Both Nikola Tesla and Thomas Alva were undoubtedly two of the most influential individuals of the current industrial world. Their works and discoveries brought about significant advances in science as well as their availability to numerous people throughout the world. In popular culture, Tesla is well known for his creation of the polyphase alternating current energy (AC) transmission system while Edison is famous for his light bulb as well as his staunch position for the direct current (DC) energy transmission system. There are a number of key differences between the two individuals. Tesla was a scientist whose work revolutionized industry while Edison was a skilled entrepreneur who was able to commercialize the works of talented individuals like Tesla. Nevertheless, both were visionaries whose works were so revolutionary that they are still in use today.
Nikola Tesla was a Serb born on July 10, 1856 in modern day Croatia. He was a mechanical and electrical engineer who worked at Continental Edison Company in France in 1882 where he focused on designing and improving electrical equipment. He then relocated to New York City to work for Edison at Edison Machine Works. He left ship he sailed to America with nothing much but recommendation from Charles Batchelor, a former employer, which read “I know two great men and you are one of them; the other is this young man,”[1] referring to Tesla. Tesla then described the work he had done for Continental Edison Company, smoothly transitioning into a “description of his marvelous induction for alternating current, based upon his discovery of the rotating magnetic field” and how it would revolutionize the use of electricity [1]. Edison responded angrily, considering what he said to be nonsense and dangerous. However, he offered Tesla a simple job of fixing the S.S. Oregon’s lighting plant.
Tesla finished the task by the next morning and Edison begrudgingly acknowledged his skill by silently remarking “that is a damn good man” [1]. Tesla’s skills were highly valued by Edison, who gave almost complete freedom in working on the design and fixing problems of the shop. Tesla quickly observed methods of improving the primitive Edison DC dynamos, an electrical generator. He even proposed a plan for redesigning the infrastructure and claimed that it would not only improve service but also save Edison a lot of money. The business mind-set of Edison brightened at hearing the latter; however, he realized that the project Tesla proposed would be a massive undertaking and time consuming. He remarked, “There’s fifty thousand dollars in it for you--if you can do it.” [1]. Tesla worked for months, hardly sleeping, to redesign the twenty four dynamos completely in addition to installing automatic controls, using an original concept which was eventually patented.
Upon finishing this arduous task, Tesla went to Edison to seek his $50,000 payment. Edison, undoubtedly surprised, said, “you don’t understand our American humor.” [1]. Tesla felt cheated by a company that was renown for being stingy with funds and announced that he would resign. In an attempt to compromise, Edison offered to raise his salary by $10 of his current salary of $18 per week. Tesla promptly resigned on the spot.
Thomas Edison, like Tesla, was pioneer in his own right. He was born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847. His mother had a very crucial role in his early development. After hearing that his teacher in school, Reverend Engle, had called him “addled”, his mother took it upon herself to teach him personally, constantly reminding him of his true potential. This was a huge motivating factor for Edison to eventually become the most prolific inventor in American history. Edison’s discovered his talents as an entrepreneur while he sold newspapers and candy on trains from Port Huron to Detroit. He also studied qualitative analysis as well as conducting chemical experiments. He obtained exclusive rights to paper on the train routes; he even began selling his own newspaper, “Grand Trunk Herald”, which he sold with other newspapers en route.
He also learned telegraphy from a stationmaster after he risked his life to save the stationmaster’s son. His newfound interest led him to conceive the idea of an automatic repeater, which could send messages via telegraphs without the need of an operator. He also developed the idea of simultaneously sending two messages over the same wire, which led to his experiments in duplex telegraphy. This enabled him to become the superintendent of the Gold and Stock Company where he invented the printing telegraph for gold and stock quotations. To manufacture this he set up a large workshop in Newark, New Jersey and after eventually moving to Menlo Park, New Jersey, he devoted himself to inventing.
This invention paved the way for the carbon telephone transmitter, which used the variable current produced by the variable resistance of a solid conductor subject to pressure and thus was able to more accurately mimic and transmit the vocal sounds than any other telephone that existed then. Another invention was the phonograph, which was able to record sounds and reproduce them at will. [2] The work done in Menlo Park, New Jersey, culminated in over “400 patents, some of which represented the most influential technologies of modern America”. [3] The fact that Edison was a true inventor is a controversial topic. This is evident to the fact that much of his “inventions” were not groundbreaking due to the numerous amounts of predecessors they had.
For example, one usually associates the invention of the incandescent light bulb to Edison. However, many people had done a considerable amount of work on this “idea”. The most notable individual is Sir Joseph Swan, a British physicist and chemist, who was notable for his experimentation with incandescent light bulbs in the 1850s and 1860s, approximately 20 years before Edison’s patent in 1879. Another invention attributed to Edison was the electric chair. Edison, being a proponent of DC, hired Professor Harold Brown to develop the original electric chair based on Dr. Alfred Southwick’s design. Dr. Alfred Southwick had seen an inebriated man die painlessly from touching an electric generator, which used AC, and proposed the concept of electrocution as a humanitarian method for capital punishment.
Brown completed the first working model in 1888 and performed demonstrations on live animals to prove how well it worked. [4] Such examples cast doubt on the true originality of Edison inventions. The War of the Currents The, “War of the Currents”, as the name entails, was the continual skirmish between AC and DC. Tesla, after leaving Edison, was approached by a number of investors who were impressed with his engineering prowess and offered him a chance to form a company under his own name. Tesla saw it as an opportunity to bring his AC discovery to the world; however, the investors saw that there was a big market for improved arc lights for streets and factories and thus Tesla had to wait before he could begin work on his idea. The Tesla Electric Light Company was thus formed. Here, Tesla developed the “Tesla arc lamp which was more simple, reliable, safe, and economical than those in current use. The system was patented and first put to work on the streets of Rahway”. [1]
However, Tesla was once again on the receiving end of the painful ways of American commerce as his compensation was shares of stock in the firm, which was not worth much due to its newness and recurring economic crises. Tesla was once again without a job and entered slump that eventually led to a depression. From the spring of 1886 until the following year, Tesla toiled as a laborer on New York street gangs as he was not able to find an engineering position. He, despite his slump, had made some contributions. The arc-lighting innovations he had made spawned seven patents, from which he obtained other light-related patents, a notable one being the use of the loss of magnetism in iron at high temperatures to transform heat into mechanical or electrical energy. [1] [5]
Tesla’s luck changed when a fellow laborer took him to meet A. K. Brown, the manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company, “who not only knew about alternating current but was personally interested in the new idea” of alternating-current induction motors. [1] The Tesla Electric Company was thus formed with the chief goal of developing the AC system that Tesla had been so desperate to introduce. This was a major turning point in Tesla’s life that would cause Edison to vigorously oppose Tesla.
Tesla worked tirelessly in his new company and did not wait long before filing patent applications for the entire polyphase AC system. Tesla sent two of his induction motors to the Patent Office for testing and filed his first AC patents. His invention was so original and sweeping that he was granted the total forty patents that he applied for. This showed the very nature of Tesla, a true innovator and a visionary. Through Brown, Tesla was able to meet George Westinghouse, Jr. of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Tesla explained his idea of the AC motor to Westinghouse, who listened and saw great potential in his invention.
Westinghouse was so confident in in Tesla that he offered Tesla $1,000,000 for all of his AC patent rights and $2.50 per horsepower of electricity sold as royalty. Tesla did not keep all of the money and shared it with Brown and others who had helped him develop his system, exemplifying that Tesla was more interested in innovation and less in becoming rich. Tesla began to work for Westinghouse as a consultant to adapt the single-phase system. Here, Tesla had some difficulty working with the engineers who used the Westinghouse 133-cycle (Hz) current when his induction motor was designed for 60-cycle current (Hz). It was “only after months of futile and costly experiments doing it their way did they finally accept his word,” upon which the motor worked perfectly. The 60-cycle (Hz) has since become the standard for alternating current. [1]
Edison was furious after hearing about Tesla’s deal with his fierce rival Westinghouse. Thus the stage was set for the battle of Edison’s DC against Westinghouse’s AC. Edison launched a vitriolic campaign to discredit and discourage the use of AC. Not only were fortunes at stake, but also Edison wanted to maintain his pride as an egocentric genius. Edison actively searched for reasons to sensationalize the dangers of alternative current, even hiring Professor Brown to create the electric chair and demonstrate the dangers of AC on live animals. One notable example was the electrocution of Topsy the Elephant on January 4, 1903. Westinghouse recalled, "I remember Tom [Edison] telling them that direct current was like a river flowing peacefully to the sea, while alternating current was like a torrent rushing violently over a precipice.” [6]
Edison was able to endorse electrocution via AC as a form of capital punishment in the New York State. The term “Westinghousing” as slang for those executed this way was coined when New York State prison authorities announced the death of condemned murderer William Kemmler on August 6, 1890. [1][7] This event raised considerable public concern over the safety of AC when Edison’s engineers, using an illegally purchased Westinghouse generator, did not apply sufficient current and had to repeat the procedure. Tesla countered this vicious propaganda through demonstrations of his own. He allowed high voltage at high frequencies to pass through his body, lighting gas filled lamps by holding them. This showed that AC was just as safe as DC as long as the current was low. Westinghouse also continued to try and inform the public about AC, citing facts and figures to support its safety. Fortunately, he had the help of prestigious scientists such as Professor Anthony from Cornell and Professor Pupin from Columbia who not only vouched for its safety, but also its superiority over Edison’s DC system. [1]
Another event that proved Tesla’s dedication to the pursuit of innovation and science over self-aggrandizement was when Westinghouse approached him about his initial royalty agreement. The conditions were drawn up with the best of faith and Westinghouse had the intention to honor the contract. However, the cost associated with paying the royalties was so vast that it would have bankrupted his firm. Westinghouse thus approached Tesla and explained the situation. Money did not have any intrinsic worth to Tesla, as he believed its value was defined by how it was used. Upon hearing Westinghouse claim that Tesla’s discovery was the greatest in the field of electricity and that he would continue to develop his polyphase system, Tesla tore up the contract, as Westinghouse was the only one who believed in him and took the leap of faith. Westinghouse went on to become a powerhouse of industry and kept his promise to Tesla.
