Early Life and Edison
Tesla was born in 1856 in Smiljan (then Austrian Empire, now Serbia). He had a photographic memory and could perform integral calculus in his head. He immigrated to America in 1884 and briefly worked for Thomas Edison. Edison offered him $50,000 to improve his DC dynamos; when Tesla succeeded, Edison reportedly said the offer was a joke. Tesla resigned and spent a year digging ditches.
The AC System
Tesla had conceived of the rotating magnetic field — the principle behind AC induction motors — years earlier. Funded by George Westinghouse, he developed a complete AC power system: generators, transformers, and motors. The 'War of Currents' with Edison's DC system culminated in the 1893 Chicago World's Fair (lit by AC) and the 1895 Niagara Falls power plant, which transmitted AC power to Buffalo 26 miles away. AC won.
The Tesla Coil and Radio
Tesla invented the Tesla coil — a resonant transformer producing high-frequency, high-voltage electricity — in 1891. He used it in spectacular demonstrations. He also developed early radio technology and claimed priority over Marconi; the US Supreme Court ruled in Tesla's favor in 1943, months after his death.
Wardenclyffe and Decline
Tesla's greatest ambition was Wardenclyffe Tower — a facility on Long Island intended to transmit electrical power wirelessly across the Atlantic. J.P. Morgan funded it, then withdrew when he realized the system couldn't be metered for profit. Without meters, there was no business model. The tower was never completed and was demolished in 1917. Tesla spent his final years in the Hotel New Yorker, increasingly eccentric, feeding pigeons in Bryant Park.
よくある質問
What did Nikola Tesla invent?
Tesla's major inventions include: the AC induction motor; polyphase alternating current power system; the Tesla coil (high-frequency resonant transformer); radio transmission technology (disputed with Marconi); and early X-ray research. His AC system forms the basis of essentially all electrical power generation and distribution on Earth.
Why did Tesla die poor?
Tesla had poor business instincts and was cheated or underfunded throughout his career. Edison allegedly reneged on a $50,000 payment; his radio patents were disputed; the Wardenclyffe wireless power project was abandoned when J.P. Morgan withdrew funding. Tesla gave away patent royalties to Westinghouse to save the company. He died in debt in 1943.
Who won the War of Currents, Tesla or Edison?
Tesla and Westinghouse's AC system won. AC can be transmitted efficiently over long distances using transformers to step up and step down voltage; Edison's DC cannot. The 1893 Chicago World's Fair (AC) and the 1895 Niagara Falls hydroelectric plant (transmitting AC to Buffalo) demonstrated AC's superiority. All modern power grids use AC.