Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison are two of the most influential inventors of our time. They are responsible for so many inventions that we still benefit from today; without them, our technological advancement would have been much slower. Nikola Tesla was born on July 10th, 1856 in present day Croatia. Thomas Edison was born on February 11th, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. The two met when Tesla moved to the United States in 1884 to work at Edison Machine Works, a manufacturing company set up to produce components of Edison’s illumination systems. Though similarly brilliant, the two had very different characters. Shortly after, Tesla left Edison Machine Works to pursue his own ambitions as a rival inventor. During their time period, their corresponding …show more content…
Tesla believed “he could increase the efficiency of Edison’s prototypical dynamos” (Sanford). Alternating currents are currents that changes the direction of the flow of charge periodically. It can also change the voltage of the flow as it moves and reverses. This meant alternating currents were much safer than the simple, one way moving direct current that was invented by Edison. This is the technology that powers many buildings such as houses and offices. One of our biggest energy sources the hydroelectricity power plants, which was developed by Tesla, also uses alternating currents. The water pushes the generator back and forth creating energy. Then, the energy is converted into electricity that is distributed across the world efficiently and safely using other various inventions such as transporters and alternators. Not only has Tesla contributed revolutionary inventions to the field of electricity, but his inventions have pushed the boundaries of civilization and …show more content…
The alternating currents or the direct currents? Direct currents started to become a problem because it required too much maintenance and costs to provide power to rural areas thus limiting the growth of cities. Edison proposed an idea to create small local power plants throughout neighborhoods and buildings; however, this was too costly and made it impossible for rural areas to receive power. The power plants also had to be within a one mile radius of its receiver. When no one had a solution to this, George Westinghouse decided to purchase and develop Tesla’s technology. This gave birth to a power plant at Niagara Falls to provide power to New York City, which contributed to the development of New York City. Since alternating currents allowed higher voltages to be transported with lower currents, power plants were able to be located miles
Nikola Tesla is a man that many individuals associate with brilliance. Moreover, Tesla is a name that ignites impulses within an individual’s brain which illuminate, via bio-circuitry, the thought association of Tesla and brilliance, similar to the force we term as electricity. Brilliance however, shouldn’t be the only descriptive word to come to mind when thinking of one of the greatest engineers and inventors to live. Innovation and determination should be undoubtedly included in the list of descriptive words of Mr. Nikola Tesla. For without the innovative mind of Tesla, midcentury inventions as well as current technological advances would be nonexistent, or worse, credited to Thomas Edison.
Tesla’s career as an inventor started when he was in his late twenties. He displayed his incredible understanding of electricity and physics when he created his first invention, the induction motor. The induction motor is a small, electric motor that has become a very useful machine. In fact, most household appliances run using Tesla’s induction motor (Vujovic 1). Score one for Tesla. Soon after he invented the induction motor, Tesla moved to America to try his luck at living the American dream. While in New York City, Tesla got the amazing opportunity to work for his hero, Thomas Edison. However, Tesla soon quit working for Edison due to some disagreements between the two inventors. And so with Edison and his men biting at Tesla’s heels, Nikola set out on his own to make a name for himself (Vujovic 1). Tesla soon became Edison’s greatest competitor. While tinkering in his lab with one of his inventions called the Tesla Coil, Tesla discovered that he could send and receive radio signals when his coils were tuned to the exact same frequency...
When two great minds clash, the entire world takes notice. Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla are both known for their ingenious brilliance, their innovation, and their impact on the electrical industry, and although they are both well-known inventors in their own right, the main event that brought their fame to its peak was the “War of
Edison had creation of the DC system which was a current that runs consistently in a singular direction, as in a battery or a power module. This was the early years of power, and the first electrical system for the U.S. Be that as it may, there was one issue. The direct current system was not an effective change over to higher or lower voltages. Tesla trusted that exchanging current as in his alternative current, which he believed to be the answer for this issue. Cycling the current made it easier for one to control the rotation of the currents which made it possible to change the overall voltage, his system made it almost effortless to be able to send out higher voltage
In the end, Tesla saved Edison over $100,000 (which would be millions today), but Edison refused to live up to his end of the bargain. Tesla quit, and Edison spent the rest of his life trying to stifle Tesla's reputation. Tesla devised a system for electricity, AC, which was better than Edison's DC system of electricity. AC (Tesla's system) is what is used in our homes today. AC offered many advantages over DC.
The dynamo, which was the first model of the generator, was a revolutionizing idea. It was the first ever machine to generate electricity. The dynamo produced direct currents, but unfortunately it was not as efficient because at some time the rotor would turn completely over changing the
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer and physicist. He was also considered an eccentric genius and recluse. Tesla is best known for his feud with Thomas Edison over AC power Versus DC Power. He was also well known for inventing the Tesla Coil which is still used in radio technology today. Nikola Tesla was mostly forgotten until the 1990’s when there was a resurgence of interest in popular culture.
Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were two of the most influential minds of the 1800s. Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park, worked hard his whole life to achieve great feats in science. Tesla, the Master of Lightning, had a brilliant mind and contributed to an electronic growth that changed American history. Thomas Edison is such a familiar name, but Tesla on the other hand is more obscure. Edison is widely known by the American public, but his intellectual equal and adversary is often forgotten. Edison and Tesla were once friends and worked on many projects together, but an argument over a bet changed their friendship and the world forever (D’Alto). Both men challenged each other throughout their lives, and their differences in inventions, productivity, financial success, and fame should have etched their names into history for eternity, but that is not the case. Thomas Edison has always been in the hearts and minds of the American public as the greatest inventor, but the facts may proclaim Nikola Tesla to be the better man and more deserving of the public’s admiration.
Born in 1856 the son of an Orthodox priest in Smiljan, Croatia, Nikola Tesla had an early exposure to inventing. His mother, although unschooled, was a very intelligent woman who often created appliances that helped with home and farm responsibilities, such as a mechanical eggbeater.
Developed over the span of many decades, Nikola Tesla’s most famous invention proved difficult to produce (“Tesla: Life and Legacy Colorado Springs”). Tesla had hoped to utilize the futuristic device to transmit electricity through air, eliminating the need for power lines across the globe (“Tesla”).
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was an eccentric man that was many lifetimes ahead of his generation. He was a man that dreamed of giving the world an unlimited supply of wireless energy. His genius imagination allowed him to think outside the box and solve issues that others had thought were unsolvable. Nikola Tesla proposed his vision for a system powered by an alternating current generator to Thomas Edison and was shot down because Thomas Edison’s power structure had already been established using a direct current system. The two butt heads however Nikola Tesla was relentless. After being used and rejected by Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla picked himself and went toe to toe with the most prolific inventor. The stage for David vs Goliath was set. Through Nikola Tesla’s borderline obsession to solve the design for an alternating current motor and sacrificing his own opportunity to become a wealthy man, we now live in a very efficient world where everyone reaps the rewards of his genius, few know his name, and even fewer know what he did.
Edison was a man of great success, wealth and superior intelligence. Although he had great qualities, such as his knack for problem solving, he must have ran into a bump in the road or even a complete stop. Edison could have failed on every project
All useful generators of electricity come in two basic forms, alternating current and direct current. Direct current (dc) comes from generators that do not change in polarity, always producing a positive charge. In alternating current (ac) the polarity of the terminals is always changing from positive to negative. Thus you are left with alternating current flow. There are different ways of measuring and generating alternating and direct current.
He next formed a company, the Tesla Electric Light & Manufactoring. Unfortunately, his investors disagreed with his plans for developin...
The effects of electricity control much of our daily lives. Many of our gadgets and everyday tasks are run by this wonderful source of power. For example without electricity we would not be able to make a cup of coffee in the mourning, or even make a long distance call to family or friends. There have been several technological breakthroughs by many brilliant people throughout history regarding electricity. It has come from being discovered as a small current to being transformed into useful power to run such things as computers. Ben Franklin, Guglielmo Marconi, Thomas Edison, Paul Nipkow, and Charles Babbage have all contributed to the advancement of electricity, and all of their advancements have supplied society in many ways.