10 Reasons Why Tesla Is a Scientific God
10
Reasons Why Tesla Is a Scientific God
One sign that you've made it: Your mug is immortalized on currency. In this case, it's a note for 100 Serbian dinars, equivalent to about $1 in 2012. See more pictures of famous scientists.
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History, they say, is written by the victors, but that's cold comfort to the men and women x-ed out by the editor's pen. For years, science textbooks equated electricity and light with one man, Thomas Edison, while the genius whose pioneering electrical technologies truly power the modern world languished as a minor note in scientific history, sandwiched between Edward Teller and Thales of Miletus.
Before the turn of the 20th century, electricity remained a mere scientific curiosity -- one that many doubted would ever do an honest day's work. Nikola Tesla, arguably more than anyone else, changed that, but his pioneering research in electricity represents only a portion of the scientific and technical innovations that elevated him to science godhood.
Tesla not only expanded and revolutionized the work of his predecessors; he also leapfrogged ahead of his contemporaries to the next step, and the next. But, just as it takes more than groundbreaking music to give rise to a rock god, we think it takes more than innovative breakthroughs and amazing machines to make a scientific one. We'd argue that such a figure must also possess intriguing facets -- qualities like eccentricity, vision and the will to suffer for science. Nikola Tesla was such a man.
Before the turn of the 20th century, electricity remained a mere scientific curiosity -- one that many doubted would ever do an honest day's work. Nikola Tesla, arguably more than anyone else, changed that, but his pioneering research in electricity represents only a portion of the scientific and technical innovations that elevated him to science godhood.
Tesla not only expanded and revolutionized the work of his predecessors; he also leapfrogged ahead of his contemporaries to the next step, and the next. But, just as it takes more than groundbreaking music to give rise to a rock god, we think it takes more than innovative breakthroughs and amazing machines to make a scientific one. We'd argue that such a figure must also possess intriguing facets -- qualities like eccentricity, vision and the will to suffer for science. Nikola Tesla was such a man.
7
He Had a Loose Fuse or Two
Who cares if he had a loose fuse! He invented the Tesla coil, for goodness' sake.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images
For good or ill, quirkiness is a quality we associate with genius, and Tesla does not disappoint.
Some say Tesla constructed his greatest inventions, including his induction motor, entirely within his own mind. Unlike Edison, who worked a problem through prototyping, trial and error and similar hands-on methods, Tesla found that key solutions sometimes came to him in blinding flashes of insight [sources: Cheney and Uth; Jonnes].
By his own account, Tesla suffered from visual and auditory hallucinations, as well as hypersensitivity to vibrations and strong light [sources: Chandrasekhar; Pickover]. He also feared round objects, such as women's pearls, and fixated on the number three [sources: Jonnes; Pickover].
The inventor also suffered a progressive germ aversion and eventually limited his diet to boiled foods. This phobia reportedly arose after a scientific colleague showed him unboiled water under a microscope. Late in life, the aging scientist kept pigeons in his hotel room, but continued to dress as nattily as ever -- behaviors that led some to question his mental state [sources: Jonnes; PBS].
Tesla's peculiarities did not impair his socializing, however; reporters and friends described him as charming, humble and well-spoken.
Some say Tesla constructed his greatest inventions, including his induction motor, entirely within his own mind. Unlike Edison, who worked a problem through prototyping, trial and error and similar hands-on methods, Tesla found that key solutions sometimes came to him in blinding flashes of insight [sources: Cheney and Uth; Jonnes].
By his own account, Tesla suffered from visual and auditory hallucinations, as well as hypersensitivity to vibrations and strong light [sources: Chandrasekhar; Pickover]. He also feared round objects, such as women's pearls, and fixated on the number three [sources: Jonnes; Pickover].
The inventor also suffered a progressive germ aversion and eventually limited his diet to boiled foods. This phobia reportedly arose after a scientific colleague showed him unboiled water under a microscope. Late in life, the aging scientist kept pigeons in his hotel room, but continued to dress as nattily as ever -- behaviors that led some to question his mental state [sources: Jonnes; PBS].
Tesla's peculiarities did not impair his socializing, however; reporters and friends described him as charming, humble and well-spoken.
6
He Has a Scientific Unit Named After Him
Tesla's eponymous SI unit can be used to measure stronger magnetic fields, like those of MRI machines.
Dana Neely/Getty Images
They don't just hand those things out like party favors, you know.
Tesla, like Carl Friedrich Gauss, lends his name to a unit of magnetic flux density in the International System of Units (abbreviated SI). A tesla can also be thought of as a unit of magnetic induction [source: Encyclopaedia Britannica]. At one time, high-frequency currents were known as Tesla currents [source: Houston and Kennelly].
One tesla equals one weber per square meter, or 10,000 gauss (hence, scientists often use gauss to measure weak magnetic fields, reserving tesla for stronger ones, like those used in MRIs). A weber is a unit of magnetic flux, which can be thought of as the amount of magnetic energy "flowing" over an area, such as the surface of a magnet.
Remember above when we described induction, and how changing magnetic fields can induce currents to flow in a conductor? One weber is the amount of this magnetic energy "flow" required to induce one volt of current in a loop of wire. Actually, it's a bit more specific than that: The definition assumes that you drop the flow, or flux, to zero at a uniform rate, and do it in one second [source: Encyclopaedia Britannica].
The weber is named for Wilhelm Eduard Weber, a German physicist known for his work in terrestrial magnetism and his invention in 1833 of an electromagnetic telegraph [source: Encyclopaedia Britannica].
Tesla, like Carl Friedrich Gauss, lends his name to a unit of magnetic flux density in the International System of Units (abbreviated SI). A tesla can also be thought of as a unit of magnetic induction [source: Encyclopaedia Britannica]. At one time, high-frequency currents were known as Tesla currents [source: Houston and Kennelly].
One tesla equals one weber per square meter, or 10,000 gauss (hence, scientists often use gauss to measure weak magnetic fields, reserving tesla for stronger ones, like those used in MRIs). A weber is a unit of magnetic flux, which can be thought of as the amount of magnetic energy "flowing" over an area, such as the surface of a magnet.
Remember above when we described induction, and how changing magnetic fields can induce currents to flow in a conductor? One weber is the amount of this magnetic energy "flow" required to induce one volt of current in a loop of wire. Actually, it's a bit more specific than that: The definition assumes that you drop the flow, or flux, to zero at a uniform rate, and do it in one second [source: Encyclopaedia Britannica].
The weber is named for Wilhelm Eduard Weber, a German physicist known for his work in terrestrial magnetism and his invention in 1833 of an electromagnetic telegraph [source: Encyclopaedia Britannica].
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