An Informational Rant On Tesla

Many people hold a prominent place in history, some being labeled Genius. Tesla is one such individual, influencing more than the apparent aspects of science or modern life. Patents of his have been used for many things, including an e-mail capable VCR produced by Sony (View Original Patent and Citations such as Pat. No. 6925567 or Pat. No. 7376843). I find Tesla to be quite an innovator and influential person, and thus hold him in high regard. This post serves to break the ice as my first blog post, as well as to give me an excuse to browse through records of Telsa's brilliance.

Oh and here's Mario via Tesla Coil

Nikola Tesla has been touted as one of the greatest men in science. With invention ranging
from commonplace (fluorescent lighting) to extreme (death rays), Tesla is far beyond what one would call revolutionary. Born July 10, 1856 in Smiiljan, Lika, Tesla has accumulated over 100 US Patents, and over 300 internationally recognized patents. While there, he studied at the Realschule and the University of Prague. He originally studied physics and mathematics, but later became engrossed in electricity. He first built a prototype of the first induction motor in
1883, which was an idea so radical that no one would accept it. With the failed promotion of
his revolutionary device, he then opted to move to New York and work for Thomas Edison. Due
to business and personal issues between himself and Edison, he later quit and turned to other
work.

During this period, he worked on designs for what is considered his greatest triumph: AC
power. In 1886, Tesla formed a company to promote and produce his concepts. Once again,
he ran into issues due to his radical ideas, most of which upset investors. After this attempt
failed and he was removed from the company, he began work with George Westinghouse.
Westinghouse promoted his ideas, including his AC polyphase concepts. Tesla proved that AC
power could be carried over longer distances than DC, which was the start of a battle between
Tesla and Edison over electrician dominance. While working with Westinghouse, he also
developed the concept for his Tesla Coil, a revolutionary device that used charged waves to
transmitted power without the need for wires.

As early as 1891, he demonstrated a working model of this, which would later be called the
Tesla Effect: the electrical conduction over space and matter without the use of a conductor.
He then began using this to wirelessly light lamps and power other devices, even outside of
his laboratory. From this point forward, much of his work focused on cyclic waves and other
related topics. Some of his later inventions included the first radio transmitter, large-scale AC
generators, and fluorescent lights, the latter of which were showcased at the 1893 World’s
Fair. Tesla also demonstrated magnetic induced levitation in an invention he called the “Egg of
Columbus”.

Tesla’s earlier discoveries related to radio transmission latter led to his invention of radio
operated and controlled boats and other products. Between this and his other inventions,
mainly the Tesla Coil, he proved that the Earth was in fact a conductor and that it could be
used to transmit power long distances with his Tesla Coil. Tesla further developed long range
telecommunications systems using this technology that he believed could even be used to
communicate with other planets, documenting that he had received transmissions from
long range that were out of the spectra generated by the earth, storms, and other natural
phenomena. This also led to early concepts similar to RADAR technology. Towards the end of
his life, he worked on designed for a high-energy ray device, which could be used as a death ray. It was, however, never fully developed, and much of his work regarding it was either
destroyed or lost. It has been determined by some historians and scientist, using information
that remains from his work and correspondence, that this device may have been an earlier
prototype for what we now know as a Railgun or possibly a Gaussgun.

Tesla died on January 7, 1943 in New York. Much of his work was disregarded during his life,
however, in modern times his genius has been realized. His legacy, mainly that related to his
discovery of alternating current lives today as it has revolutionized the world, making much of
what goes on today possible. It has often been overlooked, however, that many of his other
inventions have had a significant influence on modern science and society.

Though he was not given credit for the invention of the radio, he was the first pioneer in that
field, and many argue that he did invent it. His genius goes deeper than merely these ground
breaking discoveries. His research in wave mechanics was nothing short of remarkable, having
devised a method of using the wavelike properties of all matter to transport energy through
matter long distances. This discovery of his was not fully realized until much later when
quantum mechanics evolved. Many other technologies, such as DC power and the Van De Graff
generator were proven inferior to Tesla’s inventions, being AC power and his popular Tesla Coil.
Many do not realize the full potential of Tesla’s wireless electricity, for it has the potential to
be far greater than what infrastructure we have in place today. Electrical power is a recently
emerging trend with small devices, such as cell phones or iPods. This technology is regarded as
new, revolutionary technology, when in fact, this is decades old.

Tesla left a unique legacy. He developed many concepts that even today are not fully realized.
Much of his work not only directly shaped modern society, but also indirectly formed it in ways
unseen by much of the population. Such a large part of modern technology is due to Tesla that
many argue he was the molder of today’s many technological marvels.



Supporting Information Referenced From:
Tesla Society - Biography
About.com - Nikola Tesla
Wikipedia - Nikola Tesla
Wikipedia - Tesla Patents
Wikipedia - AC Power
Tesla Society - AC
The Badass of The Week - Nikola Tesla