author
Nikola Tesla
1856–1943
A brilliant and intensely driven inventor, he helped shape the modern world through his work on alternating current power systems. His life mixed real scientific breakthroughs with bold, sometimes visionary ideas that still capture the imagination.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Smiljan in 1856, in what was then the Austrian Empire, Nikola Tesla became a Serbian-American inventor and electrical engineer whose work transformed the generation and transmission of electric power. He studied engineering in Europe, worked in Paris, and moved to the United States in 1884, where he briefly worked with Thomas Edison before pursuing his own ideas.
Tesla is best known for developing key parts of the alternating current (AC) system, including the rotating magnetic field and the polyphase system that made long-distance electric power practical. He also carried out influential experiments in wireless communication, high-voltage electricity, radio control, and electromagnetism, earning a reputation as both a gifted engineer and a striking public figure.
In later years, his fame was matched by financial struggles and increasingly ambitious proposals. He died in New York City in 1943, but his name has endured as a symbol of scientific originality, daring imagination, and the electric age itself.