Nicholas Tesla

Many scientists have existed in the world who have managed to leave an important legacy in the field of science, one of them was Nikola Tesla , a renowned engineer and scientist who is known for having devised and created the first alternating current electrical system which at present, it is the electrical system that predominates worldwide in the field.

Biography of Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan , a village located in Croatia on July 10, 1856. After conducting several studies, in 1882 thought of making a motor AC and made the first sketches of its rotating electromagnets . That year he decided to move to Paris and there he worked repairing DC power plants for the company called Continental Edison.

Two years later he decided to move to the United States arriving in New York in 1884 to later be hired as an engineer by Thomas Edison. In that place he worked for a year with his performance he caught Edison’s attention thanks to his intelligence. He tried to found his own company called Tesla Electric Light Company , however he did not find enough support for his research. Between the years of 1887 and 1888 he managed to obtain around 30 patents thanks to his inventions and gave a speech at the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.

This lecture succeeded in drawing the attention of George Westinghouse , an inventor who had started the first alternating current system and who was in fact Edison’s main competitor. This company decided to hire him and gave him the license for his alternating current motor and a laboratory.

Death

Nikola Tesla passed away on October 18, 1931 in West Orange due to an arteriosclerosis that life affected his health considerably.

Education

He studied mathematics and physics at the Technical University of Graz , he also studied philosophy at the University of Prague . I also study at the Realschule , Karlstadt in Germany.

Nikola Tesla’s contributions

Throughout his career Nikola Tesla discovered and developed a series of ideas that were later used for important inventions, many of them were officially patented by other inventors. His ideas helped create the dynamos and the induction motor. He was also one of the great pioneers in the discovery of radar technology , the X – rays, the remote controls and the magnetic field rotating in addition to all his contributions to AC electricity .

Featured Inventions of Nikola Tesla

Some of his most prominent and important inventions are mentioned below.

• He designed the alternating current electrical system which would later become the main power system of the 20th century.
• In 1895 he managed to design one of the first hydroelectric plants that worked with alternating current in the United States using the waters of Niagara Falls.
• The Tesla coil which he managed to patent at the end of the 19th century and which promoted the bases of wireless technologies that are currently used in different radio technologies.
• He built a free energy project in which he designed a laboratory with a power plant and a transmission tower that became known as Wardenclyffe , which was based on the construction of a global wireless communication system .
• He invented electric oscillators , meters, and high-voltage transformers .
• Made several experiments radio at short range.

Physical characteristics

Nikola Tesla was 1.90 meters tall , regarded as a handsome man, and very well cared for. His hair was black a little wavy , he was thin and he used to wear a mustache.

Personality

Regarding his personality, his problems began after his brother died as a child in a tragic accident, it was at that moment when he began to confuse real objects with imaginary ones . He was a man who avoided having physical contact with other people so as not to catch germs. He was afraid of women, experts consider, that at present, he had been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder.

He suffered from lack of sleep , which also influenced his strange behaviors. He had several tastes, including whiskey, as he said it gave him energy. He was a lonely man who lived bitter most of his life and who also had a strange obsession with pigeons , mentioning that he had fallen in love with one of them and that the dove felt the same for him.

Parents

His father, Milutin Tesla was a Serbian Orthodox priest and writer who insisted that his son enter the priesthood, however Tesla’s interest was in the sciences. His mother was in charge of managing a family farm .

Relations

Nikola Tesla never had romantic relationships because he was afraid of women.

Sons

No children of Nikola Tesla are registered.

Relationship with Thomas Edison

With Thomas Edison he had a rivalry . He began to work with him in 1884 , however, Edison had a more empirical type of work method which was based on trial and error and because of this, he never managed to have a good relationship with Nikola Tesla who was more reflective and scientist . This great rivalry became known as the war of the currents as the two fought to prove who had discovered electricity.

Edison defended the direct current system while Tesla the alternating current system . So Edison played dirty and took it upon himself to travel across the country electrocuting animals to test the risks that his rival’s proposal had. Despite all this great smear campaign against Tesla, alternating current always ended up prevailing and is the one used today in all homes.

Importance

Nikola Tesla is considered one of the most important scientists that have ever existed because thanks to him they were able to solve the mysteries that electricity contained and managed to make the life of the inhabitants easier and more practical. He is considered the best inventor that has existed in the 20th century, a man who opposed the different norms that had already been established. He is also appreciated for having been one of the figures who exerted influence in the field of science and technology .

Phrases

Among his most recognized strokes the following are mentioned:

• If I was lucky enough to achieve any of my ideals, it would be in the name of all humanity.
• Science is but a perversion of itself, unless its ultimate goal is the betterment of humanity.
• Movement involves a body that is moved and a force that propels it against resistance.
• If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.
• If your hatred could turn into electricity, it would enlighten the whole world.

Acknowledgments to Nikola Tesla

While he was alive, Nikola Tesla only received the Edison medal and his name was used by the international system to perform magnetic induction measurements . A crater on the moon is named after him, just like a minor planet . He was also awarded the prize for scientific dissemination , which is the highest recognition in Spanish-speaking countries.

Presence in popular culture

In popular culture, it is possible to find some films that narrate the life and important works that the Tesla did. Some of them are:

• The Secret of Nikola Tesla , a film in which his biography is narrated.
• In 1994 a documentary called The Genius Who Illuminated the World was made , which was produced by the Tesla Memorial Society.
• a science fiction film recorded in 2006 known as “The Prestige.”

Curiosities

Some of the main curiosities about Nikola Tesla were the following:

• After his brother was crushed to death by a horse, he began to see lights which he called ” tongues of fire ” and began to present difficulties with imaginary objects.
• According to his story, he was born in the middle of an electrical storm which in his time was considered a bad omen.
• He had a kind of eidetic memory , in other words photographic.
• He suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder and was obsessed with the number 3.
• It is said that he suffered from severe insomnia and that for that reason he only slept two hours during the night.