Table of Contents
Background
One of the greatest minds of the twentieth century died living in poverty and was forgotten by society. Nikola Tesla helped catapult mankind into the 20th century with his inventions in the electrical field. He left his mark with his unusual upbringing, stunning inventions, and his ability to visualize the end product. The way he was able to create devices to form electricity is remarkable. Tesla perfected many of his inventions in his imagination. He rarely had to produce a prototype because they models were already perfect in his head. His natural ability for inventing was in part a product of his genius and his upbringing. [1]
Nikola Tesla had quite an interesting childhood. He was born July 10th, 1856, in Smiljan, Croatia. As a child his mother would make him do daily exercises to strengthen his mental capabilities. These included repeating long sentences back to her, doing complicated mental calculations, and guessing what another person was thinking. His mother came from a long line of inventors, and she herself was quite the inventor. She made all sorts of tools for around the house. Tesla’s father wanted him to be a clergyman, but that changed after Tesla contracted Cholera and was bed ridden for 9 months. He asked his father if he got better if he could be an engineer. His father replied that he would send him to the best technical institute in the country. [2]
Tesla most likely suffered from a form of autism called Asperger Syndrome. It is characterized by above average intelligence, normal speech development, narrow and intense interests, and repetitive behaviors. This syndrome coupled with Tesla’s finely developed visual-spatial thinking defined Tesla and future. As a child he would have visions where he would vividly recall all the minute details almost tortuously. He was unable to distinguish whether what he saw was reality or one of his visions. When he went to Real gymnasium, a learning institution, he found that drawing his ideas on paper was an annoyance he could not stand. The models he prototyped always worked like they did in his head and he had no need for sketching them first. He went on to study electrical engineering at Austrian Polytechnic in Croatia but only stayed through the first semester of his junior year. Then he studied at the University of Prague in the Czech Republic for a semester. It was at those institutions that he gained the knowledge of physics and math that he would need for his greatest inventions. [1]
Major Works
Nikola Tesla made many major developments in the fields of electrical and mechanical engineering. He had one hundred thirteen patents in the United States, sixteen in Britain, and six in Canada. One of Tesla’s first developments was the AC (alternating current) induction motor. It converted AC into usable mechanical energy. The motor was setup so that a magnetic field would make the inner core rotate. It was extremely efficient compared to the DC (direct current) Tesla helped improve for Thomas Edison. Tesla eventually won the “Current War” with Edison, proving that AC was much better suited for transmitting electricity across great distances and for powering America. The AC induction motor also helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution by providing manufacturers with an efficient, reliable way to power their plants. [1]
Tesla developed many of his inventions while working on an electrical device called the Tesla Coil. It is an instrument that generates high voltage and a large enough magnetic field that it can light up a vacuum tube simply by holding it near the Tesla Coil. Tesla made one of these that produced one million volts and made a sixteen foot long lightning bolt. The Tesla Coil operates at such a high voltage that it actually ionizes the air, giving the air an electrical charge. The charge builds up and will actually arc out until it hits the nearest grounding point. In 1981, Tesla showed the world that the wireless transmission of electricity was possible using the Tesla Coil. In fact, in later years, Tesla began building the Wardenclyffe Tower. This was basically a gigantic Tesla Coil with which he was hoping to provide wireless electricity to the country. The project was Tesla’s biggest failure due to money issues, and Tesla had to sell off the land and the project. [1]
Although Guglielmo Marconi is often given credit for inventing the radio, Tesla actually developed it. In 1893, Tesla demonstrated the first wireless radio transmitter and receiver. The receiver used a coherer, a device for detecting radio waves, and then a series of logic gates that turned the radio signals into mechanical movements. In 1898, Tesla demonstrated a radio controlled boat. He hoped to interest the military because he thought that they could use the technology to create radio controlled torpedoes. The military was not interested at the time. Marconi is often credited with the invention of the radio because he commercialized it. Tesla just created a working prototype and when no one was too interested he just moved on. He invented the radio three years before Marconi did. [3]
Nikola Tesla invented something that nearly every person in the United States uses on a daily basis. He invented the “electrical igniter” for internal combustion engines in 1898. It is the devise commonly known as the spark plug used in all modern day gasoline burning engines. These are just a few of Nikola Tesla’s more commonly recognizable inventions and they helped revolutionize the world as we know it today. [4]
Tesla's Style
Nikola Tesla’s style for inventing was what set him apart from everyone. Tesla would present a problem to himself and then think up the solution. He would go through the whole design in his head and then test it in his head. Tesla said he was able to tell if something was not properly balanced when he ran the invention through his head. His unbelievable ability to build and test prototypes in his head made inventing so easy for him. When it would take months for another inventor to build, test, and debug a prototype, Tesla could do it all without spending a cent. [2] His brain functioned like modern day computer aided design (CAD) software. The inventor uses CAD to create 3D models and then he can put the model through simulations to see how it acts. CAD can test the model by applying forces and with a click of a button will output the results. Tesla could do all of this in his head.
When he was having a particularly hard time coming up with a solution to his problems, he would just simply move on to another project. Often times while working on some other project, he would come up with the solution to some other project. Tesla said this of himself on that topic, “I am credited with being one of the hardest workers and perhaps I am, if thought is the equivalent of labour, for I have devoted to it almost all of my waking hours. But if work is interpreted to be a definite performance in a specified time according to a rigid rule, then I may be the worst of idlers.” [2] He basically said that he literally spent all of his time thinking over his inventions. Only when he had perfected them and could see no further improvements would he make a prototype. It is quite a remarkable way to invent things. In return, he invented many remarkable electrical devices. For instance, a professor once told Tesla that he could not invent a brushless AC motor. He said that, “It would be equivalent to converting… gravity into a rotary effort.” [2] All motors up until this point had to have metal brushes on them in order to operate. Well, Tesla did invent a brushless AC motor that works by utilizing the magnetic field created by the motor. That motor and another invention of his, the polyphase power distribution system, are the basis for the power system used in every household today. [2]
Nikola Tesla liked to ponder new ideas more than he did manufacturing a product. Instead what Tesla did was patent the idea and then collect the royalties from the people using his patent. In total, Tesla holds over one hundred and ten United States patents. One important limiting factor was that he lacked the financial backing he needed to develop a refined model that would sell well. A good example is the radio transmitter that he developed. He invented all of the systems necessary to make a working model and realized that it would be of great military advantage to be able to guide a missile to its target. His research was the basis of radar guided missiles. Today precision missiles are essential for combat. [5]
Tesla also developed and theorized the basis of x-rays, the electron microscope, satellite communications, solar energy, and vertical liftoff aircrafts (helicopter-like). He was one of the first to ponder about and experiment with fluorescent lights, microwave transmission, television and radar. Another useful invention of Tesla’s is the automobile speedometer. Tesla also invented the bladeless turbine. Interestingly enough, the bladeless turbine was way ahead of its time. The faster the mechanism spins the greater the efficiency. The metal alloys at the time were unable to handle the ten thousand or so revolutions per minute (RPM) that the turbine needed. Once metallurgy catches up to his idea, airplanes could use the bladeless turbine and it could replace the combustion engines in automobiles. The Serbian one hundred dinar banknote features Nikola Tesla and a few of his inventions on both sides. [6]
As noted earlier, he also invented the AC induction motor. The same type of motor used in the hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls. The plant then utilizes the concepts of Tesla’s polyphase power distribution system to power America. Tesla, in a sense, laid the ground work for the modern electric era that mankind thrives so well in today. Tesla received many honors for his work in the electrical field. These include many honorary doctorate degrees from United States institutions as well as European. The Tesla is the standard unit for measuring magnetic flux density, also known as magnetic induction, or, simply put, the size of the magnetic field. Much of Tesla’s work utilized how the magnetic field interacted in various devices. [6]
Summing Things Up
Tesla laid the groundwork for so many valuable electrical devices that it is a shame that he is not a household name. Many followers of Tesla believe that he was just too far ahead of his time. Other people say that his eccentric behaviors caused by illnesses and his pronouncement of seemingly impossible feats, such as powering the world wirelessly, caused him to fall into oblivion. Yet, there remains a strong core of Tesla enthusiasts that carry on his passion of high voltage experiments because a man of such value to modern society cannot be forgotten. Tesla’s impact on the modern world is undeniable, products of his genius can be found in everyday life.
References
- "Nikola Tesla." Wikipedia. 24 Mar 2011. 30 Mar 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
- Penner, John. "The Strange Life of Nikola Tesla." 25 Aug 1995. 30 Mar 2011. http://www.neuronet.pitt.edu/~bogdan/tesla/tesla.pdf
- Olive, David. Canadian among pioneers left on margin of history. Toronto Star. 10 Dec 2001.
- Hickman, Bert. "The Tesla Timeline." Stoneridge Engineering. 30 Dec 2008. 30 Mar 2011 http://205.243.100.155/frames/tesla.html
- Carlson, W. Bernard, Inventor of Dreams. Scientific American. Mar 2005. Vol. 292. Issue 3.
- Hall, Stephen S., Tesla: A Scientific Saint, Wizard, or Carnival Sideman?. Smithsonian. Jun 1986. Vol. 17. Issue 3.