An inventor and a genius, blessed with an eidetic memory and hunger for developing groundbreaking technology, Nikola Tesla was a pioneer of his time. However, 79 years ago, Tesla died in obscurity and penniless in a small New York City hotel room. So, how did a brilliant scientist like Tesla encounter such a torturous end to what could have been a glorious life? Well, the simple answer? Thomas Alva Edison — a compatriot turned nemesis who made it his life’s mission to destroy Tesla.
Born on July 10, 1856, in Croatia to Serbian parents, Nikola Tesla was a gifted engineering student from the beginning. Such was Tesla’s genius regarding the work on Alternating Current (AC) that the Americans scouted him and sent him to the country to work for Edison who had recently, based on the work of previous 22 scientists, improved the light bulb.
Tesla reaches America
When the Serbian immigrant reached the American shores, he had four cents in his pocket, some mathematical computations, a drawing of an idea for a flying machine, and a letter of introduction from Charles Batchelor, one of Edison’s business associates in Europe.
At the time, Edison was pushing for his DC-electrical works to become the norm in the country. Edison may have perfected the light bulb but the masses were still working in the glow of the candlelight as there was no system to carry the electricity to the houses.
However, Edison’s DC mechanism had a fatal flaw. To provide electricity to the houses, he had to set up an electrical sub-station every few blocks, housing a heavy generator. Incidentally, the generator used to break down every few days and the entire process became too costly and problematic to manage.
Edison wronged Tesla by making a fake promise
Standing at the crossroads, Edison of employing Tesla’s genius to solve the problem. He asked the Serbian to perfect the Generators so they did not break down easily. Moreover, according to Tesla, Edison offered $50,000 as a reward to Tesla, if he completed the work efficiently.
Several months after Edison employed Tesla, the Serb announced that his work was successfully completed. When Tesla asked to be paid, Edison, however, seemed astonished.
He explained that the offer of $50,000 had been made in jest. “When you become a full-fledged American you will appreciate an American joke,” Edison said. Shocked and disgusted, Tesla immediately resigned.
Tesla and his Alternating Current electrical system
This was also the time when Tesla finally started to publicly bat for the Alternating Current system which had brought him to the States. The same system that is used today to power every single home across the planet.
Edison knew little of alternating current and did not care to learn more about it. In short, AC power sounded like competition to Edison and he didn’t like his authority and invention being challenged.
Although Tesla had quit his company, Edison went after him and used his muscle might and power to destroy Tesla’s reputation. One particular story stands out which shows the level of envy Edison had for Tesla.
Edison’s macabre tactics to soil Tesla’s name
Reportedly, families living in the neighbourhood near Edison’s laboratory began to notice that their pets were disappearing. This was because Edison had been paying schoolboys twenty-five cents a head for live dogs and cats.
He then put these dogs and cats on display and publicly electrocuted them using Tesla’s alternating current. His goal was to publicly smear Tesla’s AC and convince the public that it was too dangerous for home use. Ironically, these morbid public displays actually led Edison to invent and patent the Electric Chair.
Despite the negative campaign orchestrated by Edison, the young Serbian secured backing from George Westinghouse, an entrepreneur, and managed to light up the world’s first-ever electrically lit fair, in Chicago in 1893.
Tesla comes out on top
After receiving the funding and developing what he always dreamt of, Tesla remarked, “The motors I built there were exactly as I imagined them. I made no attempt to improve the design, but merely reproduced the pictures as they appeared to my vision, and the operation was always as I expected.”
Safe to say, in the haughtily contested ‘current war’ between the duo, it was Tesla’s versatile alternating current (AC) that eventually won over Edison’s limited and dangerous direct current (DC) — marking Tesla’s biggest victory over his former employer.
Tesla’s dream of providing free electricity
Later, Tesla spent years working on a system that could wirelessly transmit voices, images, and moving pictures. His ideas made him a futurist. He later invented and patented Tesla Coil, which is the date used in radio, telephones, cell phones and television.
Unlike Edison, Tesla was not a businessman. He believed in working for the growth of science. Several of his discoveries and inventions did not have the technology to be tested at the time. However, it is Tesla and his inventions that are making the world go round today.
Tesla wanted to transmit electricity wirelessly for free all over the world via a series of giant towers. He wanted to gift the world the power of free electricity. However, wealthy investors and businessmen like Edison lobbied hard and ensured that Tesla’s vision could never turn into reality.