I was reading up a bit about Tesla, found these two stories about his life interesting:

The story went like this; Tesla was told (by Edison) that if he could repair all of the faulty and broken down motors and generators in the Edison plant that he would receive $50,000.00 for his effort. This Tesla did, and in record time, no less. At the completion of the repair work, Tesla approached Edison for the monies that were promised, at which time Edison replied that he was only "joking" about the money. Tesla described the nature of the benefits from his proposed modifications, and reminded Edison that he had worked nearly a year to redesign them and that in doing so, gave the Edison company several enormously profitable new patents in the process. When Tesla inquired again about the $50,000, Edison replied to him, "Tesla, you don't understand our American humor," and reneged on his promise. Edison reportedly offered to raise Tesla's salary by $10 per week as a compromise - at which rate it would have taken almost 100 years to earn the money Edison had originally promised. Tesla resigned on the spot. Tesla did not find it very amusing and left his employ for good.


To backtrack slightly, in May 1885, George Westinghouse purchased the patents to his induction motor, his polyphase system of alternating-current dynamos, transformers and motors and made this the basis of the Westinghouse power system which still underlies the modern electrical power industry today. When Westinghouse found that they could not stay in business if they paid him his due of Twelve Million Dollars, Tesla tore up the contract. Tesla did this, quite simply, so people could have the benefit of financially attainable electricity. Tesla made his first million before he was 40, but gave up the royalties on his most profitable invention as a humanitarian gesture. As a result, Westinghouse remained in business (this action allowed Westinghouse and Tesla to complete their exhibit at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and electrify the entire exhibit area with AC power, built, designed, and installed by Tesla - a feat remarkable, even by today's standards considering the time frame allowed). This also prevented Tesla from becoming what would have at that time been - the world's first billionaire. Yes, Tesla's contracts with Westinghouse were of that much value. The true wealth that Tesla gave up that day, upon tearing up of those contracts, cannot be underestimated, nor valued appropriately - to say several hundreds of billions of dollars would still be an understatement.

Yes, everyone owes a lot to Tesla. Edison wanted to put public electric power on DCC which would have been more expensive and less efficient (requiring more power plants and sub stations) not to mention more dangerous. Its Tesla that we must credit for being able to enjoy the benefits of AC.

He built the first AC hydro electric plant in Niagra Falls, which is still in use today. I've been there There is a great statue of him at Niagra Falls. If I only would have paid the proper respects when I saw it...

Ah, I did not know about the statue not having been to Niagara Falls, nor never having any reason to go. How interesting. Perhaps we should post a tribute photo of the statue. I have read of Edison, that he could be quite the jerk.

Stolen from http://www.teslasociety.com/


Above: Tesla Monument at Niagara Falls, New York.
Nikola Tesla designed the first hydro-electric power plant in Niagara Falls. This was the final victory of Tesla's Alternating Current over Edison's Direct Current.

Tesla had a very fascinating life. Apparently he never really slept that much (rarely over 4 hours, sometimes not at all), he was really good friends with Mark Twain, and the stuff about Wardenclyffe is really neat.

Tesla was ahead of his time. People exploited him and ripped him off big time and yet you never hear of him. He did many things that people still don't know or understand. He used to create plasma balls in the lab and roll them down the hallway. Nobody has been able to duplicate that. Too bad he is gone, He is one of many that I would like to sit down and talk to sometime.

The man had more guts than I do. I'm not sure I would sit there....




Above: The flame-like discharge measures sixty-five feet across. Tesla sits in front of the oscillator.

Interesting bit on how once again the quest for money dashes the dreams of a man who wanted nothing but to help people.

Quote

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In front of Tesla's laboratory, there is a foundation of Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower which was an enormous structure underground connecting the Tower with the Atlantic Ocean. J.P. Morgan, the richest and most powerful man of that time, was a financier of the Tesla Broadcasting system. The Tower was designed as a world communications center and Nikola Tesla added to the project in that the tower would also be used for transmitting electrical energy without wires to the entire globe. Tesla wanted to saturate the globe with electricity as a dynamo so that everyone on the surface of the globe could obtain electrical light just by sticking wires into the soil and a electrical bulb would light. When J.P. Morgan heard about the Tesla project, he was asked: "How can we get money from the electricity which Tesla is supplying to every part of the world?" After that Morgan cut the funds and the Tower was never finished.

Tesla wanted to bring electricity from the huge resources at Niagara Falls Power Plant and disperse it all around the globe. What a magnificent project it was, however it was never finished. The concept of telephone and telegraph communications, developed by Tesla on Long Island, is still the foundation of today's rapidly growing development of international and intercontinental wireless communications.

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Feel the power !!!! I remember that picture well. I would not sit there either VW. I often wondered about that picture and then one day I came across a book about his personal life. That photo was a standing joke with Tesla. He was not there when all the action was going on, its a double time exposure.

That's good, I was afraid he was suicidal...

I really have to thank all of you for the tons of information you provide. I have learned so much, and always look forward to picking up more tidbits of knowledge. I have a feeling that I'll have to take some notes at TESfest!!

muchas smooches, my friends.

There's a knack to working on violet rays, and it goes beyond understanding what wire goes where. There's enough of the mad scientist in them that I doubt I'll ever fully understand what they are capable of and why, or why they ultimately work. Yes, I wish I could pick his brain!

another piece of info about the fights Tesla and Edison had about AC vs DC for the grid is (and sorry to say Murlach but DC would be much safer you can survive up to 500VDC but 70VDC at 50 Hz will kill you) Edison put on a show to prove how dangerous AC was Edison zapped Tesla's dog with something like 300 VDC and surprise it survived he then proceeded to kill it with a zap of 100 VAC just to show how bad it was, he also discovered the "brown" note and used it to invent a pad that if you stand on it for no more than 10 sec it relieves constipation one of his friends he showed it to cant remember who went to long and lost bowel control lol. and the reason that he slept no more than 4 hours was a similar reason why i sleep badly he had great hearing and any small sound would wake him (he said he could hear thunder 2 hours after the strike)

a good book about tesla is 'Tesla' by Margaret Cheney a good biography

There's always new stuff to know! I hadn't heard about the dog demonstration.

He killed Tesla's dog? That bastard.

yeah infront of a crowd at that lol

Ohhh, THAT'S good for the ol' reputation....

im wondering if tesla made a violet wand and used it on edisons wife to show that AC can creat some different reactions in people. :P

I read somewheres that he paid neighborhood kids to round up strays and did it often at press conferences, he hated AC and Tesla that bad.

i think your right there he was hanging on to his love of DC for dear life