Post on 18-Jan-2019
MASTER OF LIGHTNING
Nicola Tesla 1856-1943
Tesla was born in what is today Croatia and where as a young man he studied both
mechanical and electrical engineering. Later, in Budapest, he saw the possibilities of
alternating current. In 1884 he went to New York with a letter of introduction to
Edison who was championing direct current systems. Tesla worked for Edison for a
time but fell out with him when Edison refused to honour a promise of payment to
Tesla for improving the Edison generator. With the backing of investors, he designed
a system of alternating current motors and transformers which attracted the backing
of George Westinghouse. And so was launched the battle of the currents, AC versus
DC, Tesla versus Edison. The battle was won by Tesla who became known as “The
Father of Alternating Current.”
Tesla went on to carry out extraordinary experiments with high frequency and high
voltage systems and radio waves. The former involved generating high voltage
discharges of around one million volts in his laboratory, at considerable risk to
himself and which earned him the title of “Master of Lightning.”
(Tesla: Master of Lightning, Margaret Cheney & Robert Uth, 2001)