Nikola Tesla - The Man Who Lit The World
DescriptionAn essay that seeks to take a deep dive into the magnificent and unique man that was Nikola Tesla.
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Nikola Tesla could have been the face of modern technology. He had all the right ideas and information to potentially become one of the most successful men in the world. However, struggling to understand the business industry, Tesla failed to put his work to greatness. Even when next to the likes of George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison, he has seldom been recognized for his capabilities. Nikola Tesla expresses many critical components of a tragic hero, showing competence in his wireless inventions, yet lacking the pillar of support from society to fulfill his true potential and improve the development of modern technology.On July 10th, 1956, Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan, Croatia. Living with five siblings, the home of young Tesla was one of chaos and mayhem. “Tesla was one of five children, including siblings Dane, Angelina, Milka, and Marica” (Nikola Tesla Biography). His mother, Duka Tesla, inspired him to become the engineer and inventor he became. On the other hand, his father, Milutin Tesla, was a priest and hoped for Nikola to follow in his footsteps. But obviously, we know that wasn't the case. After attending public schools in Croatia, Nikola started at Realschule, Karlstadt. Then, a Polytechnic Institute followed him to Austria. After that, Nikola worked at a central telephone exchange in Budapest.Nikola had plenty of ideas while working in Budapest. “It was while in Budapest that the idea for the induction motor first came to Tesla” (Nikola Tesla Biography). The induction motor was used for small house appliances to run on, this including the household fan. To his surprise, the induction motor passed the eye of wealthy investors, and Tesla was able to move to New York in 1884, seeking hungry buisnesspeople. This included the famed Thomas Edison, Tesla sending him a letter when arriving in America. Edison saw said note, quickly investigating Nikola's work and soon hiring him. “Thomas Edison, whose DC-based electrical works were fast becoming the standard in the country” (Nikola Tesla Biography). As a duo, they started working immediately. Nikola would improve Edison’s DC Current works. “According to Tesla, Edison offered him $50,000 if he could improve upon the DC generation plants Edison favored” (King). They made money, but Thomas Edison was still the face of his flourishing business. Nikola gained a bit of recognition, but nothing truly came out of the deal for him.A few months after working with each other, Edison and Tesla split. They had almost no chemistry and had different ideals for the future of electricity. “While Edison was a power figure who focused on marketing and financial success, Tesla was commercially out-of-touch and somewhat vulnerable” (Nikola Tesla Biography). But with some recognition, Tesla could start a business of his own. In 1885, the Tesla Electric Light Company was created and had solid funding, investors quickly challenging him to solve issues with arc lighting. This venture started well but seemingly failed, leading Tesla so settle with manual labor work instead of persuing his bankrupt failure. He realized that working with Edison was the peak of his career, and it was a colossal mistake to part ways with him.After two years of working in other industries, The Tesla Electric Light Company finally received funding and started again in 1887. Furthermore, he built himself a real name with new inventions in play, such as “radar technology, X-ray technology, remote control and the rotating magnetic field — the basis of most AC machinery” (Nikola Tesla Biography). In addition, he designed the AC electrical current, which would rival Edison’s DC electrical current. After this small spell of success, in 1888, George Westinghouse, a wealthy American engineer and businessman, filed patents worth over $60,000. “The Westinghouse Corporation was chosen to supply the lighting at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and Tesla conducted demonstrations of his AC system there” (Nikola Tesla Biography). Later on, Tesla built a hydroelectric power plant, the Tesla Coil, and had plans to create a giant global transmission tower named “Wardenclyffe.” thanks to J. P. Morgan and his funding for the “Free Energy Project.” Tesla had the world at his feet, and it seemed he would finally be the face of electricity and the future of technology.But sadly, money stopped flowing into the Wardenclyffe project, Tesla no longer being able to afford to finish the project. Many investors pulled out, and things weren’t looking good. “His rival, Guglielmo Marconi — with the financial support of Andrew Carnegie and Thomas Edison — continued to make great advances with his radio technologies, Tesla had no choice but to abandon the project" (Nikola Tesla Biography). Tesla received no new funding, and his only investor remained George Westinghouse, who had already purchased a part of Edison’s DC electrical companies. With the price of Wardenclyffe too high, Nikola went into debt, abandoning it in 1906 and, in 1915, taking it apart to be sold. Tesla now had no money to pay and was forced to shut down his company in 1917. If Tesla had the stratagy of a businessman and knew how to handle his funds better, he could have easily became the richest man alive.Later on, throughout World War I, Tesla blamed Marconi for stealing his original designs but failed in court as he had nothing to prove any of it. However, “ according to Aldrich's well-researched account, Marconi actually stole several of Tesla's patented ideas in designing his radio” (Phelan). Marconi and Edison became the heroes of the electric age, becoming icons of Ameican innovation. They became super-rich and successful, their inventions still used today, alongside Tesla’s future blueprints. With the mind of a businessman, Tesla could have lit the world. “Some say Nikola Tesla failed to make the right business decisions and network well. Others claim his ‘mad scientist’ qualities, exuberance and imagination – the same qualities that helped him come up with some of his most inventive ideas, worked against him, portraying him as a bit unstable” (Nikola Tesla Inventions and Life Story). Unfortunately, the same mind that brought him from the ground up was the same mind that burned him to ashes.Tesla was forced to work as a consultant to stay alive. Throughout 1910-1920, Nikola jumped from job to job. However, he could never gain a significant sum of money and dreamed of more funding than he had received before. Eventually, he moved into a crappy New York apartment where he would remain for the rest of his life. He suffered from anxiety, always struggling to act under pressure, relying on others to lift him. Without the mental breakdowns, Nikola probably could’ve managed to build his business up again and take more time to understand the business industry. Instead, he was diagnosed with OCD in 1912. “By 1912, Tesla began to withdraw from that doubting world. He was clearly showing signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder and was potentially a high-functioning autistic. He became obsessed with cleanliness and fixated on the number three” (King). Tesla also grew very fond of New York’s pigeons, treating them as family and taking them far more seriously than pigeons should be. He was essentially crazy at this point. In World War II, Tesla spoke of a death ray to take out aircraft. The Soviet Union approached him for the blueprints of this idea, but it was all a sham. “He died in 1943, in debt, although Westinghouse had been paying his room and board at the hotel for years” (King). Nikola Tesla demonstrated the potential to change the world with his inventions but never fully understood the business industry and could not expand his business to the point of success he truly desired. Tesla had the ideas and the potential to be something tremendous, yet lacked the business mind. He focused more on concepts than consumer products, which was his mistake. He was unable to make much of his brain a reality, and even when he did, the commercial viability of it was dubious. Nikola was never made to sell, just dream. Though suppose the world had taken this man seriously, suppose he was able to market his inventions to the general public. Could we could be far more advanced in technology? Would we be further along with it? What if Tesla could have made the world wireless before it was wired? Unfortuantly, that's a question we will never be able to answer. But the possibility of it all is truly mindboggling, and shows why this man may have been one of the most important people in human history.
Sources
Biography.com Editors. "Nikola Tesla Biography." The Biography.com Website, 2 Apr. 2014, www.biography.com/inventor/nikola-tesla. Accessed 16 Mar. 2022.Fraga, Kaleena. "How Nikola Tesla's Death Brought a Tragic End to the Iconic Inventor's Groundbreaking Career." Ati, 12 Apr. 2021, allthatsinteresting.com/nikola-tesla-death. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022.King, Gilbert. "The Rise and Fall of Nikola Tesla and His Tower." Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Feb. 2013, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-rise-and-fall-of-nikola-tesla-and-his-tower-11074324/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022."Nikola Tesla Inventions and Life Story." The Inventions Handbook, www.inventions-handbook.com/tesla-inventions.html. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022.Phelan, Carolyn. "Aldrich, Lisa J. Nikola Tesla and the Taming of Electricity." Booklist, vol. 101, no. 17, 1 May 2005, p. 1578. Gale in Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A137502992/GPS?u=mlin_s_monomoy&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=c5c42dc7. Accessed 16 Mar. 2022.
