Nikola Tesla created and improved upon many great things. His most important scientific contributions were in the field of electricity, especially regarding alternating current (AC). These innovations changed the future of electricity. The Great Innovator At exactly midnight on July 10, 1856, in what is now Smilijan, Croatia, Tesla was born. His father Milutin was an Orthodox priest, and his mother Djuka was an inventor herself. Tesla’s education began at home and continued in Carlstadt, Croatia. He strongly wanted to become an engineer, but his father insisted that he become a priest. At seventeen, Tesla, ill with cholera, extracted a promise that, if he lived, he could attend the Austrian Polytechnic School at Graz. His dream was realized, and he studied electrical and mechanical engineering. Once, a teacher brought in a Gramme dynamo that could be used both as a generator and a motor. Tesla said that he could build a more efficient version, and the challenge haunted him. Finally, at age twenty-four, while walking with a friend, a verse of poetry he was reciting made him realize the answer to the problem. He drew a diagram in the sand and explained it to his friend. This drawing would one day become Tesla’s polyphase AC induction motor. …show more content…
Edison was, however, unable to conceive any use for Tesla’s motor because AC power was not considered useful at the time. Still, he offered Tesla a job. Tesla’s first task was to improve Edison’s direct current (DC) generators, with a reward of $50,000. However, when Tesla came to him for payment, Edison refused, and Tesla left the company (Hart-Davis 266). Later, Edison would campaign against AC to prevent it from stealing his business, citing its danger. This was called the War of