[Modern history] Nikola Tesla “The man who invented the twentieth century”

By: rapturas Mood: administrative Date: 01/26/2008 11:49:09 Music: None

One of my favourite inventors whom not many (outside of the fields of science and technology) know of. I didnt until about two years ago and I even took design and technology classes (to go into industrial design). Anyway...

Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was born on the 10^th July 1856 (died 7^th January 1943) in Smijan, Croatia/Serbia (opposite Italy) supposedly during an electrical storm which would make some sense considering his later achievements. (no doubt you have used something of his today lol =)

Tesla during his life, took up residence in Austria, Hungry, France, and the USA and during his life was given notable prizes including the Edison Medal (1916), the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal (1893), and the John Scott Medal (1934).

Tesla is probably best known for his many revolutionary contributions to the field of electricity, magnetism and design and engineering. His best known contributions are in the sciences and technologies for rotating magnetic fields and for the complete system for production and distribution of electrical energy (or if you play Command and Conquer, the Tesla Coil). Tesla's patents and theoretical work formed the foundation of modern AC electric power systems (Alternating Current) including the AC motor and the Polyphase power distribution systems, and (imo) of course he helped bring in the Second Industrial Revolution! He held over 700 patents in the US and Europe!

After Telsa’s demonstration of wireless communications through radio (during 1893) and after being the conqueror of the "War of Currents", he was widely respected as America's greatest electrical engineer. Much of his early work pioneered modern electrical engineering and many of his discoveries were of groundbreaking importance!

During the period he spent in the US, Tesla was mostly considered an eccentric personality with some unbelievable and often bizarre claims of possible scientific and technological developments. Due to this, Tesla was ultimately ostracised and regarded as a ‘mad scientist’ (see conspiracy theories for more, apparently he demonstrated a means to harness ‘free’ energy from the atmosphere and/or using the negative charge of a current, I know electrons have a negative charge st least lol=/).

Aside from Tesla’s work on electromagnetism and engineering, he also contributed in varying degrees to the establishment of robotics, remote control, radar and computer science, and to the expansion of ballistics, nuclear physics, and theoretical physics. In 1943 the Supreme Court of the US credited Tesla to being the inventor of the radio (where my parents live [Chelmsford], it is said that the Radio was invented there haha).

In 1960 at the Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures in Paris, the unit SI (Magnetic Flux Density or Magnetic Induction/ Magnetic Field) was named after Tesla in his honour [The Tesla].

Tesla's investigations in the area of high-voltage RF power processing techniques resulted in the very first high efficiency, high frequency lighting ballasts. Only since the late 1980s have more efficient high-frequency ballasts (some with great similarities to those developed by Tesla over 100 years ago) have begun to gain wider acceptance.

Check out his electric car as well, that whole subject deserves its own blog! I mean, electric cars in general (which were invented before the internal combustion engine! they only run at around 35% efficiency on average so you waste 65% of your money when you fill up your car!).

Check out http://www.tesla-museum.org/meni_en.htm forsome more info.

Taken from wiki:

Electromechanical devices and principles developed by Nikola Tesla:

• Devices for ionized gases.
• Devices for high field emission
• Devices for charged particle beams
• Various devices that use rotating magnetic fields (1882)
• The Induction motor, rotary transformers, and "high" frequency alternators
• The Tesla coil his magnifying transmitter, and other means for increasing the intensity of electrical oscillations (including condenser discharge transformations and the Tesla oscillators)
• Alternating Current long-distance electrical transmission system (1888) and other methods and devices for Power Transmisssion
• Systems for wireless communication (prior art for the invention of radio) and radio frequency oscillators
• Robotics and the "AND" logic gate
• Electrotherapy Tesla currents
• Wireless transfer of electricity and the Tesla effect
• Tesla impedance phenonomena
• Tesla electro-static field
• Tesla principle
• Bifilar coil
• Telegeodynamics
• Tesla insulation
• Tesla impulses
• Tesla frequencies
• Tesla discharge
• Forms of commutators and methods of regulating third brushes
• Tesla turbines (eg., bladeless turbines) for water, steam and gas and the Tesla pumps
• Tesla igniter
• Tesla compressor
• X-rays Tubes using the bremsstrahlung process
• Phantom streaming devices
• Arc light systems
• Methods for providing extremely low level of resistance to the passage of electrical current (predecessor to superconductivity)
• Voltage multiplication circuitry
• Devices for high voltage discharges
• Devices for lightning protection
• VTOL aircraft
• Dynamic theory of gravity
• Concepts for electric vehicles
• Polyphase systems

Oh lookie lookie, Telsa not getting any credit for his works (in this particular field) yet again. http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2008-01/electricity-air