Happy 155th Birthday - Nikola Tesla
Probably my biggest personal hero.
He invented the alternating current motor, the system we use for power generation and distribution including the 60Hz line frequency and the 120/240 volt transmission as well as the single phase and three phase systems. Europe and Asia use 50Hz only because that would free them from licensing requirements -- 50Hz is less efficient requiring bigger equipment for the equivalent power.
He also invented minor things like the fluorescent light, a kind of X-Ray tube (he was experimenting with X Rays at the same time that Roentgen was), he demonstrated a working radio communications system in 1898 at Madison Square Garden. He had an electric boat that would start up, turn port and starboard, flash its lights. Marconi's three dots across the atlantic happened in 1901. The US Supreme Court made a
decision in 1943, reversing Marconi's patent and restoring it to Tesla.
He also invented minor stuff - the spark plug, bladeless turbines, a primitive RADAR in 1917.
A list of his 300+ patents can be found here:
List of Tesla patents
Posted by DaveH at July 10, 2011 1:27 PM