Nikola Tesla and the Graz Tech

Vol. 7, EN
4.4K
:
: Graz University of Technology
: 7
: Austria
: Jan-2019
: English
: 978-3-85125-688-1
: 1652 * 2338
: 124
:
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Hermann Maurer – Aug 28 2021 02:28 PM

This book reports on Nikola Tesla , a genius in physics and engineering: The choice of Musk to name his famous car TESLA was just to show it was also a stroke of genius.

The connection of the person Tesla with Graz Tech (Graz University of Technology, to be exact) is a bit tenuous:  He studied less than two years at that University, and after some more stints in Europe moved to the USA, to join Edison. The two did not get along well since both believed in the future of electricity but Edison saw the future in direct current (DC) and Tesla in alternating current (AC). When the first power plant using the waters of Niagara falls was built, Tesla won the competition with his AC concept. After this Edison considered Tesla an enemy. Edison even built on purpose a first  electric chair with AC  to prove how dangerous AC was! 

One of the much discussed questions is: Where was Tesla born? Tesla himself considered himself an Austrian, since the place he was born in was then part of  Austria (of the Austria-Hungarian empire). Some would rather  say he is a Croatian, since the village he was born in is now in Croatia. But Croatia did not exist in its current form then, so how can someone be born in a country that did not exist at this point? Well, we do say George Washington was born in the USA, although the USA did not exist then: So should we call George Washington British, and all Serbs born a long time ago  Turkish, because large parts of today's Serbia were for a long time part of the Ottoman (Turkish) empire? Actually, the situation with Tesla is even more complex, since a smaller area called Croatia did exist, and was officially part of Austria. However, the birth place of Tesla was not in that area, but in an area that then belonged to Serbia. So some also claim Tesla to be as Serbian. Pick your choice.

Anyway, the book is  interesting to read, and the controversy DC vs. AC is picked up in one of the discussions typically for NID books.