The Scientists

 Nikola Tesla's Life (1856–1943)

Early Life

Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856, in Smiljan, a village in modern-day Croatia, then part of the Austrian Empire. His father, Milutin Tesla, was an Orthodox priest, and his mother, Georgina Đuka Tesla, was an inventive homemaker who greatly influenced his curiosity and creativity. Tesla showed an early aptitude for mathematics and engineering.

Education

Tesla attended the Realschule in Karlstadt, the Polytechnic Institute in Graz, and the Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague. Although he studied electrical engineering, he did not complete his degree due to financial difficulties and health issues. Despite this, his understanding of engineering and physics surpassed many of his contemporaries.

Move to the United States

In 1884, Tesla emigrated to the United States and worked for Thomas Edison. However, their partnership was short-lived due to differing approaches to electricity. Edison promoted direct current (DC), while Tesla advocated for alternating current (AC), which proved to be more efficient for transmitting electricity over long distances.

Inventions and Achievements

Tesla's most notable invention was the AC induction motor, which became the foundation of modern electricity systems. In collaboration with George Westinghouse, Tesla developed the AC power system, which triumphed over Edison’s DC system during the "War of Currents." Other key inventions and concepts include:

The Tesla Coil (used in radio technology and wireless communication).

Early work on wireless energy transmission.

Contributions to X-ray technology.

The concept of a global wireless communication system, which later inspired radio and Wi-Fi.

Later Years

In his later years, Tesla became more reclusive and focused on ambitious projects, such as wireless energy transfer and a "death ray," a directed-energy weapon. Unfortunately, many of these ideas were never fully realized due to financial challenges and skepticism from the scientific community.

Death and Legacy

Nikola Tesla died on January 7, 1943, in New York City, alone and in relative obscurity. Despite this, his work laid the groundwork for many modern technologies, including wireless communication, robotics, and renewable energy systems. Today, Tesla is celebrated as a visionary who shaped the modern world, and his name lives on in the Tesla electric car company and countless tributes to his genius.