Nikola Tesla

Childhood and youth

Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856, in Smiljan, in the Austrian Empire. The future inventor graduated from primary school in Gospic. Then he entered the lower real gymnasium and completed his studies in 1870. In the autumn of the same year, young Tesla entered the Karlovac Higher Real School. He received his matriculation certificate in 1873.

In January 1880, the young man was able to continue his further education. He became a student at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Prague. But the lack of money made him give up his dream of getting a higher education. After studying for only 1 semester, Tesla went in search of a job.

Collaboration with Edison

In the summer of 1884, Tesla came to the USA and got a job at T. Edison's company. He was hired as a repair engineer for electric motors and DC generators.

The innovative ideas of the young inventor were perceived by Edison ambiguously. In the spring of 1885, Tesla was offered a $50,000 deal by his employer. The subject of the deal was a constructive improvement in DC electrical machines, which were invented by Edison himself.

The scientist set about implementing this project. Edison was soon presented with twenty-four variations of the Edison machine. The regulator and commutator have been updated and greatly improved. Improvements were approved by the customer, but he refused to pay. When Tesla was indignant, Edison noticed that he still did not understand national humor very well. The enraged inventor quit immediately.

New York Lab

After being fired, Tesla began to cooperate with a group of electrical engineers who invited the inventor to establish his own company. He worked on a project for an arc lamp for street lighting. The project was ready in 12 months. But Tesla again did not receive a reward.

In the summer of 1888, the American industrialist D. Westinghouse bought more than 40 patents from the scientist. For each of them, $ 25,000 was paid. The entrepreneur also invited a talented scientist to his company, to a highly paid position. Tesla agreed, but the work did not bring him much satisfaction, as it interfered with the development of his own ideas. Therefore, despite the persuasion of the employer, the scientist returned to his New York laboratory.

In the spring of 1895, the laboratory was destroyed by fire. But the inventor said that he could restore all his discoveries from memory.

Financial assistance was provided to him by E. Adams, who provided the inventor with 100 million dollars. With this money, a new laboratory was equipped.

Major achievements and inventions

Studying a brief biography of Nikola Tesla, you should know that in the winter of 1896 he managed to achieve radio transmission over a distance of up to 48 kilometers.

In May 1917, the scientist was awarded the Edison medal. Tesla himself refused to accept it for a long time. In the same year, the inventor proposed the principle of operation of a device for radio detection of submarines.

In 1925-1926. Tesla designed a gasoline pipe for the Philadelphia Budd Company.

In 1934, Tesla published a resonant article in which he discussed the limits of the possibility of obtaining ultrahigh voltages by charging spherical containers with static electricity from rubbing belts. According to the scientist, the discharges of this electric generator could not help to investigate the structure of the atomic nucleus.

Also, the famous scientist owns the most useful inventions. They developed and used fluorescent lamps. This happened 40 years before they were “discovered” by industry.

Tesla invented the electric motor. It was later popularized by a machine that bore the scientist's name.

It was thanks to Tesla that the concept of the robot was “born”. He came to the conclusion that every living being is driven by external impulses. The inventor said that a person is an automaton equipped with a driving force. This “machine” simply reacts to external stimuli.

Death

Nikola Tesla passed away on the night of January 7-8, 1943. The scientist always demanded that he not be disturbed. Therefore, a special sign was posted on the door of his New York room. For this reason, the body of the great inventor was discovered only 48 hours after his death. On January 12, his body was cremated. The urn with the ashes was placed in Ferncliff Cemetery.

Interesting Facts

• As a student, Tesla became addicted to the card game. He lost almost all the money. When he happened to win, he gave money to the losers.
• At the end of the 90s, a “war of currents” broke out between Tesla and Edison. Despite the tricks of the former employer, Nikola Tesla emerged victorious. It was alternating current that began to be used in the country.