Tesla and Edison
During the late 1890s the inventions of two great minds, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, helped turn electricity from a scientific concept into a household amenity. In this paper, I will review both of these men’s lives, give an overview of their accomplishments, and go over how these accomplishments still have an impact today. Nikola Tesla was born July 10, 1856 in Smiljan, Croatia. A bright child with an almost photographic memory and an aptitude for problem-solving, Tesla was inventing as early as 5 (Cheney 7) and in school he excelled in both mathematics and languages, including German, English, and French (Cheney 14). Both his proficiency in mathematics and langue would serve him well as he traveled in an effort to learn …show more content…
In 1892 Tesla and Westinghouse found themselves in a fierce battle with the newly formed General Electric Company, in an effort to cut costs and keep his company from going under, Westinghouse convinced Tesla to forgive all past and future royalties that Tesla might have been owed. While times were good the money that Tesla might have earned didn’t seem to matter. In these times Tesla invented the Tesla coil (1891), his AC motor design was being used to build a hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls which powered all of Buffalo, New York. He also continued his research into AC motors, as well as researching x-ray and radio. But eventually, times began to turn sour. By 1895 Westinghouse no longer needed him so Tesla lost his income as a consultant. Then, in March of 1895, his laboratory burned down, destroying all of his work and equipment. Tesla didn’t have the funds to rebuild and this was the start of a slow slide downward. Tesla would continue to invent and research for the rest of his life, but a large portion of his projects never came to anything. One of these projects was his wireless world broadcast tower, which he hoped to be able to broadcast electricity, unfortunately it had to be abandoned in 1906 due to lack of funds (Cheney
During the late 1890s the inventions of two great minds, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, helped turn electricity from a scientific concept into a household amenity. In this paper, I will review both of these men’s lives, give an overview of their accomplishments, and go over how these accomplishments still have an impact today. Nikola Tesla was born July 10, 1856 in Smiljan, Croatia. A bright child with an almost photographic memory and an aptitude for problem-solving, Tesla was inventing as early as 5 (Cheney 7) and in school he excelled in both mathematics and languages, including German, English, and French (Cheney 14). Both his proficiency in mathematics and langue would serve him well as he traveled in an effort to learn …show more content…
In 1892 Tesla and Westinghouse found themselves in a fierce battle with the newly formed General Electric Company, in an effort to cut costs and keep his company from going under, Westinghouse convinced Tesla to forgive all past and future royalties that Tesla might have been owed. While times were good the money that Tesla might have earned didn’t seem to matter. In these times Tesla invented the Tesla coil (1891), his AC motor design was being used to build a hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls which powered all of Buffalo, New York. He also continued his research into AC motors, as well as researching x-ray and radio. But eventually, times began to turn sour. By 1895 Westinghouse no longer needed him so Tesla lost his income as a consultant. Then, in March of 1895, his laboratory burned down, destroying all of his work and equipment. Tesla didn’t have the funds to rebuild and this was the start of a slow slide downward. Tesla would continue to invent and research for the rest of his life, but a large portion of his projects never came to anything. One of these projects was his wireless world broadcast tower, which he hoped to be able to broadcast electricity, unfortunately it had to be abandoned in 1906 due to lack of funds (Cheney