So who was Nikola Tesla and why have you never heard of him?
Nikola Tesla was born July 10, 1856, in the region we now know as Croatia.
The life of Tesla, his inventions and patents would be a great science study for your children to investigate. He was a famous scientist who later became rather obscure.
He was a brilliant electrical inventor and a visionary thinker who was far ahead of his time. He moved to the United States and worked with and for Thomas Edison and John Westinghouse. Tesla’s great dream was to find the means to broadcast electrical power without wires in between…can you say “wifi.”
Hundreds and Hundreds of Inventions
Many of his inventions are now part of our everyday lives:
- The Tesla coil used to create high frequency electricity
- Neon and florescent lighting
- Radio transmission
- Remote control
…and hundreds of other inventions.
The Eccentric Mr. Tesla
He was known as a true eccentric to the point of being ridiculed by some of his contemporaries, but was so far ahead of his time that many of his ideas are only now being recognized. When he died, most of Tesla’s technical papers mysteriously disappeared, and many have never been found.
To learn more about this brilliant scientist and the life he lived:
The Tesla Experts Interviews
http://www.pbs.org/tesla/dis/index.html
Tesla For Teachers Lesson Plans
http://www.pbs.org/tesla/tt/index.html
Nikoa Tesla Biography and Video
http://www.biography.com/people/nikola-tesla-9504443
Nikoa Tesla – Inventor
http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/Nikola_Tesla.htm
Nikola Tesla’s Famous Inventions
http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/famous-inventors/famous-nikola-tesla-inventions.htm
8 Things You Didn’t Know About Nikola Tesla
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/07/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-nikola-tesla.html
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Love your philosophy on educating children to be producers and teaching them to be curious. My son will be super interested in Mr. Tesla, thanks for this excellent post and the reminder to encourage learning outside the classroom!
Thanks for your comment, Minette. The life of Tesla is a really interesting study. He was brilliant, controversial and ahead of his time. I hope your son enjoys learning about him.
Thanks for this informative article with great links! I had heard of the Tesla coil but didn’t know about the other famous inventions. What a shame his papers were lost–perhaps they will surface some day. Thanks for another great post!
Gail, Nikola Tesla is a really interesting study. There’s quite a bit of controversy about him and his experiments and I think he was way ahead of his time.
Found your blog through UBC. Love the tagline of your website.
And thanks for this great article on Tesla. It’s unfortunate that he’s less well-know than Edison. I’ll be reading more of your posts.
Thanks for coming by, Nicole. Studying the life of Nikola Tesla is fascinating. Much of what we know about him is controversial, but there is no doubt that he made significant contributions to the scientific community and to the world.