Among the many scientists and inventors of the past who have made significant contributions to the advancement of human society, perhaps none of them compare in terms of contributions to the current way of life as much as Nikola Tesla. Originally misrepresented and almost forgotten in the annals of history, Nikola Tesla is now, more than ever, being credited and acknowledged for his numerous contributions, inventions, and ideas related to electricity and electric currents.
Hailing from Smiljan, Croatia which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at that time, the future inventor was born in July of 1856 to a father who was an orthodox priest and writer, and a mother who loved to tinker and create small household appliances. The boy of a brood of five children drew inspiration from his mother’s inventing but his father groomed him for a life of priesthood.
Despite his father’s original plans, Nikola Tesla’s interest and fascinations with the sciences did not falter. It led him to study in Graz, Austria as well as Prague. One of his earliest jobs was working for the Central Telephone Exchange in Budapest and it was at this point in his life where he first got the idea for the induction motor. Unfortunately, years of trying failed to garner interest in the device which caused Tesla to leave Europe at the age of 28.
Shortly after arriving in America in 1884, Tesla got a position as an engineer working at Thomas Edison’s company headquarters in Manhattan. The two began working closely together in improving Edison’s Direct Current (DC) based electrical machines. Tesla stayed with Edison for approximately a year until differing views, primarily business-related, drove the two apart. Historians attribute their parting to their conflicting views, wherein Edison gravitated towards savvy business choices while Tesla preferred to focus purely on the science. This would pave the way for their future clashes and encounters with each other.
Early on after leaving Edison’s company, Tesla faced multiple setbacks. He tried to establish the Tesla Light Company but was ultimately forced out of his own venture by investors. For a short time, Tesla had to resort to manual labor in order to survive. But soon after, he was able to find funding for his Alternating Current (AC) electrical system.
In 1887 the Tesla Electric Company was born and soon, Tesla was able to successfully file patents for quite a few AC based electrical inventions. The AC system created by Tesla soon caught the eye of George Westinghouse, an American engineer, and businessman. Westinghouse wanted a solution to the conundrum of supplying electricity over long distances and Tesla’s system seemed to provide the answer. In 1888, Westinghouse purchased Tesla’s patents and the two began working together.
The duo’s push for AC based electrical power placed them at odds against Edison and his DC-based electrical power. This would start a lifelong rivalry between the two inventors. The competition between the two sides raged on and drove Edison to start a negative press campaign against AC power. In 1889, Edison organized a stunt wherein a convicted murderer was put to death with the use of an AC powered chair in order to highlight the dangers of using Westinghouse and Tesla’s system. Despite Edison’s campaign against them, Tesla continued to focus on his inventions and discoveries and soon enough, their system was awarded the rights to supply the lighting for the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893. This success was one of the many that soon put the pair, Westinghouse, and Tesla, in the limelight so to speak.
By 1895, Tesla was successful in designing and creating the first AC power based hydroelectric power plant situated in Niagara Falls. A year later, this system was used to provide electricity to the city of Buffalo, New York. Due to his back-to-back successes and positive press reports on his inventions, Tesla’s AC-based power soon grew to be the number one power system of the time. Aside from his successful AC power system, Tesla was able to discover new ideas which were the precursors for today’s Dynamos, Induction Motors, Radios, Radar Technology, Remote Control Technology as well as the Rotating Magnetic Field.
Tesla’s spiraling downfall began with a spot of bad luck in 1895 when his laboratory burned down, taking away two-years’ worth of his notes and equipment. But by 1900, he was able to secure new funding for a new project that he wanted to pursue. Tesla envisioned a wireless communication system which would span the globe, providing an avenue for sharing information and transporting free electricity worldwide. He established a new laboratory on a site located in Long Island, New York and began to work in earnest to make this new vision a reality.
On the site which came to be known as Wardenclyffe, rose an immense transmission tower designed to spread wireless energy and information over a large surrounding area. But soon, his financial investors grew doubtful of the plausibility of Tesla’s system. Also, a system being developed by his rivals, Guglielmo Marconi and Thomas Edison, began to achieve great success and advances.
Soon, Tesla’s project had to be abandoned and by 1906 the Wardenclyffe staff was let go. In 1915, the site was foreclosed. A few years after the foreclosure of Wardenclyffe, Tesla declared bankruptcy and the central tower on the Wardenclyffe site were sold for scrap to pay for Tesla’s debts. After the failure of his Wardenclyffe projects, Tesla suffered a nervous breakdown. He recovered soon after but his mind steadily fell into decline. By this point, Tesla primarily worked as a consultant, but slowly his ideas began to grow exponentially eccentric and impossible. He even started to mention ideas about a death beam which piqued the interest of the Soviet Union and the FBI.
In his final years, Tesla turned reclusive and devoted most of his time taking care of and staying with the wild pigeons of the parks located in New York City. On January 7, 1943, poor and alone, Nikola Tesla died at the age of 86. But his legacy will forever be part of the whole world.
