The ‘Real’ Father of Electricity The Way Today’s World knows It

By Tom Morrow

Nikola Tesla was born in Serbia on July 10, 1856. He was an inventor, electrical and mechanical engineer, as well as a futurist best known for his contributions in the design of the modern “alternating current” (AC) electrical system.
In 1882, Tesla began working for Thomas Edison’s Continental Edison Company in France, designing and making improvements to electrical equipment. In 1884, Tesla came to America where he was hired by Edison to work for his Edison Machine Works. Tesla’s work began with simple electrical engineering and quickly progressed to solving more difficult design problems.
Tesla was offered the task of completely redesigning the Edison Company’s “direct current” (DC) generators. Tesla said he could redesign Edison’s inefficient motor and generators, making an improvement in both service and economy. Edison reportedly replied: “There’s fifty thousand dollars in it for you if you can do it.” Edison was notoriously stingy and probably didn’t have that sort of money.
After months of work, Tesla fulfilled the task and inquired about his $50,000 payment. Edison declared he was only joking.
“Tesla, you don’t understand our American humor.” Instead, Edison offered Tesla a $10 raise over his $18 per week salary, but Tesla refused the offer and immediately resigned.
Tesla was rightly concerned any innovation or discovery he made while under Edison’s employ would be claimed by his employer. So the innovator struck out on his own, setting up laboratories and companies to develop a range of electrical devices. His patented AC induction motor and transformer were licensed by George Westinghouse, who also hired Tesla as a consultant.
Tesla’s work in electric power development was involved in the corporate struggle between the Tesla-Westinghouse group against Edison’s company, controlled by financier J.P. Morgan, making alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) the power transmission standard, referred to as the “War of Currents.”
Tesla’s AC power system won out, but in reality it was a bitter victory. Westinghouse, who had control of Tesla’s developments, was going broke. He had to sell Tesla’s AC patents to financier Morgan, who promptly turned Edison’s company into General Electric.
Bottom line: Tesla, Edison, and Westinghouse all went broke and lost out on reaping the electrifying rewards they had developed.
Tesla went on to pursue wireless lighting and electrical distribution in his high-voltage, high-frequency power experiments and made early pronouncements on the possibility of wireless communication with his devices.
In his lab Tesla also conducted a range of experiments with mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, and early X-ray imaging. He also built a wireless-controlled boat, one of the first ever exhibited. All of this is to say that Tesla was decades ahead of everyone else in his thinking and dreaming.
Tesla was renowned for his achievements and showmanship, eventually earning him a reputation in popular culture as a “Mad Scientist.” His patents earned him a considerable amount of money, much of which was used to finance his own projects with varying degrees of success. He lived most of his life in a series of New York hotels.
Tesla died on Jan. 7, 1943. His work fell into relative obscurity after his death, but in his honor, the 1960 General Conference on Weights and Measures named the SI unit of magnetic flux density the “Tesla.”
Tesla’s name and memory has experienced a resurgence in interest in popular culture since the 1990’s. Today, the leading all-electric automobile company is called “Tesla Motors.” The car is considered one of the top luxury vehicles in the world.

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