Nikola Tesla

A portrait of Tesla (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30417084@N05/2959725647/)

Nikola Tesla was born in the modern day country of Croatia on July tenth 1856. At a young age he attended the Austrian polytechnic for a degree in electrical engineering, but had dropped out by the third semester. He then worked on developing AC current, a kind of current that can flow in two instead of one direction. He intended to make a more powerful form of electrical current thus helping people worldwide. Many other important inventions of Tesla’s were the modern light bulb, an AC current motor and special electro magnetic cable. These revolutionized the field of electricity.

Tesla arrived in America with next to nothing, but he was nonetheless immediately hired by Thomas Edison. I think that that is very heroic because he went to being one of the poorest and least successful people in New York to being a successful inventor for one of the most reputable companies of the era. As a matter of fact, when Tesla came to the States he had only four cents and a letter of recommendation, but was quickly hired by Edison Electric. In the letter of recommendation former employer Charles Batchelor wrote to Edison, "I know two great men and you are one of them; the other is this young man."

a statue of Tesla (http://www.flickr.com/photos/blacktar/2216895580/)

Tesla was offered 50,000 dollars (the equivalent of over 1 million dollars today) to fix up Edison’s dc current generators. He ended up not only fixing them but also making them more efficient, even going so far as to give the company a few patents along the way. But when Tesla requested his pay Edison turned him down saying to him: "Tesla, you don't understand our American humor," Ticked off at Edison and frustrated with the company’s low pay scale Tesla left Edison Electric, founding his own company called: Tesla Electric Lights and Manufacturing.

One person who definitely did not see Tesla as a hero was his former employer and long time rival Thomas Edison. As a matter of fact they clashed multiple times on the issue of AC vs. DC electrical current. Edison stated that DC current was better because it could be more easily stored and was better for powering incandescent lamps and simple motors. But Tesla argued that AC current could be more easily transmitted over long distances. Edison even went so far as to hold public executions of animals, (usually stray cats unwanted animals or cows) shocking them to death with AC current, thus demonstrating that AC is dangerous. But Tesla had the final word when he won the rights to generate hydro power at Niagara Falls, he then proceeded to power the nearby city of Buffalo using only AC current from Niagara Falls. The Niagara Falls project was a success and soon AC current replaced DC as the electrical standard for the United States.

google.com honors Nikola Tesla (http://www.flickr.com/photos/silvery/3707622428/)

If Tesla were alive today, I am confident that he would be working with today’s car companies to try to develop a fuel efficient hybrid and/or a practical electric car. I think Tesla would tell us to persevere and try very hard to leave the grasp of the big oil companies, just like he did with Edison Electric.