Famous Rivalry: Tesla Vs. Thomas Edison
Famous Rivalry: Nikolas Tesla Vs. Thomas Edison
Kayla Olson
Washburn University
Abstract
Two brilliant inventors whose famous rivalry of electrical inventions changed the course of history. Nikolas Tesla came to New York and started working for Thomas Edison in 1884. The famous feud known as the “War of Currents” started between the two in the late 1800s over whose current system was superior. Edison developed direct current, which is a current that runs continually in a single direction, like in a battery or a fuel cell. Tesla thought this current had problems and that he could improve upon it. Tesla’s solution was his invention of the alternating current.
By Edison not wanting to loose his royalties, he spread misinformation about Tesla’s AC current. This in turned caused Tesla to quit working for Edison and start working for George Westinghouse. Westinghouse helped Tesla patent and develop his alternating current, which was eventually picked up by the Niagara Falls Power Company. History would show that Tesla won the battle due to the fact we still use alternating current today to supply electricity in our every day lives. However some of the greatest electrical inventions would not be possible today without …show more content…
Tesla generally worked alone on his projects and Edison generally had several people always involved helping him. Although Tesla had high levels of personal productivity, Edison always had people at his expense. They both also had legendary work ethics. Examining Tesla and Edison on an innovation output level shows a large disparity in the number of patented inventions. Edison had 1,093 U.S. patents while Tesla was only granted 112(lifehack). This is a big difference seeing Tesla had high innovation success rates in his beginning years but then they slowly plummeted after he stopped working for Westinghouse and went out on his
Kayla Olson
Washburn University
Abstract
Two brilliant inventors whose famous rivalry of electrical inventions changed the course of history. Nikolas Tesla came to New York and started working for Thomas Edison in 1884. The famous feud known as the “War of Currents” started between the two in the late 1800s over whose current system was superior. Edison developed direct current, which is a current that runs continually in a single direction, like in a battery or a fuel cell. Tesla thought this current had problems and that he could improve upon it. Tesla’s solution was his invention of the alternating current.
By Edison not wanting to loose his royalties, he spread misinformation about Tesla’s AC current. This in turned caused Tesla to quit working for Edison and start working for George Westinghouse. Westinghouse helped Tesla patent and develop his alternating current, which was eventually picked up by the Niagara Falls Power Company. History would show that Tesla won the battle due to the fact we still use alternating current today to supply electricity in our every day lives. However some of the greatest electrical inventions would not be possible today without …show more content…
Tesla generally worked alone on his projects and Edison generally had several people always involved helping him. Although Tesla had high levels of personal productivity, Edison always had people at his expense. They both also had legendary work ethics. Examining Tesla and Edison on an innovation output level shows a large disparity in the number of patented inventions. Edison had 1,093 U.S. patents while Tesla was only granted 112(lifehack). This is a big difference seeing Tesla had high innovation success rates in his beginning years but then they slowly plummeted after he stopped working for Westinghouse and went out on his