Who Is Nikola Tesla?
Nikola Tesla is a man who simply, I personally believe, never got enough credit. If anyone mutters Thomas Edison every individual in the room will confidently say he invented the lightbulb; however, they are unaware of his failure when it came to alternating and direct currents. More on that later; however, lets begin with a little bit of background information. Tesla, born in what was the Austro- Hungarian Empire in Lika to Milutin Tesla, a priest, and Djuka Tesla, a women who invented her own household appliances. Tesla studied in both Prague and Austria to specialize in both physics and mathematics; however, he realized he had this passion for electricity. He dreamed of coming to America, and when he did he worked alongside Edison with dynamos, which were steam generators. His life was going smooth, as a prodigy within his field, but who knew that he would have caught Edison’s flaws (Tesla Memorial).
Tesla’s Advancements With Energy That Conflicted With Edison
Simply put we cannot use Edison’s direct current to rule our lives, considering it is inefficient. Tesla thought of electricity as a cycle, and direct currents not only could go long distance with transmission, but it would need to have two mile intervals. With this society would never have advanced; however, what Tesla proposed with AC would change and evolve life as we know it (Tesla Memorial). Where the advantage lies when it comes to Alternating current over direct current is due to the use of motors, and power distributing systems. In order to transfer this energy AC is far more superior in sufficiency due to “The transformer’s ability to step AC voltage up or down with ease gives AC an advantage unmatched by DC in the realm of power distribution” (What is Alternating Current AC). Innovation is all about becoming more and more efficient as time progresses and without Tesla’s phenomenal advancements this could never occur.
Read this excerpt from the Tesla Memorial to understand the conflict that resided between Edison and Tesla:
“Direct current flows continuously in one direction; alternating current changes direction 50 or 60 times per second and can be stepped up to vary high voltage levels, minimizing power loss across great distances. The future belongs to alternating current. Nikola Tesla developed polyphase alternating current system of generators, motors and transformers and held 40 basic U.S. patents on the system, which George Westinghouse bought, determined to supply America with the Tesla system. Edison did not want to lose his DC empire, and a bitter war ensued. This was the war of the currents between AC and DC. Tesla -Westinghouse ultimately emerged the victor because AC was a superior technology. It was a war won for the progress of both America and the world.”
How does this Apply To Today?
According to this clearly biased advertisement promoting a product, Alternating Current has become inefficient. AC needs to convert to DC which makes energy being lost in the process. In short basically DC might be more efficient, due to it creating our own energy; however, one must look at the bias. So why did I include this? Because it’s still an ongoing discussion that has some validity. We are losing energy, and looking to the future for more innovative solutions.
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