Who was Nicola Tesla and Why is He a Forgotten Genius?

[Curious3141]

From what I had read AC was one of Tesla's first big discoveries. The biography I read also indicated, if I remember correctly, that the war was partially fueled by an Edison/Tesla feud and involved attacks directed at Tesla himself. Both Edison and Tesla were actively involved in the campaigning I believe.

When I was a kid, there were always these little quizzes asked of kids, focusing on major inventions and the responsible inventors. I thought nothing of it then, I thought the men (and rarely women) were being given due credit for brilliant work.

Now, I'm not sure at all of that. I've realized assigning honor to a single person for a discovery or invention is a far more nebulous exercise than most people realize, or care to admit. But it seems people need a popular icon of some sort; we're often more comfortable with giving the wrong person all the credit than admitting we don't know any better.

Did Tesla even invent AC ? I don't know - I've seen very compelling writeups that claim it was Charles Proteus Steinmetz all along. In fact, as Russ pointed out, the vociferous "cult of personality" crackpots surrounding Tesla actually detract from serious study about the assignation of credit for the inventions that may or may not have come from him.

Russ made another excellent point here :

As is often the case, the enabling technology (AC power) is forgotton, and the invention we use every day (the light bulb) is remembered. That's life - anyone who isn't an engineer or physicist probably doesn't know the first thing about how electricity works, so there is no reason for them to know that Tesla is the reason for AC power. But they do know that they can't live without light bulbs.

There's a kernel of profound truth in that observation. Take the car for instance. Get a random poll of people off the street and ask them who invented the car. Let's leave what I think will turn out to be the most common answer to later.

The "more knowledgeable" among those polled may answer "Karl Benz". Yet even this is forgetting Etienne Lenoir, the (supposed) inventor of the internal combustion engine, who essentially enabled all this. Pertaining to the car itself, Cugnot is most likely to be ignored, even though he came up with the steam propelled prototype (we think).

All of the above are answers that I would consider fairly reasonable. But I expect that the most common answer would turn out to be "Henry Ford", even though he had little to do with the invention of the basic concept, but a lot to do with making and marketing a commercially viable model.

So the paradigm holds : Enablers are hardly known, inventors are occasionally known and oft forgotten, marketers are enshrined in popular culture.

But does it really matter anyway ? Society moves on through these inventions - and don't we all "stand on the shoulders of giants" ? Zoobyshoe also made a great point in this respect.

I know that last aphorism was said by someone great, but I couldn't initially remember who it was (I had to google). But in the spirit of non-attribution which I'm beginning to favor over mis-attribution, I shall leave the quote unacknowledged.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Tesla Steals Fame Of Forgotten French Genius

From what I had read AC was one of Tesla's first big discoveries.

In 1832, a generator built by a French mechanician produced alternating current for the first time in the history of electrical engineering.

http://www.scitech.mtesz.hu/51landmark/zipernov.htm

Oh, why does the average man at PF think Tesla invented AC when the true French genius' very name is ignored and forgotten?

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

http://www.scitech.mtesz.hu/51landmark/zipernov.htm

Oh, why does the average man at PF think Tesla invented AC when the true French genius' very name is ignored and forgotten?

Lol... Sorry It was just the book I read that made it seem that way.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Lol... Sorry It was just the book I read that made it seem that way.

I think most of the books on Tesla stack the weights such that everything leans toward the reader assuming he was the first to think up the concept, yes.

I'm rereading "The Electrical Manufacturers" a little bit on the subject of AC history, and it seems Westinghouse got the idea of a public utility based on it from an article he read about a demonstration of an AC system that was on display in London at an Exhibit of Inventions designed by two guys named Gaulard and Gibbs (whose ever heard of them?). The special point of interest was the inclusion of transformers to step the voltage down from transmission levels to user levels.

Westinghouse understood the signifigance instantly because he had worked out, and implemented, similar idea for lowering the line pressure of household gas delivery lines once it got to the house: he simply increased the diameter of the pipes where they lead from the main line into the home, which lowered the pressure. This London exhibit provided him with a way to do this with electricity. But it had to be AC, of course.

I was wrong before when I said he checked out a "few" inventors for AC motors. There were only two: Tesla and an Italian inventor. Originally he was just going to buy up all patents on AC motors, simply to exclude any rival company from access to the good ideas. Then he realized the Italian's patents weren't good enough to be worth buying, and the important one's were Tesla's: they covered every possible usable configuration as far as he could tell.

 

[Andy]

What a legend, its a real shame that some of the conspiracies that surround him overshadow his acheivements. That death ray sounds soo cool though, i want one.

 

[Pravoslavan]

For the record Pravo, you would fit in well with a Tesla cult. And yes, they do exist.

Go medicate yourself man, you have some sirious problems... i wish you all the best !