Who Was Tesla?
NIKOLA Tesla was one of the most accomplished inventor-scientists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He invented radio and created the polyphase alternating current system of motors and generators that powers the world.
Without his inventions the widespread electrification that greatly contributed to technological advancement of the twentieth century would not have been possible.
Tesla was also a visionary genius, who conceived many ideas, some controversial at his time, that established the basis for everything that now powers our world with energy and information, including several of today's mainstream technologies ranging from wireless communication systems, radar, television broadcasting, robotics, computers, faxes, and even the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative.
Nikola Tesla was born at midnight
between July 9 and 10, 1856, of Serbian parents in Smiljan in Lika, at that time the part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then Yugoslavia, and now Croatia.
He was the second son of Djuka (Georgina) Mandic and the Reverend Milutin Tesla, who was well educated and highly respected Serbian Orthodox priest.
He came to the USA in 1884 to work for Thomas Edison. In 1891 he became a U.S. citizen.
After his demonstration of wireless communication in 1893 and after being the victor in the "War of Currents" against Edison’s DC system, he was widely respected as America's greatest electrical engineer.
With no skills at handling his finances, Tesla died impoverished and forgotten at the age of 86, but his inventions changed the world. Although Nikola Tesla died alone and poor, on January 7, 1943, his electrifying legacy lives and will continue to live with fulfillment of Tesla’s dreams and visionary ideas. The 160th anniversary of Tesla’s birth is celebrated around the World.
At the end of the 19th Century, electric power was at its beginning but growing rapidly. The first commercial power plants used direct current (DC) for incandescent lighting and power starting in 1882. However, the DC power could only be distributed over a limited area around the generating station (less than a mile). It was the work of Nikola Tesla that led to the broad commercialization of alternating current (AC) system, which enabled transmission of high-voltage power over large distances.
B. A. Behrend, engineer and colleague of Tesla, said in 1917 “Were we to seize and eliminate from our industrial world the results of Mr. Tesla’s work, the wheels of industry would cease to turn, our electric cars and trains would stop, our towns would be dark, our mills would be dead and idle. Yes, so far reaching is his work that it has become the warp and woof of industry. The name of Tesla ... marks and epoch in the advance of electrical science. From that work has sprung a revolutions.”
Short review of major Tesla’s inventions
The Discovery of the Rotating Magnetic Field – Induction Motors
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Tesla's discovery of the rotating magnetic field produced by the interactions of two and three phase alternating currents in a motor winding was one of his most significant achievements, and formed the basis of his induction motor and polyphase system for the generation and transmission of electricity. Thanks to this invention, large amounts of electrical power could be generated and transmitted efficiently over long distances.
Tesla demonstrated the principle of the rotating magnetic field by showing the “Egg of Columbus”
Tesla's Polyphase System of alternating current dynamos
Niagara Falls
Tesla’s dream to harness the power of Niagara Falls soon become reality. In October 1893 the Niagara Falls Commission awarded Westinghouse a contract to build the power plant at the Falls, using the generators that Tesla designed.
Those were dynamos of 5000 horsepower - the largest ever built in the World at that time. General Electric, licensing 9 of Tesla’s patents, was awarded a contract to build 22 miles of transmission lines to Buffalo, a city near the Niagara Falls
The Discovery of the Tesla Coil
Tesla’s experiments with high frequency and high
voltage alternating currents resulted in the development of the “Tesla Coil” which is still used as a major component in numerous electronic devices. “Tesla coil” is a transformer with an air core that has both its primary and secondary tuned in resonance. His first patent on Tesla Coil was in 1891 (No.454,622).
In 1899 he build his high-frequency laboratory in Colorado Springs, and in 1900 another laboratory in Long Island after his return to New York. In “Nikola Tesla Colorado Spring Notes 1899-1900” Professor Alaksandar Marincic writes
“In 1898, Tesla’s creativity in the field of high frequencies were at its peak. From his initial ideas in 1890 and his first pioneering steps, he had worked with such intensity that many of his inventions and discoveries, which he had given the world by this time, have reminded unsurpassed to this day… Always true to his principle that ideas must be experimentally verified, Tesla set about building powerful high-frequency generators and making experiments in wireless power transmission."
Invention of Radio – wireless communications
Guglielmo Marconi was the first to send a message across the ocean and thus, he is partly responsible for developing' radio...but he did NOT invent it. Tesla did.
Otis Pond, an engineer then working for Tesla, said, "Looks as if Marconi got the jump on you." Tesla replied, "Marconi is a good fellow. Let him continue. He is using seventeen of my patents
James Maxwell lay down the theoretical basis of electromagnetism. Heinrich Hertz had tested Maxwell’s theory and verified the existence of radio waves in his experiments from 1878-88. However, the apparatus used by Hertz and later by Marconi was not to be used in today’s radios. Tesla filed his basic radio patent applications in 1897, and the patents were granted in 1900 (No.645,576 and
No.649,621)
Most
people are unaware of what happened June 21, 1943: The United States
Supreme Court made a landmark decision that essentially settled the long
dispute between Marchese Guglielmo Marconi and Nikola Tesla. The
court's decision, Case No. 369, identified as "Marconi Wireless
Telegraph Company of America vs. United States rendered invalid
Marconi's basic patent No.763,772 dated June 28, 1904. Tesla's patent
No. 645,576 of March 20 1900, and its subdivision patent for apparatus
No.649,621 dated May 15, 1900, had priority. Still, in a special journal
issue, celebrating 100 years of radio, International Telecommunication
Union did not mention Tesla among the six great inventors of radio”
(Faraday, Maxwell, Branly, Lodge, Popov, Marconi).
However, the 1909 Nobel prize in Physics was awarded jointly to: Marconi and Carl Ferdinand Braun in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy."
Radio Remote Control - Robotics
In 1898, at the first Electrical Exhibition in Madison Square Garden, Tesla demonstrated the world’s first radiocontrolled robot boat. Tesla applied his receivers and transmitters in remote ship control, and he was granted a patent in 1898 for “The Method of and Apparatus for Controlling Mechanism of Moving Vessels or Vehicles“- Tesla’s patent No.613,809 (Fig.10) of November 8, 1898.
This invention made Tesla an originator of remote control.
Unfortunately, as with many of Tesla’s inventions, this invention was so far ahead of its time that those who observed it could not imagine its practical applications.
The following excerpts from renown scientists criticizing Tesla’s work show clearly that Tesla was so far ahead of his time, that he was mostly misunderstood and criticized:
Professor Cyrus Bracket of the Princeton University, in his interview for the “Electrician” in 1898:
“The shortest, most correct and most complete criticism which I can make reference to this bold boast is that what is new about it is useless, while that which is useful had all been discovered by other scientists long before Tesla made this startling announcement. There is nothing new about this. The theory is perfect, but the application is absurd.”
Tesla even contacted the U.S. Navy and offered his plan to construct a remotely controlled torpedo, but was rejected – the Navy did not have use for it!
Today, more than 100 years since Tesla remotely controlled his boat, we are witnessing widespread use of wireless remote control in household appliances (TV, VCR, CD, garage door openers, car locking system, toys), cordless phones, various medical applications, satellites, etc.
Tesla’s visionary ideas
“The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.” Tesla
In his visionary ideas Tesla was so far ahead of his time, so much a visionary, that his contemporary scientists really didn't understand what he was doing. We witness today realization of some of Tesla’s visionary ideas, that he envisioned at the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century. Many times he was misunderstood, or looked upon as an eccentric or even a lunatic. This created a great difficulty for Tesla and his ability to attract investors who would fund his research work. Only in few cases (such as collaboration with Westinghouse) he was able to fully complete his visions.
Several Tesla’s biographers point out that Tesla was a true scientist who lacked ability to broadly commercialize his work. Tesla needed money to do his research, while Edison used his inventions to earn a lot of money.
Among many Tesla’s visionary ideas, we will mention only few that came to realization only recently, or are still waiting to be utilized:
(a) Global wireless system for transmission of signals and energy,
(b) Robotics and remote control foundations,
(c) Vertical takeoff aircraft (VTOL),
(d) Pump design suited for micromachines,
(e) Use of geothermal energy, and
(f) Vision of “electrical” future.
Wardenclyffe Tower – Vision of Wireless Communication - patented 1914
In 1900, Tesla began construction on Long Island of a wireless world broadcasting tower (Wardenclyffe Tower), with $150,000 capital from the American financier J. Pierpont Morgan. Tesla was planning to provide worldwide communication with ability to send pictures, messages, weather warnings, and stock reports.
The project was abandoned because of a financial panic, and J.P. Morgan's withdrawal of support.
In early 1990’s Tesla wrote “…a telephone subscriber here may call up and talk to any other subscriber on the Globe. An inexpensive receiver, no bigger than a watch, will enable him to listen anywhere, on land or sea, to a speech delivered, or music played in some other place, however distant.”
Sounds familiar? It took a better part of the 20th century for this Tesla vision to be realized. He had three goals: to develop a transmitter of great power, to perfect means for individualizing and isolating the energy transmitted (e.g., signals), to establish the laws of propagation of currents through the earth and the atmosphere.
Robotics and Remote Control –Artificial Intelligence
Tesla laid the foundation of remote control systems (what he called teleautomation) in 1898 at the first Electrical Exhibition in Madison Square Garden. He demonstrated how the ships and mechanical gadgets could be controlled remotely using a wireless principle.
In Tesla’s own words we can recognize the basis for what we call today “Computers” and even one step further “Artificial Intelligence”: “[it will be able to follow a course laid out …or obey commands given far in advance, it will be capable between what it ought and what it ought not to do … and of recording impressions which will definitely affect its subsequent actions”.
This invention made Tesla an
originator of remote control. Unfortunately, as with many of Tesla’s inventions, this invention was so far ahead of its time that those
who observed it could not imagine its practical applications.
Vertical Takeoff –Apparatus for Areal Transportation - Patented 1928
Tesla envision this aircraft in 1921.
Vertical take-off and landing aircraft
Combined helicopter and airplane
Gives a thrust analysis
It was not built during Tesla's time.
However they are in military use today
(V-22 Osprey)
Pumps without moving parts
Traditional method of controlling fluid flow with valves is imperfect due to: mechanical wear of moving parts, inability to control rapid flow “impulses”, inability to control the flow when the fluid is highly heated or corrosive. Tesla proposed an ingenious conduit without moving parts, that could be defined as a “fluid diode”.
It has clearly defined “direct vs. reverse” flows, such that the resistance in the reverse flow is several hundred times larger than in the direct flow. It could be easily constructed and modularly expanded. It is ideally suited for micromachines, due to high reliability, and no interference with parts. Possible applications include medical applications: such as drug dispensing in the body.
The Unit of Magnetic Flux Density
In 1956, Tesla's peers at the Electrotechnical
Conference in Munich acknowledged his monumental contributions to science by
designating his name to represent a unit of magnetic measurement. Thus, the
"TESLA" became the Unit of Magnetic Flux Density in the MKS system. Throughout the entire history of electrical science
only fifteen men worldwide have received this honor.
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Prepared by J. Vujic
