NIKOLA TESLA: GENIUS OF THE GENIUSES
In history, there are some names that we always associate with the term 'Genius'. For example — Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Paul Dirac, Maxwell, Marie Curie, Srinivasa Ramanujan, and many more.
But there is one man in history whom I consider the greatest genius of all time. (NOTE: I didn’t use the term ‘one of the greatest’, which I usually use when mentioning such eminent personalities.)
His extraordinary life has been 'hidden' from the young generation of extraordinary thinkers. This man contributed immensely to the development of the modern world. The radio, induction motor, remote control, neon lamp, hydroelectric power, magnifying transmitter, wireless communication, and many more innovations were either invented or proposed by him. However, he is best known for his highly efficient, ground-breaking work on the Alternating Current motor and AC-powered transmission technology.
Even after achieving such fame, with more than 3000 patents globally attributed to his name, he remained hard-headed, pragmatic, intuitive, and above all, modest about his achievements. These remarkable qualities greatly aided him in his relentless pursuit of newer technologies that could make human life effortless and comfortable.
The man I’m talking about is Nikola Tesla.
I will try my very best to describe the life of this brilliant yet underrated genius — a man whose life was filled with humbling failures and momentous triumphs.
So here we go...
Figure 1: Tesla in his early years
This book sheds light on several fascinating moments from Tesla's life and also details the many hurdles he faced, particularly during his fierce professional rivalry with the American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison.
Nikola Tesla was born on 10 July 1856 in Smiljan, a village in modern-day Croatia. On the night he was born, a terrible storm raged outside, which prompted a family helper to remark, “It’s raining terribly outside; this child is sure to bring misfortune to the family.” But Tesla’s mother, undeterred by the ominous words, remained confident that her son would grow up to be a brilliant, prodigious child.
Her belief soon proved right — Tesla displayed extraordinary learning abilities from a young age. It is even said that he could memorize entire books effortlessly.
However, Tesla’s life was plagued by frequent illnesses, including a particularly mysterious disorder during his childhood. He experienced blinding flashes of light followed by vivid hallucinations. In My Inventions, Tesla recounts how he consulted several psychologists and psychiatrists, but none could offer a clear explanation for this peculiar phenomenon.
Driven by his unquenchable curiosity, Tesla took matters into his own hands and began to research his own affliction, eventually arriving at a rational explanation, which he documents in his autobiography:
After completing his math and physics courses (without earning a degree!), Tesla went on to work under several industrialists and later migrated to the United States to work at Edison Machine Works, under the great American inventor Thomas Edison.
You probably know Edison — he is world-renowned for his most fascinating discovery, the electric bulb. But wait — you are about to see just how boorish and impolite he was toward Tesla, a behavior that ultimately contributed to some of Edison's business failures.
Tesla was a relentlessly hard-working person. In his autobiography, he recounts one particular late-night incident at Edison Machine Works. The ocean liner SS Oregon’s dynamos had suffered some sort of damage, and Tesla stayed up all night, working feverishly until the issue was resolved. The next morning, he reported the repair to Edison, who appreciated Tesla’s dedication and is said to have remarked to one of his workers, “This man is damn good.”
Tesla also mentioned that his first meeting with Edison changed his life forever — he was deeply inspired by the unshakable confidence Edison radiated. However, things were about to take a dramatic turn, as these two men would soon be embroiled in a fierce technological battle — a rivalry that would lead to the development of the highly efficient 'Alternating Current' technology, a discovery that would ultimately redefine the future of electricity.
Figure 2: The Nikola Tesla we know!
By this time, Thomas Edison was fully confident that Tesla was a highly capable worker — someone he could exploit as a tool to fuel his growing business empire. But things didn’t go exactly as Edison had hoped, because he was about to witness the extraordinary brilliance of Tesla — a genius far ahead of his contemporaries, yet largely unnoticed and underappreciated.
It all began when Edison assigned Tesla the task of improving the design of DC dynamos. DC, or Direct Current, was already a commercial success, filling Edison's coffers with immense wealth and recognition.
Tesla readily accepted the challenge, and Edison promised a handsome reward — $50,000 — if Tesla successfully completed the task. Tesla, with his unmatched technical prowess, redesigned and enhanced the dynamos in no time. When he presented the improved system to Edison, the American inventor was visibly impressed.
However, as Tesla politely reminded Edison about the promised payment, Tesla was shocked to hear Edison's response:
"Tesla, you don’t understand our American joke."
Figure 3: Tesla's AC Dynamo
Though he was disappointed at first, he was determined that he would come up with something, something prodigiously new, something that would change the world forever.
While DC was flourishing, Tesla was working hard, patenting the same work that he had developed under Edison, and finally, he came up with a new means through which electric power could be transmitted. He invents the 'Alternating Current Motor'.
After Tesla demonstrated his AC Motor in 1888, an American entrepreneur, George Westinghouse, bought Tesla's AC patents and hired him so that he could commercialize his motor, thus starting the historical, ''War of Currents''.
Tesla also started patenting his inventions after his bitter experience of working under Edison...
Figure 6: Tesla sitting beside his magnifying transmitter
Figure 7: Tesla's Radio Boat
In fact, when Marconi first applied for a US patent in 1900, it was rejected multiple times because Tesla’s patents had already established priority in the field.
However, despite these legal setbacks, Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company continued to flourish. Then, in a historic moment on December 12, 1901, Marconi successfully transmitted the first wireless signal across the Atlantic Ocean, which won him global recognition.
Even though Tesla’s pioneering contributions laid the foundation for radio technology, Marconi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909 for his development of wireless telegraphy. This unjust sidelining of Tesla’s contributions remains one of the most debated and controversial episodes in the history of science and technology.
Figure 8: Tesla's X-Ray image of his own hand, taken during his experiments with X-Ray
*All the media published in this blog belongs to their original creators and 'Knowledge Through Science' does not claim any right over it.
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