardenclyffe Tower for about 16 years which was never completed.
The major and arguably the only reason why it's construction was halted was because of Tesla's primary backer for the project, J.P. Morgan who refused to fund anymore after discovering Tesla's plans to make the tower a source for transferring free electricity to the entire world and the competition from Gugelielmo Marconi's radio based telegraph system.
On a side note, there was a long feud in court between Tesla and Marconi over the invention of the radio which was in Tesla's favour but inevitably won by Marconi after he had lost all backing. After winning the patent from Tesla, Marconi received the Nobel prize in 1911 for the radio which made Nikola furious. He attempted to sue Marconi's company for infringement in 1915 but was in no financial condition to do so. Only after a few months of his death, the patent was returned to his name.
Bankrupt and having suffered two mental breakdowns, Nikola Tesla kept moving from hotel to hotel whenever he was behind in his bills. He later died alone on 7 January, 1943 in his room in the New Yorker Hotel.
Till the very end, the imitators had suppressed his work and achievements.
The papers found in his room were handed over to the Alien Property Custodian despite him having attained citizenship in 1891. It's speculated that those papers had not been released up until now, that too with redactions, as it might've contained information on his 'Death ray' that he was rumoured to have been working on.
Known to be a fanatic of electricity, Nikola Tesla did what he knew was best but in the end the world wouldn't let him have his way. It only realised his worth when it lost him.
For all we know, the Wardenclyffe Tower might have been successful in generating power from the earth and transmitting it wirelessly. Not to mention, his work was also related with antigravity.
To conclude this long drawn article of history, I'll leave you with three questions; Why do you think Edison is portrayed as a great inventor in pop culture? Why is it that most of the recordings and videos of Tesla are practically non-existent? And why did the FBI release his papers 73 years after his death even though it was reported that 'there was nothing which could constitute a hazard in unfriendly hands'?
These are questions that you must answer yourself through your own research and learn the truth of our society.
And remember the life and work of Nikola Tesla to whom we are accredited to this day.
Until next time.
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