Nikola Tesla: Story of a Mad Scientist
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Nikola Tesla’s Tesla Coil[/caption]
If you’ve ever driven a car, listened to the radio, or even taken a physics class, you probably have heard of Nikola Tesla. Nikola Tesla was a man of many talents whose work is an integral part of many technologies we enjoy today.
Tesla was born in the Austrian Empire (now Croatia), but was the descendant of Orthodox Serbians. As he matured, his intelligence and poetic flair became apparent. He could create home appliances and memorize epic poems. He followed his aspirations (and evaded being drafted into the military) and attended the Technical University of Graz, Austria to pursue higher education. It was here at Technical University that Tesla first witnessed a generator that when reversed acted as an electric motor. This sparked his interest in the benefits of using alternating currents. Later in college, he conceptualized plans for the induction motor. Tesla was a brilliant student; he passed nine exams (more than twice the requirement) and earned the highest grades possible. However, he never graduated from college. Tesla eventually dropped out, gambled all his money away, became estranged from his family, and suffered a nervous breakdown.
In 1882 Tesla took his plans for the induction motor to Paris where he worked for the Continental Edison Company, and eventually the first induction motor was born at this company. Tesla motors, an American luxury car company, use an AC motor; this type of motor is a direct descendant of the original 1882 design created by Nikola Tesla. A few years later, Tesla relocated to New York City with four cents in his pocket to work for Thomas Edison. In typical Tesla like antics, he resigned from Edison’s company after he was offered a raise for redesigning the motors and generators for the company.
During this time, Tesla performed odd jobs like grave digging and electrical repair. Again, he found himself in a low point it his life; Tesla referred to this period as “terrible headaches and bitter tears.” He eventually gained support from investors to create his own company. It was here that his work received recognition, and he earned patents for the AC motor.
In 1891, Tesla became a naturalized United States citizen. During the same year, he patented the Tesla coil. This coil is used to create low-current, high voltage, high frequency-alternating current electricity. It was frequently used in radio transmitters, wireless telegraphy, and medical equipment at this time. Today, the Tesla coil is used in many different devices, but is mainly found in educational and entertainment displays.
Tesla died in a hotel room in 1943. Throughout his life, he obtained an estimated 300 patents in twenty-six countries. It is believed that some of his patents are not accounted for, and many more of his inventions were not patent protected. Tesla had an eidetic memory, which meant he completely memorized novels, and created realistic blueprints for inventions all in his mind. One example is a “death ray” he claims to have invented of which there is no documentation because he kept all the plans in his mind. The machine included a setup for producing energy, a mechanism for generating large amounts of electrical force, and an electrical repelling force.
Due to his rampant imagination and number of varying inventions, Tesla became known as a stereotypical “mad scientist” in pop culture. His work lives on in books, movies, radio, television, and all forms of media. He lived in relative obscurity, and is often now seen as having lived a melancholic but inspirational life. His story is often seen as an archetype for a distressed but brilliant scientist.
