The Economic Times
Today, Nikola Tesla is something of a pop culture meme. Just hearing his name invokes an almost religious appreciation for a man who seemed to blur the lines between science and magic. Though the Serbian-American inventor and futurist has enjoyed a second wind as a legendary genius in our day, he was actually a prolific celebrity in his time as well. Imagine the public eccentricities of Elon Musk coupled with the secrecy leading up to a new Beyonce pregnancy announcement and you’ll get the idea.
But what do we really know about Telsa and his life? How do we begin to separate fact from fiction? What if some of the things the man actually said, did, and invented are harder to believe than the legend?
Let’s pull the two apart in our investigation of Nikola Tesla, a true genius you should thank every time you flip on a light switch.
1. He Had A Calculator For A Brain
The fourth of five children born in an ethnic Serbian village in present-day Croatia, Tesla was gifted from a young age. His high school teachers thought he cheated on tests because he could solve integrated calculus problems without touching a pencil. He said he didn’t need to, the problems were easy enough to solve in his head.
Steemit
Tesla was mystified by demonstrations of electricity by his physics professor. In 1873, he graduated his four-year high school in just three. His father, an Orthodox priest, wanted him to enter the priesthood. But Tesla had his own plans, and they were pretty dramatic.
2. Communing With Nature
Tesla was always pretty rebellious. In 1874, he dodged the Austro-Hungarian Army draft by hiding in the mountain town of Timingaj. During his stay, he read Mark Twain’s works and hiked through the mountains as often as he could.
Vox
He had been plagued by illness throughout his childhood and claimed that Mark Twain’s books miraculously healed him. Tesla credits his time in nature with making him stronger both mentally and physically. After a year in the woods, it was time to get back to his roots.
3. An Ace In The Classroom
In 1875, Tesla hit the books once again. He enrolled at Austrian Polytechnic in Graz, Austria. His attendance was funded by a Military Frontier scholarship despite having gone AWOL in the hills. Tesla never missed a lecture during his first year.
Mental Landscape
His grades couldn’t have been higher and he passed nine exams when only five were required. His work ethic was impeccable. Tesla claimed that he worked from 3 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. He was a stick of dynamite burning at both ends. By the end of his second year, the fuse blew.
4. Gambling Addiction And Poverty
Tesla became addicted to gambling and lost his scholarship by his second year at university. By the third year, he gambled away all of this tuition money and allowance. His father was furious and his family, heartbroken. He managed to recoup his losses and returned the money to his family. After making his family whole again, in December 1878, he disappeared.
Art of Manliness
Tesla’s friends thought he had drowned in the nearby Mur River, but in truth, he chose self-exile to hide the fact that he had dropped out of school. Tesla found a low-paying job as a draftsman, spent his time playing cards with locals in the streets, and ultimately suffered a nervous breakdown. Then the telegraph rang and changed the course of his life.
5. Breaking Into Electricity
In 1881, Tesla caught wind of a job opening at a telegraph company in Budapest, Hungary. He packed his bags and headed to work under Tivadar Puskas. The thirst for knowledge that set Tesla apart as a high school student was still alive and well. He was assigned to the chief electrical position.
Telsa (right) and some other random scientist who looks familiar. Veterans Today
Tesla shined. During his employment at the Budapest Telephone Exchange, he made several improvements to the Central Station equipment. Although he never patented it, it was here that he perfected the telephone repeater. Tesla’s skills didn’t go unnoticed. In 1882, he caught the attention of the biggest name in electrical technology.
6. A Bridge To The U.S.
Tesla’s boss was so impressed with the young engineer that he got him a job with the Continental Edison Company. It would serve as a launching pad for his journey into the international spotlight. Tesla began working with incandescent light for city-wide utility. His advanced knowledge of engineering and physics gave him a huge advantage over his peers and colleagues.
Time Toast
In 1884, he got a new long-distance assignment, hopped a boat, and headed off to an opportunity that would become a defining chapter in his life; a job at the Edison Machine works manufacturing division in New York City. An epic feud would soon boil over between the up-and-coming Tesla and his then-employer, the famous American inventor Thomas Edison.
Edison’s company was in trouble; they were losing contracts due to flaws in their system. When Tesla showed up, he made several suggestions for improvement. Their low-voltage incandescent lighting system was incompatible with the popular arc lighting of the time. Tesla insisted that he could increase the efficiency of Edison’s dynamos.
Biography
According to Tesla, Edison promised him $50,000 if he succeeded. Tesla worked like a dog for months on the project. When he succeeded, Edison claimed that the offer was a joke. Instead, he offered Tesla a $10 per week raise.
Incensed and insulted, Tesla quit after just six months with the company. The stage was set for a battle between two of the brightest minds of the century.
8. AC vs DC
Edison’s least favorite of Tesla’s ideas was the use of alternating current (AC) — the very same current that runs through every home, factory, and office building in modern times. Edison’s entire infrastructure was built around direct current (DC). Edison insisted that DC was superior, but it came with several downsides. DC couldn’t transmit the quantities of energy required by major cities.
Tesla Society
Thus, Edison tech created frequent power outages. The power grid of DC-based systems was limited to a one-mile radius. Edison’s technology had its back against the wall, and Tesla was coming for him.
9. Tesla Strikes Out On His Own
Edison’s least favorite of Tesla’s ideas was the use of alternating current (AC) — the very same current that runs through every home, factory, and office building in modern times. Edison’s entire infrastructure was built around direct current (DC). Edison insisted that DC was superior, but it came with several downsides. DC couldn’t transmit the quantities of energy required by major cities.
Life Without Nikola Tesla
He shortly obtained a patent for improvements to Edison’s DC generator. It was the first patent issued to Tesla in the U.S. When the new improvements were installed in Rahway, New Jersey, the press took notice, and so did Edison. It was time to debut the next generation of electrical technology to the world.
10. The Birth Of Alternating Current
In 1887, Tesla designed an induction motor that ran on AC. It had all the advantages he had promised Edison. The motor could power long-distance, high-voltage transmissions and required significantly less maintenance. It would help change the trajectory of technology forever. The AC format was already rapidly expanding in Europe and the United States.
Ultimate Science
Tesla patented his innovative motor in 1888. It was a simple self-starting design that avoided sparking and greatly reduced maintenance costs. Unfortunately, the prowess that Tesla exhibited in innovation he lacked in business. He was about to fall on hard times.
11. Down And Out In New York
Despite the obviously superior technology, investors showed little interest in Tesla’s alternating current motors. DC systems were still deeply ingrained into the infrastructure of major American metropolises. Tesla’s company decided that the manufacturing side of the business was too competitive. They decided to run a simple electric utility and leave the manufacturing to the major players. Tesla’s
Ephemeral New York
investors abandoned him and he lost control of his patents which he had exchanged for stock shares in the company. Tesla had to work at various electrical repair shops just to scrape by. He even worked as a ditch digger for less than two dollars a day.
Then he got a life-changing windfall. The “War of the Currents” would rage once again.
12. War Of Currents!
In 1888, physicist William Arnold Anthony and Thomas Commerford Martins arranged for Tesla to demonstrate his AC motor at the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. The owner of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company was impressed. The demonstration happened at a time when the big electrical firms, including Westinghouse and Edison, were in heated competition.
Fintras
It was the height of the War of the Currents. Westinghouse purchased Tesla’s design and Tesla was hired as a consultant. For the first time, Tesla was independently wealthy and ready to unleash his innovations on the world.
13. Building An Empire Of Innovation
The money from the licensing of his AC patents gave him a freedom and lifestyle that he had never experienced before. He purchased laboratories at 175 Grand Street, the fourth floor of 33-35 South Fifth Avenue, and the sixth and seventh floors of 46 & 48 East Houston Street.
Pictures of Infinity
Tesla would conduct many of his breakthrough experiments at these shops. He hired a full team of staff, pursued personal interests, and set himself on the fast track for lifetime success. In 1889, Tesla attended an event that inspired his most famous invention.
14. The Tesla Coil Is Born
The 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris was a sight for the eyes and a feast for the brain. The cutting-edge inventions of the day were on full display, including the discoveries of electromagnetic radiation and radio waves. Tesla vowed to explore them more fully. First, he tried powering a Ruhmforff coil with a high-speed alternator, but found that the iron core overheated. His solution was the now-infamous Tesla coil.
Smithsonian
The circuits used in the Tesla coil have been used in radio transmitters, wireless telegraphy, and in medical equipment such as the violet ray device. In 1893, it was time to apply his knowledge to Niagara Falls.
15. Electrifying Niagara
The Niagara Falls Cataract Construction Company needed help harnessing the power of falls. Who better to advise them than the great Tesla? The company had received several proposals over the years for competing generating systems. Among them were two-phase and three-phase AC, high-voltage DC, and compressed air.
The Event Chronicle
Tesla advised them that Westinghouse’s two-phase AC system would be the most effective (he had designed it, after all). The Niagara Falls Company awarded Westinghouse the contract based on Tesla’s advice. Tesla was lighting up the world one waterfall at a time, but things were about to take another dark turn and devastate his growing success.
16. Burnt To The Ground
The South Fifth Avenue building that housed his lab caught fire in the early morning hours of March 13, 1895. The fire started in the basement and grew so large it sent his fourth-floor lab plummeting into the second floor. Tesla’s ongoing projects experienced major setbacks. He lost a large collection of research material, notes, models, and demonstration pieces.
Smithsonian
The fire set him back several years in research on certain projects. Many of the materials he had exhibited at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition were lost as well. Of the devastating loss, Tesla told The New York Times, “I am in too much grief to talk. What can I say?”
Next, Tesla set his sights on something a little different.
17. World’s First Remote-Controlled Toy
In 1898 at Madison Square Garden, Tesla demonstrated the first wireless control boat. Tesla called the technology “telautomation.” Spectators were impressed, but popular opinion was that the demonstration was an elaborate hoax (a number of non-scientific explanations were proposed, including magic and telepathy). The funniest (and weirdly, most realistic) theory was that a tiny trained monkey was piloting the boat from inside.
KerryR
Tesla tried to sell the remote radio control patent to the U.S. military as a radio-controlled torpedo. They weren’t interested, even though by World War I, several countries, including the U.S, would use radio controls in their military programs.
But controlling boats was small-time thinking for Tesla. He wanted to use wireless power to control the world.
18. Dreaming Of Global Wireless
Tesla believed that his system could distribute electric power and provide wireless communication across the globe. In 1899, Tesla set up an experimental station in Colorado Springs. The site was at a high altitude to give him the best chance of long-distance transmission. His radio tower drew so much wattage that he caused a regional power outage.
Radio Marconi
The media went nuts when Tesla claimed that he picked up signals from an extraterrestrial source. In 1901, Tesla convinced J.P. Morgan to become an investor in the construction of a radio tower on Long Island. His dream was to electrify the world, but he wasn’t alone. The stage was set for The Wireless Wars.
19. Wireless Wars
The race was on to be the first to transmit a radio signal across the Atlantic. Guglielmo Marconi, a gifted Italian engineer, was hard at work trying to beat Tesla. In July 1901, Tesla had plans to build a more powerful transmitter to surpass Marconi’s. Tesla was suspicious that Marconi’s radio tower was a copy of his own system. When Tesla approached Morgan for more money, he refused.
Atlas Obscura
Marconi successfully transmitted the letter “S” from England to Newfoundland in December 1901, defeating Tesla in what became known as the “Wireless Wars.” Tesla didn’t like the taste of defeat, so he made a desperate gamble for revenge.
20. He Sued Marconi
Adding insult to injury, Marconi received the Nobel Prize in 1909 for the development of radio. Tesla sued Marconi in 1915 for an infringement on his patents, but lost the suit. When the engineer Otis Pond commented that Marconi had got the jump on him, Tesla responded: “Marconi is a good fellow. Let him continue. He is using seventeen of my patents.”
New Scientist
Tesla got the last laugh. In 1943, the Supreme Court overturned Guglielmo Marconi’s patent and ruled in favor of Tesla.
21. Refused The Nobel Prize?
Despite his massive contributions to humanity, Tesla never did receive the Nobel Prize. Or did he? On November 6, 1915, the Reuters news agency reported from London that the Nobel Prize in Physics had been awarded to Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. One week later, a Reuters story in Stockholm announced that the award had been given to Sir William Henry Bragg for his work in X-rays.
So which is true?
Greenbiz
Rumor has it that Tesla refused the award because he didn’t want to share it with his professional nemesis Edison. Others believe that a bitter Edison reduced the award so that Tesla wouldn’t get the $20,000 prize money. What would Tesla have done with the money? He might have put it into his radical new research project.
22. Boosting Intelligence With Electrotherapy
In 1912, Tesla concocted a plan to offer a therapy to students that would increase their intelligence to genius levels. To accomplish this, he wanted to use electromagnetic therapy to “make dull students bright by saturating them unconsciously with electricity.” The plan was to wire the walls of schoolrooms with electricity.
Steemit
High-frequency wavelengths would emanate from the walls and be converted into a stimulating electromagnetic field. The electromagnetic field, or “bath,” would improve intelligence. The plan was provisionally approved by the superintendent of New York City schools, but never followed through on.
23. Eccentric And Phobic
Like many eccentric geniuses, Tesla had his quirks. He had a lifelong fear of germs and practiced strict hygiene. His germaphobia likely came from the severe bouts of illness he had growing up. Tesla had such a strong aversion to pearls that he refused to speak to women who were wearing them. Despite being a 6-foot-2-inch dashing figure, Tesla never married. He was popular with women, but saw them as a distraction to his creativity.
Faema Aleph
He preferred his solitude but was surprisingly social. He was friends with many famous people of the day, including Mark Twain. The only thing that outshined his eccentricities was the astonishing processing power of his brain.
24. A Singular Mind
Tesla had an eidetic (also popularly known as “photographic”) memory. He could memorize complete books and learned to speak eight languages: English, French, Hungarian, German, Italian, Latin, Serbo-Croatian, and Czech.
Your News Wire
In addition to a sharp mind, Tesla would have explosive bouts of creative imagination. As a child, he would experience blinding flashes of light that were accompanied by visions. He could see detailed images of inventions in his mind before constructing prototypes or putting them on paper. His greatest invention died with him.
25. Lasting Impact And Legend
Ten years after Tesla patented his system for alternating currents, he claims to have invented an electrical generator that did not consume any fuel. Tesla stated that the invention harnessed the cosmic rays as a source of energy. One theory is that the project was sabotaged by someone possibly in the employ of J.P. Morgan who was invested in competing sources of energy production at the time. Some believe that Tesla made up the claims to garner attention.
Adeverul
What isn’t in dispute is the lasting impact Tesla made as an inventor, engineer, and scientist. He invented fluorescent lighting, the Tesla induction motor, the Tesla coil, contributed to AC current systems, and 3-phase electricity.
The true history of Nikola Tesla can often seem larger than life, and there’s good reason for it. He was a once-in-a-generation mind and an invaluable contributor to human progress.