Nikola Tesla Books
The Life and Work of Nikola Tesla
The great son of the Yugoslav people and of Lika showed his extraordinary gift for engineering and invention very early on in life. His physics teacher in Karlovac and later his professors in Graz helped him to acquire a thorough knowledge of the physics and engineering of the time. Wherever he went, he contributed to the improvement of technology, in Budapest, in Paris, in Strasbourg and finally with the Edison Company in the United States where he invented the polyphase system of alternating current, synchronous and split-phase motors, new forms of generators and the transmission and distribution of electricity by means of alternating current.
The first power-station based on the polyphase system (Niagara) was both a triumphant finale to his work on the polyphase system and a great personal victory. Realizing the inadequacy of the sources of light used at the time, i. e. the arc light and the bulb with carbon filament, he invented and improved luminiscent sources of light by using high-frequency current. Thus began his work on high-frequency and high-voltage currents which provided the fundamental elements for modern electrical engineering based on high frequency such as resonance, adjustment of antenna circuits, the transformer (with oil as insulator), - all of which are indispensable in high-voltage technique. He worked on turbines and designed a turbine without blades. He demonstrated the use of X-rays and elaborated a complete technique of work with X-rays. He experimented with the wireless transmission of electricity using a 200-kW radio station in Colorado. Returning to New York in triumph, he was immediately given funds for starting the construction of a Centre for World Telegraphy. However, as the funds ran out he could not complete the Centre and gave up the project.
The inventions of Nikola Tesla cover such a wide field that he is regarded as the greatest engineer and inventor of all times.
Till the end of his life he remained a Yugoslav. In the course of the second world war he called on the Yugoslav peoples to remain united in the struggle against fascism and made a huge moral contribution to the development of the Yugoslav national liberation struggle.
