The 7 most relevant Nikola Tesla inventions

Throughout human history there has been a lots of inventors, known or anonymous people who have managed to create new tools thanks to wonderful ideas. Within this group we can find true geniuses, who have managed not only to create a new element, but also to manufacture endless new tools.

One of these virtuosos to whom we owe dozens of inventions is Nicholas Tesla, one of the most important engineers in history, and that is why in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to talk about Nikola Tesla's most outstanding and relevant inventions.

Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856 in Smiljan, a city that at that time belonged to the Austrian Empire, but is now in present-day Croatia. Nikola Tesla lived a great life, becoming one of the most respected people in his field, although he was not spared from numerous controversies. His life was also long for the time, dying on January 7, 1943, at the age of 87, due to a myocardial infarction. To get to know this great author, we must first talk about his life, to understand why he was interested in the subjects that made him so well known.

Tesla's parents were Serbs, his father being an Orthodox priest and his mother a housewife who made some inventions in her spare time. It was because of his mother's hobby of creating these tools, which helped her do his household chores, that Tesla became interested in inventions.

Shortly after his 18th birthday, Tesla fell ill with cholera, a disease that nearly took his life. While he was ill his father promised him that if he recovered he would leave him enter an engineering school, something with which the Serbian priest had not agreed until that moment.

After recovering, Tesla began attending the University of Graz to study electrical engineering, but he was unable to complete his studies. Tesla had a lot of problems during his studies in Graz, having to work an enormous amount of hours in a telegraph factory to be able to pay for the studies.

For months, Tesla worked small jobs, drifting away from his family for a time out of shame at having dropped out of college. Although he did speak to his father again, who supported him to re-enter a university, but after a few months in his new university his father died, and Tesla began a tour of Europe on search for new job opportunities.

The start of Nikola Tesla's career

A couple of years later, Tesla arrived in Paris, where he began working for one of the many companies that Thomas Edison owned. Tesla's work did not go unnoticed and in a very short time he was hired by Edison himself, so he moved to New York.

Although they began to work together, lThe differences between Tesla and Edison were enormous, creating one of the greatest scientific rivalries in the history of mankind, the so-called war of the currents. Edison defended the direct current, and Tesla the alternating current, which was much superior, the first angered by Tesla's audacity, he decided not to give her credit and even steal the patents of some of his inventions. It was like this that both parted, and began this great rivalry.

Tesla spent the rest of his life of him creating an enormous amount of inventions, being backed by great entrepreneurs, and becoming one of the greatest creators in the history of mankind.

To continue with this lesson we must talk about the main inventions of Nikola Tesla. If we talked about all his creations we could be there for days and days, since Tesla's inventions are extremely numerous, that is why we are going to talk about the main creations of him.

Radio, an invention of Nikola Tesla

In previous lessons we have talked about the history of radio, commenting on the different people who helped in the creation of it, and on the great controversy that exists about who could be the true author. One of the authors who is usually recognized as the creator of it is Tesla, considering many people who Marconi stole the patent, since the first person to introduce the radio to the public was Tesla. Marconi used different methods, such as edison help or use Tesla patents, to be considered as the true creator.

Alternating current

This invention is the main cause of the separation between Edison and Tesla, being for the latter a better way of producing electrical energy than the direct current advocated by Edison. Edison began a smear campaign against Tesla, although alternating current is currently the most widely used method.

Tesla coil

Another of Nikola Tesla's inventions is the Tesla coil, a transformer class that he created because he was looking for the best way to send power wirelessly. Currently it is practically useless, we can find it in certain scientific museums, its greatest use being that of teaching.

Fluorescent and neon lights

Tesla did not discover these types of lights, but he was the person who did the most studies with them. Tesla he created numerous lamps using this method, and some of his students made the first commercial lamps of this type.

X-rays

Tesla was not the creator of X-rays, but without Tesla's studies the current contributions of these rays would have been impossible. One of his main discoveries was how dangerous X-ray radiation was.

Teslascope, another of Tesla's inventions

This invention is one of the strangest and most famous of Tesla, being a tool created to communicate with entities from outer space. Tesla thought that if he linked this creation with his study of electrical currents he could communicate with beings from space.

Induction motor

Another of Nikola Tesla's inventions was the induction motor, a motor used in different household tools such as in vacuum cleaners. Tesla discovered it at the same time as Galileo Ferrari, so it is not known for sure which of the two is the true creator.