Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla (July 10th, 1856 – January 7th, 1943) is a world-renowned inventor, physicist,
mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer. Born an ethnic Serb citizen of the Austrian Empire,
he later became an American citizen. Tesla is best known for his revolutionary work in the
discipline of electricity and magnetism in the late 19th and early 20th century. Tesla's patents and
theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current electric power (AC) systems,
including the polyphase power distribution systems and the AC motor, with which he helped usher
in the Second Industrial Revolution. Unfortunately, Tesla was erased from history after his death
even after his incredible advances including the radio (not Guglielmo Marconi).
Much of his early work pioneered modern electrical engineering and many of his discoveries were
of groundbreaking importance. In the United States, Tesla's fame rivaled that of any other inventor
or scientist in history or popular culture, but due to his eccentric personality and, at the time, unbelievable and sometimes bizarre
claims about possible scientific and technological developments, Tesla was ultimately ostracized and regarded as a mad scientist.
Never putting much focus on his finances, Tesla died impoverished and forgotten at the age of 86.
The SI unit measuring magnetic flux density or magnetic induction (commonly known as the magnetic field
named in his honour (at the Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures, Paris, 1960).
), the Tesla, was
Aside from his work on electromagnetism and engineering, Tesla is said to have contributed in varying degrees to the establishment
of robotics, remote control, radar and computer science, and to the expansion of ballistics, nuclear physics, and theoretical physics.
Famous Quote: “The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.”
"Nikola Tesla". <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla>. March 2007
Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia 2007.