Nikola Tesla
This name keeps popping up into our modern-day awareness because Tesla was a futuristic thinker. He foresaw much of the technical and social issues of our time with great clarity. He was born and raised in the Austrian Empire in what is modern day Croatia in 1856. Earning advanced degrees in Engineering, Mathematics and Physics in the 1870s. He also gained practical experience working on the Budapest Telephone Exchange. After migrating to the US in 1886 he worked a short time at the Edison Machine Works in NYC before striking out on his own. He set up laboratories and companies in New York to develop and market his inventions such as Alternating Current (AC) induction motors and polyphase AC Patents. He licensed his technology to Westinghouse and made considerable money that allowed him to explore completely new fields of study and develop new technologies such as mechanical oscillators, wireless controls. Many people do not realize that Tesla also invented the modern day Xray technology. He promoted a new wireless infrastructure for lighting and worldwide power generation and distribution. He entertained the possibilities for wireless communications. Eventually, his ideas outran his funding and developed a reputation as a “mad scientist”.
This brilliant man was said to have an Eidetic memory He also walked between 8-10 miles each day and sept no more than 2 hours a day. There was one episode where Tesla worked 84 hours straight without rest in his laboratory. Tesla had no significant relationships to speak of. He believed that chastity was helpful to his scientific pursuits. He did have friends one of which was Mark Twain. Throughout his life he was asocial. always focused on his work at the expense of relationships, hobbies or any other pleasurable pursuit. Tesla was appalled by the inequality of women and felt that in the future women would be the dominant gender.