In 1975, the Institute
of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers
(IEEE) created the
“Tesla Award” for out
standing contributions
in the field of
electrical power
generation and
transmission. At the
Boeing Co. that
resulted in the use of
a new unit for
magnetic flux density
or the magnetic field,
for those of us who
worked in the field of
Electromagnetic
Compatibility (EMC).
The Tesla, equivalent
to 796,000 Amperes per
meter, now the new
unit to be used in our
calculations, had been
established in 1960 at
the General Conference
for Weights and
Measures in Paris, in
honor of the great
inventor/engineer
Nikola Tesla.
But who was Nikola
Tesla, whose 150th
anniversary of his
birthday is being
observed this year?
Did his name fall
through the crack, or
was it intentionally
suppressed? Textbooks
on electrical
engineering made no
mention of him, nor
could his name be
found in any technical
journal. It is said
that he rated only a
footnote in history at
the Smithsonian!! He
must have been the
“scientist forgotten.”
Nikola Tesla was born
in a village called
Smiljan in the
province of Lika,
Croatia in 1856. After
elementary and
secondary education he
graduated with a
degree in electrical
engineering from the
University of Prague
and started working in
his field in Hungary,
Germany and France.
Specializing in
development of
electrical power
equipment and
distribution networks,
he came to America in
1884. Virtually
penniless he landed a
job with Thomas
Edison, America’s
great inventor. With
his vivid imagination
to the point of
displaying eccentric
tendencies and his
stubborn defense of
the idea that in the
future alternating
current (AC) will
replace direct current
(DC), advocated by
Edison, Tesla failed
to gain an early
stronghold in the
scientific community.
But direct current
attenuates rapidly
over distance. Every
two miles or so,
Edison had to give his
system a boost by
inserting a high
voltage supply,
rendering the system
inefficient. In
contrast, AC power, by
virtue of its cyclic
nature, can be
amplified to voltage
levels that minimize
power loss when
current flows over
long distances.
Needless to say, the
two geniuses locked
horns, each defending
his system. And when
Edison reneged on a
promise for a monetary
award, the couple
parted company.
His subsequent working
relationship with
George Westinghouse
was decidedly a
happier one.
Westinghouse realized
the potential to
electrify America and
for that matter the
rest of the world with
Tesla’s alternating
current technology,
and bought all US
patents held by Tesla
for generators, motors
and transformers. It
was the beginning of a
perfect partnership
and the start of
Tesla’s most
productive years.
His inventions are too
numerous to mention
and the details in
many cases are beyond
the scope of
comprehension for the
average reader. These
include the
development of the
induction motor and
related devices based
on the rotating
magnetic field as well
as the polyphase power
distribution system.
The makeup of modern
day household
appliances and
industrial equipment
is based on these
inventions. Life
today, without
alternating current
devices is
unthinkable,
particularly when our
dependency on
electricity comes
“to light” during a
power failure. One of
Tesla’s great
achievements was also
the design and
installation of the
first power system in
Niagara Falls. N.Y.
In the US Tesla held
over forty patents,
covering the entire
system of polyphase
AC power generation.
But his inventive mind
did not stop there. He
laid the groundwork in
other fields of
technological
development, for
instance, in the field
of X-rays, robotics.
Ionized gases and
charged particle
beams. He also
pioneered wireless
communication, which
resulted in a heated
dispute with Marconi,
who was credited with
the invention of
radio. Tesla had
demonstrated his basic
design using radio
waves in 1898 at
Madison Square Garden
with a
radio-controlled boat,
which he patented.
Marconi, however,
patented his wireless
system in 1897, and in
1899 established a
wireless connection
between England and
the Continent.
So, it is conceivable
that a dispute existed
between the two
inventors. Tesla lost
his ensuing quarrel in
the patent courts.
Researched material,
however, mentioned
that Marconi’s patent
was deemed invalid by
the courts in 1943,
six years after his
death, and the year in
which Tesla died.
In the later years
Tesla’s inventions
were bordering on the
fantastic. For
example, he claimed
having invented a
“Teleforce” or “Death
Ray,” capable of
destroying enemy
airplanes, tanks and
land forces at a
distance of 250 miles!
To him that was the
key to make wars
unthinkable and
impractical.
Nikola Tesla was
sometimes called the
greatest inventor of
all times. But he
became a myth, a
scientist who was both
admired as well as
ostracized by his
contemporaries. His
visionary genius took
him beyond the
acceptable limits of
basic research. He had
looked way ahead in
time. It was Tesla,
not Edison, who
developed the basis
for our electrical
power system in use
today, and it was
Tesla who laid the
basic groundwork for
computer technology
and satellite
communication. This
man deserved more
recognition than was
granted him in his
lifetime.
He died in New York in
1943 of a heart
failure. Immediately
after his death the
FBI ordered to
confiscate all his
papers which were
declared Top Secret by
the War Department.
Some of his personal
effects are now housed
in the Nikola Tesla
Museum in Belgrade,
which also displays
the urn with his
cremains. In his
honor, a bronze statue
was erected by the
City of Niagara Falls,
N.Y.
“Science is but a
perversion of itself,
unless it has its
ultimate goal the
betterment of
humanity.”
Nikola Tesla
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