Karen Garvin
Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) was a Serbian American inventor whose major works included designing and building an alternating current (AC) induction motor and developing and promoting a workable AC power distribution system. His interests ran the gamut from alternating current and motors to wireless power and communication, radio control, radar, and even early robotics.
Tesla was an eccentric genius and visionary, yet this “underappreciated mastermind” is less well-known today than his one-time employer and rival, Thomas Edison (1847–1931).[1] Whereas Edison had a systematic approach to inventing, Tesla was less methodical, and was often criticized by his contemporaries for making vague statements about his projects, many of which were considered to be impractical.[2]
Despite being a prolific inventor with more than three hundred patents to his name, Tesla was a poor businessman. He tore up what could have been a lucrative royalty contract with George Westinghouse (1846–1914) and signed over control of lighting patents to J. P. Morgan (1837–1913).[3] A dreamer and idealist, as Tesla aged he became increasingly distant from people, and in his later years developed a phobia of germs that led him to become even more isolated.[4]
Tesla was born at the stroke of midnight on July 10, 1856, during a thunderstorm.[5] His birthplace was Smiljan, Serbia, a part of the Austrian Empire that later became Croatia. Tesla was the fourth of five children of Milutin Tesla, an Eastern Orthodox parish priest, and Djuka Tesla. In 1863, Tesla’s older brother Dane was killed in a riding accident, after which Milutin moved the family to Gospić. Tesla attended the Real Gymnasium (junior high school) until 1870 and went to the Higher Real Gymnasium in Carlstadt, where he excelled in mathematics and became interested in electricity and magnetism.[6]
In 1875, Tesla received a scholarship to the Joanneum Polytechnic School (now the Graz University of Technology), where he studied engineering and electricity.[7] Tesla became disheartened by his father’s criticism and dropped out of school, although he later continued his education at the University of Prague.[8]
In 1881, Tesla moved to Budapest, Hungary, where he did electrical work. In the fall of 1882, Tesla moved to Paris and began working for the Continental Edison Company, where he tried unsuccessfully to interest Edison’s engineers in adopting his new AC motor design.[9]
Tesla, now twenty-eight years old, was invited by Charles Batchelor (1845–1910), one of Edison’s advisors, to travel to New York City and meet Edison in person.[10] Tesla was encouraged to make the move by Tivadar Puskás (1844–1893), an Edison associate, who sent a letter of introduction to Edison.[11]
Tesla arrived in New York City in June 1884 and met with Edison the day after his arrival. Edison hired Tesla that afternoon, but their working relationship was short-lived: the two men were very different from one another, Tesla worldly and rese