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. Thomas Edison’s inventions were simplistic at heart, and they satisfied a direct and immediate need. “Among the best known of his inventions are a stock-ticker machine, the incandescent light bulb, an automatic telegraphy machine, the phonograph, and the motion picture machine” (“Thomas Alva Edison”). All of Edison’s inventions required DC or direct current to work. Edison’s constant use of the direct current power source for all his inventions set his work apart from Tesla’s. The constant need for Edison’s inventions caused a drastic increase in Edison’s productivity. As a young man, Edison developed very productive habits, which he translated into the latter part of... ... middle of paper ... ...2011. Jaleshgari, Ramin P. “Shedding Light on a Neglected Genius.” New York Times 23 Feb. 1997. Gale Science In Context. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. Jonnes, Jill. “Blackouts? Edison Might Say, ‘I Told You So’.” New York Times 2 Oct. 2003: G3. Gale Science In Context. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. Mone, Gregory. “The Men Who Brought Electricity To The World.” Popular Science 1 Aug. 2003: 86. Gale Science In Context. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. “Nikola Tesla.” Notable Scientists from 1900 to the Present. Ed. Brigham Narins. Detroit: Gale Group, 2008. Gale Science In Context. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. Stross, Randall. “Edison the Inventor, Edison the Showman.” New York Times 11 Mar. 2007: BU1(L). Gale Science In Context. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. “Thomas Alva Edison.” Notable Scientists from 1900 to the Present. Ed. Brigham Narins. Detroit: Gale Group, 2008. Gale Science In Context. Web. 1 Mar. 2011.
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Show MoreNikola 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.
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.
Tesla and Edison would then become direct adversaries for Electric Distribution. Thomas was all for DC currents and Tesla was all for AC currents in this war. When Nikola finished the induction motor the only downside to AC went away. The inability for motors to run AC was gone and Tesla got the upper hand. DC still had vast problems that put Nikola ahead like it couldn’t travel more than
While working at Thomas Edison’s headquarters in Manhattan, Tesla amazed and impressed Edison with his inventivene...
In conclusion, Thomas Edison knew his power and prestige and he saw the potential to remove his biggest competitor by manipulating how the public felt about the safety of alternating current. George Westinghouse hoped that he could save his reputation and business by appealing to the unknown regarding electricity. He manipulated the public’s concern over the possible painful and ineffective electric chair. Both were driven not by progress and humanity, as Edison claimed, or concern for the criminal, as Westinghouse claimed, but by power and money in the industry that both men were pioneering.
The first thing when discussing the greatest inventor is to remember that when we compare these two inventors to each other is that they were living in two totally different times. Not only in the time as we know it; aka years and centuries, but also in different times of thought and knowledge. Thru the paper I will be using just their last names as references as not to take up as much space and also to show how much these two inventors have had an effect on the world as we do not have to say there whole name but just there last (Edison) for Thomas Edison or as in Leonardo di Vinci we can use both (Leonardo) or (Di Vinci) and most people will know who we are speaking about and even give you examples of the impact their inventions on daily
In the 1880s, there was a war going on in the United States. Backstabbing, secrecy, and death were common. However, this war had no weapons. It was a dual between two geniuses. These two men are the fathers of modern technology. The War of Currents was a battle between the famous inventor Thomas Edison, and the mysterious genius Nikola Tesla. Tesla and Edison engaged in an epic competition to create the most efficient, cheap, usable form of electricity. Everyone knows who Thomas Edison was, but not many people know of Nikola Tesla. Tesla was an unappreciated mastermind who changed the world with his inventions, performed many strange experiments, and practically invented usable electricity.
“The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane”. Nikola Tesla is considered to be one of the greatest pioneers of electrical engineering. His legacy marked a revolution of modern technology.
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.
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
Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were two famous American inventors. Ford and Edison were best friends, who spent a lot of time together. They inspired one another and learned from each other. Their inventions changed the world. Ford changed the manufacturing process for cars and Edison changed night to day with the invention of the light bulb. These two minds contrasted remarkably in their ways of working, their originality, and their business styles.
Ideals and inventions inspired by different scientists have shaped the history of humanity. Without the existence of some of these inventions our developed modern world would have not flourished. Now that electricity and technological appliances have become so crucial in our lives, can you imagine a world without them? No computers, no radios, no television…(real struggle) Some of this indispensable devices have been developed throughout history thanks to the contribution of Nikola Tesla, a famous electrical engineering, to humanity. In this technological world, we can see the advanced models of Tesla’s creations as the AC motors running in different household appliances, boosting industrial machinery, and even keeping the hard disk of laptop
Nikola Tesla is regarded as one of the most brilliant inventors in history. His work provided the basis for the modern alternating current power system, as well as having developed both radio and the fluorescent light bulb. He worked with Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, among others. He was also widely misunderstood by his peers and the public at large.
Edison is most famous for the development of the first electric light bulb. Like I said Edison was born into a time where America wasn’t very developed. He was born, and electricity had not been developed. But thanks to Edison when he had passed away on October 18, 1931 whole cities were lit up in electricity. For electricity, much of the credit goes to Edison.
Thomas Edison is widely regarded as one of the most influential inventors and innovators of the Twentieth Century. Edison’s efforts ushered in a new era of technology; a world in which electricity would be harnessed and made to bow before man’s will. Walter Lippman wrote, “It is impossible to measure the importance of Edison by adding up the specific inventions with which his name is associated” (qtd. in Baldwin 409). Edison’s decades long career was a synergistic melding of his success as an inventor and his prowess as a promoter and businessman. He exemplified the ideals of intelligence married to hard work and perseverance. He forever changed the landscape of American invention and the limits of technological change (Baldwin 409).