Biography
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. Born and raised in the Austrian Empire, Tesla studied engineering and physics in the 1870s without receiving a degree, gaining practical experience in the early 1880s working in telephony and at Continental Edison in the new electric power industry. In 1884 he emigrated to the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen. He worked for a short time at the Edison Machine Works in New York City before he struck out on his own. With the help of partners to finance and market his ideas, Tesla set up laboratories and companies in New York to develop a range of electrical and mechanical devices. His alternating current (AC) induction motor and related polyphase AC patents, licensed by Westinghouse Electric in 1888, earned him a considerable amount of money and became the cornerstone of the polyphase system which that company eventually marketed.
Awards & recognition
- National Inventors Hall of Fame · 1975
- doctor honoris causa from the University of Paris · 1937
- Grand cross of the Order of the White Lion · 1936
- John Scott Award · 1934
- Edison Medal · 1916
Show all 18 awards →
- Elliott Cresson Medal · 1894
- Fellow of the American Association — the Advancement of Science
- Honorary doctor of the Technical University of Graz
- Honorary doctor of the University of Zagreb
- IEEE Fellow
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Sava
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the White Eagle
- Order of Prince Danilo I
- Order of St. Sava
- Order of the Crown
- Order of the White Eagle
- Order of the White Lion
- Nobel Prize in Physics · 1937 · nominated
