Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 to 7 January 1943) was a Serbian-American inventor and electrical engineer who designed the alternating-current induction motor and helped to build the polyphase AC power system now used around the world. He also invented the Tesla coil and experimented with wireless power. He died in New York City in 1943, and his reputation has grown greatly since. This biography follows his life from Smiljan to New York.
Nikola Tesla at a Glance
| Full name | Nikola Tesla |
| Born | 10 July 1856, Smiljan, Austrian Empire (now Croatia) |
| Died | 7 January 1943, New York City, United States |
| Profession | Inventor, electrical and mechanical engineer |
| Known for | AC induction motor, polyphase AC system, Tesla coil |
| Citizenship | Naturalised United States citizen on 30 July 1891 |
| Honour | The tesla, the SI unit of magnetic flux density (named in 1960) |
Early Life and Education
Tesla was born in Smiljan, the fourth of five children of Milutin Tesla, an Orthodox priest, and Georgina Mandić. He graduated from the gymnasium in Karlovac in 1873 and studied at the Imperial-Royal Technical College in Graz from 1875, but he left in December 1878 without a degree. In 1880 he attended lectures at the university in Prague.
Budapest, Paris and Edison
In 1881 Tesla worked at the Budapest Telephone Exchange, and in 1882 he joined the Continental Edison Company in Paris. He emigrated to the United States in June 1884 and worked for about six months at Thomas Edison's Machine Works in New York. In 1885 he founded his own company, Tesla Electric Light and Manufacturing, with two financial backers.
The AC Motor and Westinghouse
In 1887 Tesla developed an alternating-current induction motor, and his United States patent was granted in May 1888. In July 1888 he agreed a licence with George Westinghouse for $60,000 in cash and stock plus a royalty on each horsepower. He later released Westinghouse from the royalty clause, in 1891. The rivalry between Edison's direct-current system and the AC system promoted by Westinghouse became known as the War of the Currents. At the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Westinghouse demonstrated the "Tesla Polyphase System" to a mass audience.
The Tesla Coil and Wardenclyffe
Tesla developed the Tesla coil around 1889 and patented it in 1891. In March 1901 the financier J. P. Morgan gave him $150,000 for the Wardenclyffe project at Shoreham, New York, in which he hoped to transmit information and power wirelessly. The project stopped in 1905 for lack of money, and Tesla never completed it.
Radio and Death
Tesla held early patents for tuned radio circuits, and in June 1943, months after his death, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Guglielmo Marconi's key radio patent was invalid. Tesla's admirers often cite the decision, although the court's reasoning did not rest on crediting him with radio. He died in New York City on 7 January 1943.
Legacy
In 1960 the General Conference on Weights and Measures named the unit of magnetic flux density the tesla in his honour. The AC systems that he helped to develop carry electricity to homes and industry worldwide, and his name is now also used by the electric-car company Tesla.
