Matthew Moss
4-14-09
CHM-131-01
The life, work and inventions of Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was born in Gospic, Croatia on July 10th 1856. He is greatly known as one of the
most important scientists and inventor of the modern age. He experimented mostly with electricity, and
is the reason why we as a society enjoy AC (Alternating current) as a power source for our homes and
workplaces today.
Tesla first because interested with electricity in 1875 at the Austrian Polytechnic in Graz. While
he was there he studied the use of alternating current and became fascinated. In 1880, he then moved
to Budapest where he worked as a telegraph worker. During his time here, he developed a device that
was similar to a telephone repeater amplifier. Shortly after, Tesla moved to Paris, France to work as an
engineer for the Continental Edison Company. There he designed improvements to electrical equipment
and also conceived the induction motor. The induction motor was basically an electric motor that relied
on electricity which was turned by powerful magnets that would react with the EM field to turn its
turbines.
Shortly after, in 1884, Tesla moved to the United States in New York City to work for Thomas
Edison. Tesla arrived with only a letter of recommendation from his former employer, Charles
Batchelor, which stated that “I know two great men and your [Thomas Edison] one of them; the other is
this young man.” Edison then hired Tesla to work in his business, Edison Machine Works. During this
time, Tesla was in charge of redesigning and improving on Edisons DC generator designs and fixed many
of the company’s problems. Eventually Edison offered Tesla $50,000 to completely redesign Edisons
motors and Tesla agreed and worked night and day to redesign the generators. When Tesla was finished
with improving the generators, Edison basically broke his promise for $50,000 and offered Tesla a
measly $25 per week raise. Tesla refused the raise and resigned from the company.
In 1886, Tesla formed his own company, Tesla Electric Light & Manufacturing. In 1887, He
constructed the first brushless alternating current induction motor and demonstrated it at the American
Institute of Electrical Engineers. The same year, Tesla join up with George Westinghouse of
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company and developed ideas for a polyphase system which
would allows alternating current to be transmitted over long distances.
In 1891, Tesla first demonstrated “the transmission of electrical power without wires”. Later on
in 1891, Tesla became a naturalized citizen of the US and established his 35 South Fifth Avenue
laboratory in New York at 46 E Houston St. It was at this facility where Tesla invented many different
types of inventions. Some inventions included cordless gas exchange lamps, a machine for inducing
sleep and the first radio transmitter. In 1893, He demonstrated his radio communication device and
addressed the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Also in 1893, at the World’s fair in
Chicago, IL, Tesla and George Westinghouse introduced the wonders of Alternating current by
illuminating the entire exposition. Tesla also demonstrated the principles of his induction motor by
showing how he could make an egg-shaped piece of copper stand on end using his device that he named
“The Egg of Columbus”. In 1898, Tesla demonstrated a radio-controlled boat to the US military, believing
that the military would be interested in something like RC torpedoes. The boat consisted of a series of
logic gates and Tesla referred to the contraption as a “teleautomaton”. The same year, Tesla invented
the spark plug for an internal combustion engine.
In 1899, Tesla moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado where he had plenty of space to perform his
high voltage, high frequency experiments. Here is where Tesla performed such experiments as
transmitting signals from Pikes Peak to Paris. He also proved that the earth was a conductor by
performing his famous experiment where he placed a bank of light bulbs into the ground a few miles
away from a generator that was fed directly into the ground. The bank of lights then lit up just as if he
placed the bulbs into a light socket. Unfortunately for Tesla, he had to sell off his laboratory in 1900 to
pay off some debts. But thanks to his experiments at his Colorado lab, he was prepared to start his next
project which was called Wardenclyffe. It was this facility where Tesla was going to experiment with a
wireless power transmission facility. Unfortunately Tesla was unable to complete the construction at
Wardenclyffe and ran out of finances. Newspapers in 1915 labeled the Wardenclyffe tower “Tesla’s
million-dollar folly” and crippled Tesla’s reputation and caused him to have a mental breakdown.
Nikola Tesla although he ended his career looking foolish, he actually attributed to modern
technologies. He helped bring awareness to today’s alternating current. He developed radio controlled
contraption which are a huge part of today’s military and manufacturing techniques. He also delevoped
a way to transmit electricity through the ground to light up incandescent light bulbs. Nikola Tesla has
contributed greatly to modern technology and is known as a wizard; performing his experiments with
electricity. He was a Futurist, and paved the way to higher and better technologies.