Nikola Tesla remains one of the most mystical and dramatic figures of engineering. His discoveries to a large extent shaped the power of technology which changed the world in the 20th century. Tesla’s thoughts and ideas laid the background of industrial revolution and it would not be an exaggeration to state that Tesla was the superman of engineering in the previous century. What is more impressive, Tesla’s papers and records contained more discoveries, some of them are not fully understood or utilized yet.
The life story of Nikola Tesla is very dramatic and full of controversies and struggle. Many of Tesla’s discoveries and achievements were only recognized after his death. During his 86 years of life, Tesla made important contributions to such fields as radio technology, electric power and devices, electricity transmission, etc (Bergstresser 6). Some of his discoveries and statements were intensively criticized by the scientists; however, Tesla managed to prove the value of his ideas by creating working prototypes and implementing the newly discovered principles in new technologies.
Overall, Tesla applied for more than 700 patents worldwide (Bergstresser 43). Many of his discoveries were not patented, because he believed that knowledge should be universal and should be shared between all people. The goal of this paper is to research the life and discoveries of Nikola Tesla, outline his key discoveries, discuss disputed discoveries and patents assigned to other people, and to consider the theories and papers which were not yet adopted by the scientific community.
Biography of Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856 in Yugoslavia (now – Croatia), in the family of an Orthodox priest and a talented mother who was the inventor of household appliances (Martin 17). Tesla received fundamental technical education in polytechnic school of Graz, and then received a degree in Prague University (Martin 19). First job of Tesla was the position of an electrical engineer in a telephone company, located in Budapest; later on, he moved to Paris to work for a branch of Edison company. In these years, Tesla made his first discovery – induction motor powered by alternating current, and was actually trying to attract investors. However, the investors in Europe were reluctant to support his idea, and in 1884 Tesla made a decision to move to America (Martin 44).
He started working for Edison, and shared his ideas with him; however, Edison found his ideas terrible. However, Edison appreciated Tesla’s outstanding engineering talent, and suggested him to improve Edison’s DC motors for $50,000 (Cheney 254). Tesla desperately wanted to earn money to construct a working prototype of his discovery, but after he managed to task, Edison turned his promises into a joke. Since that time, they have become opponents, and these tensions continued throughout all their lives. Edison tried to disprove Tesla’s ideas, but alternating current became the standard already in a decade.
When Tesla found a sagacious investor, George Westinghouse, he developed a system allowing to generate alternating current and to transmit it to long distances. A very significant contribution of Tesla into the modern technology was the creation of a hydroelectric generation station at Niagara waterfall. The system transmitted the generated power using alternating current to Buffalo. Tesla’s systems were showed to the public at a World Exposition in 1893, and since that time his fame has become worldwide (Cheney 289).
During the course of his life, Tesla received numerous awards and honors: honor degrees of Yale University and Columbia University, Edison medal and other awards. He never received the Nobel prize, although he was nominated to it, along with Edison (Cheney 350). Since both of them did not agree to receive the prize together, and both were trying to diminish the competitor’s achievements, the prize was not awarded to any of them.
The peak of Tesla’s career was in the 1900-1905 period, when he convinced J.P. Morgan to support his research (Burgan 97). A large tower intended for power and signal transmission was built on Long Island, but its construction was never completed: Morgan withdrew his funds, and the tower was demolished. Although Tesla continued working and preparing the background for the idea of wireless transmission of power, his financial position deteriorated and the rest of his life was spent in poverty. Nikola Tesla died in 1943 in New Yorker hotel (Burgan 15). After his death, all his papers, research and laboratory were confiscated by FBI, and many of his discoveries might remain unknown. Some of his papers and research are nowadays located in the Tesla Museum, located in Belgrad (Cheney 22).
Yep, we’re going to make fried tacos.
Trying something fun and different on taco night is always a good thing.
Id a fried taco just a quesadilla? It did seem like a quesadilla cut in half, but the most delicious taco quesadilla ever.
We actually make quesadillas a lot at home, it’s one of the boys favorite dinners. These Chicken Enchilada Quesadillas or Sausage and Peppers Quesadillas, or these Meatball Pizza Quesadillas…we love them all.
EA and DICE will bring 64-player battle royale action to Battlefield 5 on March 25. A trailer for the new mode, named Firestorm for its ever-encroaching ring of fire, shows off the destruction and chaos (and tractors) Battlefield players can expect in the new mode.
Firestorm will be set on “Battlefield’s biggest map ever,” Halvoy. DICE and co-developer Criterion will support solo and squad play (16 teams with four players each), during which players can complete objectives to unlock access to vehicles, including tanks and helicopters, or call in reinforcements like the V-1 flying bomb. DICE says duos mode will come to Firestorm sometime in April.
Today’s Battlefield 5 trailer doesn’t include any actual gameplay footage from Firestorm, but offers a preview of what’s to come. There’s a look at the varied regions of Halvoy, a taste of the destructive capacity of the ring of fire, and how a farm tractor can become a tool of destruction in Firestorm. More details about how Firestorm plays emerged recently thanks to an apparent leak of its tutorial video.
Battlefield 5 is available for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One.