STILL conneXXt Nr. 02 English

15 10.07.1856 07.01.1943 NIKOLA TESLA “IF WE USE OIL TO GENERATE ENERGY, THEN WE ARE LIVING FROM OUR CAPITAL. THIS METHOD IS BARBARIC.” VISIONARY That electricity was his destiny became apparent very early on. As a child, born on 10 July 1856 in the village of Smilijan in Croatia, son of Serbian parents, he saw flashes of light in the sky. “In some cases all the air around me was filled with living, flaming tongues,” reminisced Tesla later in New York. It was in New York, in his own studio on 5th Avenue, where he stunned bankers, captains of industry and society ladies with balls of fire or stood on a platform connected to an electrical source. Flashes and flames sprang from his fingers. The guests themselves were electrified, and a number of major financiers, such as J.P. Morgan, were prepared to invest their money in this person who combined the roles of entertainer and inventor. But it was the spectacular displays which most disturbed his successful colleague, Thomas Edison. He described Tesla as a “scientific poet”. In truth, Tesla worked very successfully on lucrative inventions in Edison’s laboratory. The inventor of the light bulb sold not only his own products but also demanded licence fees for their use. But the two men disagreed on one key issue: Edison believed in direct current (DC) which he thought was less dangerous, but which could not be transported over long distances without voltage losses. Tesla, on the other hand, was in favour of alternating current (AC), and so started the “war of electricity”, which during its course resulted in some grotesque PR gags and culminated in the invention of the electric chair – with AC. Disappointed with Edison, Tesla founded his own company with the help of investors. He developed the arc lamp, the first remote control and a radiation canon but was forced out of his own company by investors and ultimately robbed of his shares. For a year afterwards he had to survive as a day-labourer working on the roads. And then a certain Mr. Westinghouse discovered his talent. He purchased Tesla’s patents, agreed a licence fee of two and a half dollars per horse power of “Tesla electricity” sold and also made alternating current popular. Within two years Westinghouse had built more than 30 power stations, supplying 130 American towns with Tesla’s alternating current. The financial break-through was just within reach, because based on the licence contract Tesla would receive fees for each electric motor sold and for all AC patents. But Westing- house’s investors then forced him to renegotiate the contract. Tesla, who thought of Westinghouse as a friend, tore up the contract and swapped the royalties for his patents for a lump sum of 216,000 Dollars. As a result the pioneer of electricity, despite fame and 700 patents, failed financially. Nikola Tesla died in poverty on 7 January 1943 in a New York hotel room aged 86. Even 70 years after his death, the “Tesla” file is still open. Elon Musk, who continues with Nikola Tesla’s visions in the 21st century, sharing his inexhaustible optimism and ambition with the person after whom the company is named. When asked how he came up with the name Tesla, Elon Musk replied: “We had a long list of great pioneers. Right at the top: Fara- day, who actually invented the electric motor. Tesla happened to sound better. Some ‘crazy guy’ in Sacramento had the rights. One of us literally camped on his veranda to get hold of him and we paid 75,000 Dollars for the name rights. That was a lot of money for us at that time.” And how does he see Nikola Tesla as a historical figure? “Crazy person.”

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