Nikola Tesla 1856-1943

Nikola Tesla is considered by most to be the most prolific inventor of all time. His work on AC power generation, transmission and application has left and indelible mark on the world yet most people who are asked would say that Edison was probably the inventor. The same is true of radio transmission. Marconi was better at marketing so most people believe he was the inventor. The predominant first patent on the idea is Tesla's. The patent dispute was settled late in the inventors life though.

Unfortunately Tesla was likely the model of the mad scientist that has been portrayed in movies and cartoons. A touch of eccentricity seems to go along with incredible creativity. He was not mad. This quote sums it up.

"I do not think there is any thrill that can go though the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success…Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything."*

Today the power system, based on alternating current (AC), is used all over the world. At the heart of it, AC unlike DC, can be stepped up or down by the use of devices called transformers. There is no easy means of converting DC to higher or lower levels without a great loss of energy.

Transformers are based on the ability of a changing electrical current in a coil wire to induce a change in magnetic field in an iron core in the transformer. This changing magnetic field in turn induces an electrical current in a separate wire coil. If the two coils have a different number of turns of wire then a reduction or increase of voltage occurs. The ratio of the voltages will be roughly the ratio of the turns of wire on each coil. There is still a net loss through the transformer but the losses are much less than the devices that were used with Edison's DC system.

Another great invention of Tesla's was the idea of poly-phase transmission. In this system three wires carry alternating currents which are out of phase with each other. That is that the rising of the falling of the currents between the wires are all alternating high and low at the same frequency but they each reach their peaks at different times. Tesla invented motors which use this phase difference to create a rotating magnetic field. The rotor of the motor spins following the magnetic field. Tesla created a very efficient system to power all sorts of factory machinery.

To get the whole picture the best way to find out more about Tesla's life is to read some of the great books about him. My favorite one is:
* Tesla - Man Out of Time by Margaret Cheney 1989 published by Dorset Press.

Another good book is Wizard The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla, Biography of a Genius by Marc J. Seifer 1996 published by Birch Lane Press.

Look for them at your favorite bookstore or on-line bookseller. Watch out for books that may not be based on the best research and history.