Nikola+Tesla

"Money does not represent such a value as men have placed upon it. All my money has been invested into experiments with which I have made new discoveries enabling mankind to have a little easier life." -Nikola Tesla (Whipps). These words were spoken by the one and only Nikola Tesla. Tesla was not just an inventor; he was a tranquil and loving man who did all that he could to help people (Nikola). His thoughtful inventions and discoveries in electricity altered the way of people's everyday lives. Because of his accomplishments in electric science, Tesla was deemed as "the genius who lit the world" (Whipps). In addition, a documentary film with the same title, as well as many other published books and other cinematic masterpieces were published and produced in honor of Tesla's magnificent attainments in his life (Nikola).
 * Introduction**

Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856 in Smiljan, Lika, Croatia (Nikola). He was born into a family of great intelligence. Tesla was known to have come from a large family of European scientists and engineers (Syon). His father, Milutin Tesla, was a Serbian Orthodox priest. In addition, his mother, Djuka Mandic, was an inventive woman who improved on her own household appliances (Nikola). Nicknamed "Nikki" by his mother, Tesla followed in his family's footsteps into the inventor's world (Capek).
 * Personal Background**

Nikola Tesla acquired his level of education in various institutions. In 1873, when he was merely a 16-year-old teenager, Tesla began his studies at the Realschule, Karlstadt. Later he studied at the Polytechnic Institute in Graz, Austria as well as the University of Prague (Nikola). Tesla's main field of focus was included physics and electrical engineering (Capek). Not only was Tesla very educated in the fields of science, he was also a polyglot that spoke more than 12 languages (Therien). English, French, German, Italian, and his mother tongue, Serbian, were only a few selections of the languages in which Tesla was able to speak fluently in (Bailey).

Tesla took a job at Thomas Edison's company office in Paris (Therien). Then, in June 1884, Nikola Tesla immigrated to the U.S. and finally got to meet fellow inventor Thomas Edison. It has been said that Tesla arrived and stepped off the boat with only four cents in his pocket. Eventually, Tesla worked as a junior engineer for Edison in Paris (Bailey). For the last ten years of his life, Tesla remained at the Hotel New Yorker. He died on January 7th, 1943 in Room 3327 on the 33rd floor of Hotel New Yorker (Nikola).

Nikola Tesla was known to be a man of a rather towering height. Tesla was well over six feet tall with deep set eyes. He was a harmonious man, and alway acted in a stately manner (Nikola). Tesla was a well-educated man who took his time to tidy himself up before heading out. He was somewhat on the slim side, but that did not stop him from maintaining his striking appearance (Therien). Tesla always displayed his blue eyes with his coal black hair. To adorn his features a little further, he kept a neatly trimmed mustache (Bailey).
 * Personality Traits**

Though he was a peaceful man, Tesla always had a maverick attitude since he was a child. His odd behavior seemed to distinguish him from all the other inventors (Syon). Nikola Tesla suffered from oystersaritisphobia, the fear of pearls. He had even sent his secretary home to change when she showed up to work one day wearing a pearl necklace. Tesla was also somehow overly obsessed with the number three. Because of this, many historians agreed that Tesla may have had a form of OCD. In addition, he hardly slept, and when he did, he would only sleep for tow hours each night. What may be the most puzzling and baffling behavior of all is his strange relationship with pigeons. He claimed his lack of emotions towards humans was because they lacked feathers. Tesla had even quoted, "I loved that pigeon as a man loves a woman, and she loved me. As long as I had her, there was a purpose in my life," to a little bird he was very fond of (Kelly).

However, his bizarre nature never stopped him from his road to success. Not only was he peculiar, his manners also gave him other advantages. Tesla had always had an inventive mind at a very young age. His determination to find solutions to problems led him to the discoveries of his inventions (Capek). Tesla had an exceptional memory that enable him to picture inventions mentally without having to write any of it down (Nikola).

Tesla faced numerous obstacles throughout his life and his career. Many times, fellow inventors and engineers stole multiple patents and inventions from him. his partners often cheated him out (Bailey). Marconi, for instance, used Tesla's radio patent and claimed it as his own. Because of this, Marconi became known as the inventor of the radio rather than Tesla. Additionally, Nikola Tesla's x-ray discovery was somehow coincidentally at the same time as Roentgen's x-ray discovery (Nikola).
 * Obstacles**

Furthermore, Tesla's maverick attitude did not help him in his path of inventions. HIs lack of interest in the design of alternating current slowed him down. W. Bernard Carlson, the author of the book //Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age//, stated that he " did not fit the mold of the brilliant inventor with limited business acumen" (Syon). Also, Nikola Tesla was such a determined child that he nearly broke his neck from working on his experiments (Capek). His determination caused him to burn $1 million in an attempt to prove that electrical power could be transmitted through the upper atmosphere. In March 1895, a fire managed to destroy Tesla's laboratory in Manhattan (Bailey).

Nikola Tesla also did not a have much luck in his business communication as well. A dispute between Tesla and J Pierpoint Morgan, his financial support, caused Morgan to withdraw his funds with Tesla (Nikola). His greatest obstacle of all was his relationship with Thomas Edison. He was constantly put down by Edison while Edison turns around to steal his inventions (Capek). When Tesla went to Edison's company to collect money, he was told that "the $50,000 had been a joke" and "that [he doesn't] understand [our] American humor" (Therien).


 * Historical Significance**



Nikola Tesla's many inventions helped shape the world today. In 1891, he invented one of his most famous devices, the Tesla coil. Though he was the inventor of the radio, he was only deemed as the father of the radio and modern electrical transmission systems (Nikola). Nikola Tesla was named the father and inventor of alternating current, as well as " the inventor of the electrical age" (Syon). Tesla also invented the static generator and manage to install a power plant at Niagara Falls in as fluorescent lighting. He also found a way of improving directing current systems (Therien). 1893. In the same year, the Chicago World's fair was lit entirely by Tesla's alternating current. Eventually, Nikola Tesla succeeded in developing a way to deliver electrical power without connecting wires (Capek). Consequently, Telsa invented a remote-controlled robot, as well

Nonetheless, on his 78th birthday, in 1934, Nikola Tesla revealed his most fearsome device ever. He had revealed that he was indeed working on a death ray (Bailey). Nikola Tesla claimed that his so-called "death ray" was capable of destroying 10,000 people within a 250 mile (400 kilometer) distance. After his death in 1942, however, his papers containing scientific data and information about his death ray vanished and were never found again (Vujovic).

Tesla's many scientific achievements in life earned him recognition even after his death. He has a unit of measurement named after him (Syon). Tesla was known to have registered over 700 patents worldwide (Nikola). Additionally, he currently still holds the record for the most inventions--a total of 1,903 inventions (Therien). Numerous books documentaries, such as //Nikola Tesla, The Genius Who Lit the World//, were published in honor of Tesla and his achievements. Tesla's face appeared on the cover of //Time Magazine// on his 75th birthday in 1931. On the corner of the 40th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan, a street sign labeled "Nikola Tesla Corner" was placed on the intersecting streets (Nikola).

[|Bailey, H, Ronald].. "The Wizard Who Electrified the World." //American History//. 01 Jun. 2010: 52. //eLibrary//. Web. 02 Oct. 2014. **SE#2**
 * References**

[|Capek, Michael]. "Nikola Tesla: the boy with electral dreams.." //Highlights for Children.// 01 Aug. 1998: 32(2). //eLibrary//. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. **SE#5**

[|Crezo, Adrian]. "13 Nikola Tesla Quotes for His Birthday." //Mental_floss//. 10 July 2014. //Mentalfloss//. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.

[|Kelly, Erin]. "10 Things You Didn't Know About Nikola Tesla." //All That is Interesting.// 01 June 2014. //All That is Interesting//. Web. 26 Feb.2015.

[|Syon, de., Guillaume]. "Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age." //Canadian Journal of History// 2(2014):347. //eLibrary//. Web. 06 Nov. 2014. **SE#4**

[|Therien, Tania]. "The War of the Currents." //Ask//. 01. Mar. 2012: 14. //eLibrary//. Web 16 Oct. 2014. **SE#3**

[|Vujovic, Ljobo]. "Lost Tesla Papers about the "Death Rays"" Tesla Memorial Society of New York. Tesla Memorial Society of New York, 10 July 1998. Web. 19 Mar. 2015

[|Vujovic, Ljobo]. "Nikola Tesla: The Genius Who Lit the World." //Tesla Memorial Society of New York.// 10 July 1998. //Tesla Memorial Society of New York.// Web. 11 Dec. 2014. **SE#6**

[|Whipps, Heather]. "Nikola Tesla: Biography, Inventions & Quotes." //Livescience//. 29 May 2014. //Livescience//. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.