Nikola Tesla was born at Smiljan in the Lika region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, an area now in Croatia. After studying electrical engineering at the Austrian Polytechnic at Graz, Austria he became the chief electrician at the phone company in Budapest, then worked for Continental Edison at Paris. His supervisor there gave him a letter of recommendation which Tesla presented to Thomas Edison in 1884, the letter said only "I know two great men and you are one of them; the other is this young man." When Edison failed to honor a promised incentive award, Tesla left and ended up working with George Westinghouse. Tesla didn't win fame or fortune, but his work was far more influential in modern life than that of Edison, Marconi, and a host of others whose names are better known.
I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success.... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.
So astounding are the facts in this connection, that it would seem as though the Creator, himself had electrically designed this planet.
The practical success of an idea, irrespective of its inherent merit, is dependent on the attitude of the contemporaries. If timely it is quickly adopted; if not, it is apt to fare like a sprout lured out of the ground by warm sunshine, only to be injured and retarded in its growth by the succeeding frost.
The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.
If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor.
- All from Nikola Tesla, 1856 - 1943
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You did a great job compiling all this information on Tesla. Thanks. Here is my favorite Tesla quote:
"The greatest criminals on earth are the idle rich."