Nikola Tesla's Life

Nikola Tesla came to the United States just as millions of other immigrants, clinging to a dream. Tesla did not aspire to become rich, own a company, or settle down and start a family. He came to America to end labor problems all over the world with unique innovative ideas formulating within his head. He wanted to meet with Thomas Alva Edison, the most accredited electrical engineer in the world at that time, and together change the electrical infrastructure that the entire world was running off of. Unfortunately, Tesla knew little of American business, politics, and ethics in the workplace and because of his lack of knowledge had an exceedingly difficult time prospering. It is said that some men are too genius to socialize with other men, and it seems Tesla fits into this category. Though he was able to accomplish many of his technical goals, Tesla lived out his life alone and in poverty.

Tesla's most impressive breakthrough was an idea that he had from back when he was just in school learning the fundamentals of electricity. He wanted to harness power in such a way that it could be transmitted over long distances. The drive for this invention came from his childhood, watching as his friends and family worked backbreaking labor day after day. "No more men will be slaves to hard tasks. My motor will set them free; it will do the work of the world" (Jonnes 93). The method in which Tesla went about creating this motor was of mental conception. No other engineer of the time would envision the entire project within their head, and begin construction with no blueprint plans. He visualized the entire fabrication of this motor in his head years before he actually was given the opportunity to produce a prototype. He had tried to get the funding to produce it for several years, but with no drawn out plans he found that finding an investor would be harder than expected. The machine, in time, became known as the induction motor. This was different from the existing direct current motor because this had a rotating magnetic field which allowed for greater electricity transmission. Simply put,

A magnetic field in a stator can be made to rotate electrically, around and around. Another magnetic field in the rotor can be made to chase it by being attracted and repelled by the stator field. Because the rotor is free to turn, it follows the rotating magnetic field in the stator ("Rotating" 1).

The water creates the motion that will generate the electricity just as in a normal generator. The main difference is that the water is a never ending source of energy, because it is a renewable resource in the world. This was a motor that would run off of alternating current, as opposed to the direct current already used by Edison's equipment. The only other alternative besides direct current of the time would be gas, which was extremely dangerous in houses and anywhere that could potentially catch fire. The main problem with DC was that it did not transmit over long distances, and couldn't travel at high voltages in short distances. This was inefficient from an economic and electrical business standpoint. Tesla soon learned that if he was going to sell his motor, he would have to be able to show that it would be cheaper than direct current, with at least the same output, if not better. The alternating current motor was a great improvement because it allowed for electricity to travel thousands of miles, introducing the luxury of electricity to those living in the suburbs of densely populated areas. Edison had already thought of this and claimed that there would be a DC generator every couple miles to accommodate. The problem is described as,

...Edison's direct current central station system, with its half-mile limitation in any direction was proving a tough sell in less compact cities and towns. After all, it is far harder to convince the hundreds of businesses necessary to make the network of a central station profitable that they needed electric light... (Jonnes 106).

The placement of a generator every half-mile would become extremely costly to entrepreneurs. This is the need that Tesla's new AC motor would meet, and what the future of electricity would thrive off of.

It was because of the AC motor that so many future inventions came about, allowing the standard of living held here in the United States to increase. Every sector of the country was improved by it, allowing the entire country to technologically evolve for the first time. Having electricity in a person's home became readily available, as opposed to before where you had to be of the social elite. Everything from the Military to agriculture reaped the benefits of this work. It was possible for a new power source to replace man-labor, allowing man to specialize further, expanding the market of the United States.

Tesla had thoroughly studied physics as a young kid, and even back then knew he would be able to harness power from natural water falls. Inspired from the law of conservation of energy, which states that "Energy can not be created nor destroyed, but it can be changed" (Tesla). Tesla understood that flowing water created a mechanical type of energy known as kinetic energy, and that if harnessed correctly, he could transfer it to electrical energy to power numerous inventions. In the design used for Niagara Falls, the water then would flow through a shaft to turn a turbine which generates a polyphase alternating electric current. (Lenntech) The voltage was then stepped up and transmitted over long distances where it would be stepped down according to where it would be used. Finally, in 1893 Tesla was given the chance to create this in conjunction with George Westinghouse. He worked on the Niagara power generating system to send the mass amount of electricity large cities would need to have an adequate power supply that was affordable. When reporters asked Tesla what he thought the effects of such power being affordably transmitted into Buffalo would do to the city, he responded by saying that this achievement would make Buffalo the "greatest city in the world" (Jonnes 326). The project was extremely profitable, and set the standard for hydroelectric power plants for years to come. The main alternative to the Niagara Falls project was to use man made generators to create large amounts of electricity. This was extremely expensive in comparison to harnessing power from Mother Nature. This project was extremely important because it allowed for an entire region to experience electricity at affordable prices, leaving the rest of the world to want the same. This action set back the gas market, and really opened up a new sector for electricity. With this feat, Tesla showed the world an efficient way of harnessing power that is still used by several countries, such as Norway who gets ninety-nine percent of their energy from hydroelectric power (Lenntech).

Nikola Tesla was a man unafraid of change. He looked at everything as inspiration to improve existing infrastructures. Just because something had already been done, did not necessarily mean that improvements were the way of the future, but a competitive substitute may work just as well. Any industry that uses technology that runs off electricity has Tesla to thank for making it economically efficient for them to do so. Without Tesla's contributions to the world, electricity would be much more expensive and not readily available to as many parts of the country as it is today. Works Cited

Jonnes, Jill. Empires of Light Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World. New York: Random House, 2003.

Lenntech Water Energy FAQ. Lenntech Water treatment & air purification Holding B.V. 18 OCT. 2007. < http://www.lenntech.com/water-energy-FAQ.htm

Rotating Magnetic Fields. 02 Jan. 2003. Integrated Publishing. 20 Oct. 2007.

Tesla: Master of Lightning. April 2004. Public Broadcasting System. 10 Oct. 2007. < http://www.pbs.org/tesla/index.html>