The Electric Visionary: The Life and Legacy of Nikola Tesla

Marcelo Serafim
Jan 27
5 min read

Nikola Tesla, born in 1856 in Smiljan (modern-day Croatia), was a man whose intellect seemed to vibrate at a higher frequency than the world around him. From a young age, Tesla displayed a remarkable memory and a knack for visualization, often constructing complex machines entirely in his mind before ever putting pen to paper. His journey led him to the United States in 1884, arriving with little more than the clothes on his back and a letter of recommendation to the famous inventor Thomas Edison. This arrival marked the beginning of a career that would fundamentally change the way humanity generates and uses energy.

Upon working with Edison, a deep ideological and technical rift quickly formed, leading to the famous "War of Currents." Edison championed Direct Current (DC), a system that worked well for short distances but required power stations every few miles. Tesla, however, believed in Alternating Current (AC), a more efficient method that could transmit electricity over vast distances. The rivalry was fierce, with Edison launching a smear campaign to paint AC as dangerous. despite these attacks, Tesla’s system was eventually adopted as the global standard for power transmission, proving his foresight was superior.

Tesla’s genius was not limited to electricity wars; he was a prolific inventor who held around 300 patents. One of his most significant contributions was the induction motor, which runs on alternating current and powers countless household appliances and industrial machines today. This invention was a breakthrough that allowed electrical energy to be converted into mechanical energy efficiently and reliably, liberating industries from the limitations of steam power

Beyond motors, Tesla is perhaps most visually associated with the Tesla Coil, invented around 1891. This high-frequency transformer is capable of producing spectacular arcs of electricity and is still used today in radio technology and educational demonstrations. The Tesla Coil was not just for show; it was part of his exploration into wireless transmission, laying the groundwork for the radios and wireless communication devices that define the 21st century.

Tesla’s ambition culminated in his project at Wardenclyffe Tower in New York. His dream was to create a global wireless communication system and, more radically, to transmit electricity wirelessly across the globe, providing free energy to everyone. He believed the Earth itself could be used as a conductor. Unfortunately, funding for the project dried up when his chief financier, J.P. Morgan, realized there was no practical way to put a meter on free wireless energy, and the tower was eventually dismantled.

The inventor was also known for his eccentric personality and unusual habits. He claimed to sleep only two hours a night, had a phobia of germs and round objects (specifically pearls), and was obsessed with the number three. Despite his eccentricities, he possessed a showman’s flair, often dazzling audiences by passing high-voltage electricity through his own body to prove the safety of AC power, lighting up lamps held in his hands without any wires.

However, Tesla’s brilliance was often overshadowed by his lack of business acumen. Unlike Edison, who was a shrewd entrepreneur, Tesla often cared little for financial gain, tearing up royalty contracts to help friends and investing his last pennies into failed experiments. As a result, despite creating technologies that generated billions of dollars for others, Tesla spent much of his later life in relative poverty, moving from hotel to hotel and leaving unpaid bills behind.

In his final years, Tesla became increasingly reclusive, preferring the company of pigeons to people. He famously claimed to have fallen in love with a specific white pigeon, stating that she gave purpose to his life. This period of his life was marked by increasingly bizarre claims, such as the invention of a "death ray" particle beam weapon that he hoped would end all wars by making defense impenetrable, though no prototype was ever found.

Tesla died alone in the New Yorker Hotel in 1943, leaving behind a legacy that was largely unappreciated at the time of his death. For decades, his contributions were often omitted from history books that favored Edison. It was not until the late 20th and early 21st centuries that pop culture and the scientific community revived interest in his work, recognizing him as the true father of the electric age.

Today, Nikola Tesla is celebrated as an icon of scientific altruism and futuristic thinking. His name adorns the world’s most famous electric car company, and his face appears on currency in Serbia. While he died destitute, his wealth lay in the ideas he left behind—ideas that continue to power our homes, connect our devices, and inspire new generations to look beyond the possible.

Questions

What was the primary disagreement between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison known as?
Why did J.P. Morgan stop funding the Wardenclyffe Tower project?
How did Tesla demonstrate the safety of Alternating Current (AC) to audiences?
What specific phobias or obsessions did Tesla exhibit?
Why is Tesla considered to have lacked business acumen compared to Edison?

Vocabulary List

Here are 10 challenging words from the text with their definitions:

Visionary (adj./n.): Thinking about or planning the future with imagination or wisdom.
Prolific (adj.): Producing much fruit, foliage, or offspring; in this context, producing many works or inventions.
Induction (n.): The production of an electric or magnetic state by the proximity (without contact) of an electrified or magnetized body.
Culminated (v.): Reached a climax or point of highest development.
Eccentric (adj.): (of a person or their behavior) Unconventional and slightly strange.
Acumen (n.): The ability to make good judgments and quick decisions, typically in a particular domain.
Destitute (adj.): Without the basic necessities of life; extremely poor.
Altruism (n.): The belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.
Omitted (v.): Left out or excluded (someone or something), either intentionally or forgetfully.
Radically (adv.): In a thorough or fundamental way; completely.

Phrasal Verb Focus

Phrasal Verb: Come up with

Meaning: To produce something, especially when pressured or challenged; to invent, create, or think of an idea/plan.
Context: Tesla had to come up with a way to transmit electricity over long distances.

Examples:

"The engineers need to come up with a solution to the battery problem by Friday."
"She came up with a brilliant idea for the science fair."
"I don't know how he comes up with these crazy stories."

American Idiom Focus

Idiom: Ahead of one's time

Meaning: Having ideas or attitudes that are too advanced or modern to be understood or accepted by the people of the present time.
Context: Tesla's ideas about wireless internet and smartphones in the early 1900s show he was truly ahead of his time.

Examples:

"Her fashion designs were ahead of her time; nobody wore those styles until ten years later."
"The movie flopped when it was released, but now critics say it was ahead of its time."

Grammar Tip: The Passive Voice

Biographies and scientific texts often use the Passive Voice. We use this when the focus is on the action or the object receiving the action, rather than the person doing it.

Structure: Subject + (to be) + Past Participle (+ by agent)

Examples from the text/context:

Active: Edison attacked Tesla's ideas.
Passive: Tesla's ideas were attacked by Edison.
Active: We use the Tesla Coil in demonstrations today.
Passive: The Tesla Coil is still used today in demonstrations.

Why use it? It sounds more formal and objective. In the sentence "The tower was dismantled," it doesn't matter who took it down; the important fact is that the tower was removed.

Listening

Homework Proposal

Task: "The Modern Wardenclyffe"

Imagine Nikola Tesla is alive today and has been given unlimited funding to solve one major modern global problem (e.g., climate change, lack of internet access, water scarcity).

Write a paragraph describing what invention he would create to solve it.
Give the invention a name.
Explain how it works using the "Passive Voice" at least twice (e.g., "Solar energy is collected by...")

Would you like me to correct your homework once you are done?