Technology has exponentially advanced over the last 200 years. Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and Isaac Newton are all famous names in scientific history with notable achievements, but what about Nikola Tesla? In 1917 the Vice President of the AIEE, Bernard Behrend stated, “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 an epoch in the advance of electrical science. From that work has sprung a revolution. ” (Vujic, Marincic, Ercegovac, Milovanovic, 2001) Nikola Tesla attained hundreds of patents for revolutionary inventions and had countless of others ideas that never made it that far. From the poly-phase AC motor, to radar, to a vertical launch airplane, Nikola Tesla never stopped inventing.If Tesla had just received the support that he deserved, there is no telling what he would have invented.
“The electrical power flowing from our great generators, illuminating our vast cities, dispelling the inky blackness of the night, and the telecommunications cohesively linking the homes and businesses of our civilization, across continents, around the globe and through the distant reaches of space - these are all monuments testioing to the successful life of this little known, but uniquely admirable, scientist, inventor, engineer, futurist, and citizen of the world. (Corum, 2000)In the words of a fellow Serbian and professor at the University of California, Berkely, Jasmina Vujic described Tesla as, “In his visionary ideas Tesla was so far ahead of his time. Somebody said that Tesla was working on “inventing the future”. He was a pioneer in many fields, but commonly misunderstood. His work paved the way for widespread electrification and information technology, and forever changed our lives.
” (Vujic, 2001. ) Tesla’s Early Years Nicola Tesla was born on the Balkan Peninsula (currently Yugoslavia), in 1856, to his two Serbian parents.His father was a strict but supportive Orthodox priest and his mother, although illiterate, was said to be somewhat of an inventor herself, having created a mechanical egg beater and other inventions to use around the home. Nicola had three sisters and an older brother. Tesla grew up curious and creative.
Having created a waterwheel at the age of four and at the age of 15 envisioned what would 25 years later be one of his greatest achievements, the generators at Niagara Falls. Shortly thereafter Tesla was stricken by Cholera, an intestinal infection, which left him bed ridden for almost a year.Upon recovery, Tesla attended the Polytechnic School at Graz, Austria, where he excelled in science and math. One day his experimental physics Professor held a demonstration of a Gramme dynamo. During the experiment the brushes of the dynamo’s commutator sparked uncontrollably. Tesla pointed out to his Professor and the class that the use of alternating current could correct this discrepancy.
“The professor didn't like Tesla showing him up in front of the class and belittled his ideas; saying they were impossible and impractical.The professor likened Tesla's ideas to a perpetual motion machine. This hurt Tesla but it didn't discourage him. ” (Brittain, 2005) This would be the beginning of a trail of discouragement that Tesla would face his whole life. From his superiors, to rival inventors, to investors, Tesla never received the amount of support that he deserved. Tesla bounced around in his first couple jobs outside of school.
His employment was short-lived at both the Central Telegraph Of? ce of Hungary and as a telephone engineer in Budapest.Soon after, Tesla moved to Paris and took a job as an engineer working under Thomas Edison. While there, he improved Edison's dynamos. Tesla offered to increase the output, lower the costs and decrease the maintenance of the dynamos. Supposedly, Edison said he would pay-Tesla $50,000 if he could do it.
Tesla did so, putting in long hours to accomplish the task. Edison as delighted but Tesla wasn't paid $50,000. When Tesla asked why, Edison replied, "Tesla, you don't understand our American humor. " So Tesla quit his job. (Vuckovic, 1990) Tesla’s time spent working for Edison wasn’t a total waste.The company moved Tesla to America and also gave him valuable experience.
Tesla would later become Edison’s biggest competition for energy production and distribution. After leaving the Edison Company Tesla went through several low paying jobs, outside of the engineering community. The Current Wars Tesla was soon introduced to George Westinghouse, head of the Westinghouse Electric Company. Westinghouse paid Tesla to continue his research in AC power and eventually helped to pay for the patent applications for Tesla’s polyphase system of alternating-current.So original were the ideas that they were issued without a successful challenge, and would turn out to be the most valuable patents since the telephone. ” (Cheney, Uth, ; Glen, 1999) Westinghouse later offered to purchase those patents from Tesla and his associates.
“Peck and Brown agreed to sell the Tesla patents to Westinghouse for $25,000 in cash, $50,000 in notes and a royalty of $2. 50 per horsepower for each motor. Agreement meant that Westinghouse would pay Tesla, Peck, and Brown $315,000 over the 17 year life of the patents. ” (Vujic, J.
; Marincic, A. Ercegovac, M. ; Milovanovic, B. 2001)The battle over the use of Tesla-Westinghouse AC and Edison’s DC power was now in full effect. Bidding wars were being held and companies had to choose who would be powering there buildings and events. As Tesla continued to perfect his Alternating current, Edison began a slanderous campaign against him.
Westinghouse described the slander, 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. Imagine that!Why they even had a professor named Harold Brown who went around talking to audiences...
and electrocuting dogs and old horses right on stage, to show how dangerous alternating current was. (Cheney, Uth, ; Glen, 1999) They even used AC power to electrocute convicted killers in New York in horribly graphic displays. Despite all of that negative attention, Tesla and Westinghouse still came out victorious. By bidding significantly less than the competitors Tesla and Westinghouse were awarded the contract to provide power to illuminate The Chicago World's Fair in 1893.Three years later Westinghouse would go on to build a significantly larger 5000 hp hydroelectric AC generator at the Niagara Falls, to provide power to the nearby city of Buffalo, New York. Tesla’s AC system of power would go on to become the standard form of power in the United States and what is still used to power our homes today.
The importance of Tesla’s achievements were later described as this; “The evolution of electric power, from the discovery of Faradey in 1831 to the initial great installation of the Tesla polyphase system in 1896, is undoubtedly the most tremendous event in all engineering history” (Charles E. Scott, 1943)The Colorado Springs Experiments In 1899 Tesla ran out of space in his New York laboratory, in order to further his experiments he met up with Leonard E. Curtis of the Colorado Spring Electric Company. Curtis offered Tesla the use of some land on Knob Hill as well as free electricity for his experiments. While in Colorado Tesla planned to build a powerful oscillator that would be adequate to determine if resonance effects could be produced by the earth; as well as make high powered tests for wireless communication systems (Mitchell, 1972).Before Tesla’s oscillator was finished, he began experiments using a sensitive receiving device to investigate the electrical activity of the earth.
This device was made up of a primary coil in which the bottom was grounded and the top was connected to an elevated terminal of adjustable capacity (Tesla, 1904). A sensitive detector was located in a secondary circuit and was made up of several turns of wire near the base of the primary; this was known as a coherer. (Mitchell, 1972) A coherer is as a vacuum tube filled with powdered metal that would conduct electricity when exposed to radio frequency energy.While using this device Tesla claimed to have found an important clue pertaining to his experiments and described the incident as follows; "It was on the third of July--the date I shall never forget--when I obtained the first decisive experimental evidence of a truth of overwhelming importance for the advancement of humanity. A dense mass of strongly charged clouds gathered in the west and towards the evening a violent storm broke loose which, after spending its fury in the mountains, was driven away with great velocity over the plains.
Heavy and long persisting arcs formed almost in regular time intervals. My observations were now greatly facilitated and rendered more accurate by the experiences already gained. I was able to handle my instruments quickly and I was prepared. The recording apparatus being properly adjusted, its indications became fainter and fainter with the increasing distance of the storm until they ceased altogether.
I was watching in eager expectation. Surely enough, in a little while the indications again began, grew stronger and stronger and, after passing thru a maximum gradually decreased and ceased once more.Many times, in regularly recurring intervals, the same actions were repeated until the storm, which, as evident from simple computations, was moving with nearly constant speed, had retreated to a distance of about three hundred kilometers. Nor did these strange actions stop then, but continued to manifest themselves with undiminished force. Subsequently, similar observations were also made by my assistant, Mr. Fritz Lowenstein, and shortly afterwards several admirable opportunities presented themselves which brought out still more forcibly and unmistakably, the true nature of the wonderful phenomenon.
No doubt whatever remained: I was observing stationary waves. ” (Mitchell, 1972) Tesla believed that this phenomenon proved the earth acts as a body of finite dimensions and could be made to resonate. The disturbance of the lightning created ripples or waves that would spread out and affect any receiver with equal strength as they passed by if the earth acted as an infinite conductor. However, when the waves that Tesla measured spread out and then were reflected and superimposed, they formed nodes where they were much stronger than elsewhere.
The simple fact that the waves could be reflected proved that a resonant condition could be produced if a powerful signal was in tune with the planet. The waves detected by Tesla in the lighting storm experiment were 25 to 75 kilometers long (Mitchell, 1972). The success of Tesla's idea for transmitting current through the earth depended entirely on whether or not stationary waves had really been observed. The effects did not require stationary waves and, in fact, can be explained in other ways.
Tesla's theories of ground transmission of electric waves are not generally accepted today, but this should not be allowed to belittle his accomplishments. Tesla knew that in order for his theory of wireless energy to work he would need to create a force equal to the lightning that he was observing. The facility that Tesla constructed at Colorado Springs was described as, “both wired and weird, a contraption with a roof that rolled back to prevent it from catching fire, and a wooden tower that soared up eighty feet.Above it was a 142-foot metal mast supporting a large copper ball. Inside the strange wooden structure, technicians began to assemble an enormous Tesla coil, specially designed to send powerful electrical impulses into the earth. ” (Cheney, Uth, & Glen, 1999) During the beginning stages of his experiments, Tesla momentarily applied power to his large coil and an ominous blue cloud began to form around it, large bolts of electricity climbed the tower and shot more than 100 feet into the night sky.
As a result of this experiment, the El Paso Electric Company, which was supplying the power to his lab, suffered major casualties and the entire city lost power. Tesla would later have to repair the damages that he caused. Tesla conducted experiments at Colorado Springs, for less than a year, before returning to his facility in New York. It has been said that, “Tesla performed many experiments but one of the more interesting ones was his wireless transmission of power.
In this experiment he was able to light 200 lamps, 26 miles away from his lab. This has yet to be duplicated today.According to Tesla, the whole earth is a giant conductor. A wireless transmitter could be designed such that power goes throughout the earth's surface. To operate motors, lamps and such, all one would have to do is connect an antenna or suitable conductors to the appliance.
This antenna would absorb enough power to run the device. ” (Vuckovic, 1990) One problem with the experiments that took place in Colorado Springs, and many of Tesla’s other experiments, is Tesla’s lack of documentation.Tesla took detailed notes on all of his experiments but to the extent that he nderstood. He would describe conditions and inputs but not outcomes.
Although his notes were meant for his own use and clearly did there purpose, they have made it nearly impossible for later scientists to carry on with his experiments. Tesla’s World System When Tesla returned to New York he submitted an article to Century Magazine, in which he described his plan to harness the sun’s energy with a massive antenna. With this vision, Tesla said it would be possible to control the weather with electrical energy and proposed a system of worldwide wireless communication.This global system of wireless communication would make it possible to relay telephone messages, broadcast news and music, secure military communications, and so much more across the ocean.
Tesla’s idea quickly caught the attention of, the rich and powerful, J. P. Morgan. Tesla was offered $150,000 by Morgan to fund his experiments. Despite what Tesla told Morgan, he actually planned to use his investment to continue his research on wireless power distribution. Wardernclyffe in the Long Island Sound was the new site for Tesla’s project.
The project was underway by 1901, the erection of a massive tower proved to be the most challenging. The tower rose 187 feet in the air and supported a sphere made of steel that weighed fifty-five-tons. Portions of the tower plunged 120 feet downward into the earth. The tower was surrounded by sixteen iron pipes that were buried 300 feet deeper than the shaft in order for currents to pass through them and grab the earth.
Tesla stated that "In this system that I have invented, it is necessary for the machine to get a grip of the earth, otherwise it cannot shake the earth.It has to have a grip...
so that the whole of this globe can quiver. " As the tower was being built, it was apparent that more money was needed to complete the project. However, Morgan did not react. On December 12, 1901, Marconi transmitted the letter “S” across the Atlantic. After this accomplishment Morgan began to doubt Tesla’s work, even though Tesla explained to Morgan that Marconi used seventeen of Tesla’s patents to complete the transmission. Not only did Marconi’s system work, it was less expensive.
After pleading for more funding, Morgan refused.Then, to make things worse for Tesla, the stock market crashed, doubling the cost of the materials to build the tower. Higher material cost and the unwillingness to find any investors eventually led to the end of the project. Although it provided some impressive results, the project was disestablished only four years after it began. The newspapers called Tesla’s failure, "Tesla's million dollar folly.
" After being humiliated, Tesla had a complete nervous breakdown and stated, "It is not a dream. It is a simple feat of scientific electrical engineering, only expensive...
blind, faint-hearted, doubting world. "
