Junior Editor's Quiz - Testing Yourself - Nikola Tesla

QUESTION: Who was Nikola Tesla?

ANSWER: Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was a physicist and electrical engineer who was one of the great pioneers of the use of alternating current electricity. He invented the alternating current induction motor and the high-frequency coil which bears his name.

Tesla was born in Croatia and studied engineering at the Technical University in Graz, Austria, and at the University of Prague in Czechoslovakia. He came to the United States in 1884 and worked for Thomas Edison for one year before setting out on his own.

In 1888, Tesla patented the rotating field motor. This brought him to the attention of George Westinghouse, who bought and successfully exploited many of Tesla’s patents.

Tesla was a pioneer in high tension electricity. He made many discoveries and inventions of great value to the development of radio transmission and the field of electricity, including the arc-lighting system, the Tesla coil and various transformers and generators. Some of his ideas have been put into practice at the hands of others. For example, Tesla outlined a scheme for detecting ships at sea which was later developed as radar.

Tesla neglected to patent many of his ideas and made little profit from them.

— Susan Hoffmann · 12/2