Junior Editor's Quiz on Nikola Tesla

QUESTION: Who was Nikola Tesla?

ANSWER: Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was a Yugoslav-American inventor who made extremely important contributions in the field of electronics.

Tesla was born in Croatia, Yugoslavia. He received technical training and later worked for the telephone company in Budapest and for Consolidated Edison in Paris.

On his own, Tesla devised plans for an alternating current electric motor. He was unable to interest European engineers in his invention and came to the United States in 1884. He worked briefly for Thomas Edison before moving on to establish his own laboratory.

Tesla’s greatest work was the discovery of the rotating magnetic field and its use as a means of generating and distributing electric power. Tesla’s system made possible the practical and economic production and transmission of electricity and is the basis of practically all the electrical power systems used in the world today.

In 1891, Tesla became a U.S. citizen. He went on to invent what proved to be a prototype of the fluorescent bulb as a result of his search for improving the incandescent lamp. Tesla was also a prophet of sorts. He correctly predicted the advent of radio, guided missiles and radar.

— Ron Berthel 9/20