A Brief History of Electricity
Prominent contributors to today's electrically energized world
Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931), the most productive electrical explorer. He invented the electric light bulb and many other products that electricians use or install
Georg Simon Ohm (1789-1854), a German physicist and the discoverer of Ohm's Law, which states that resistance, equals the ratio of the potential difference to current
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), a Serbian-American inventor who discovered rotating magnetic fields. George Westinghouse purchased Tesla's patent rights.
George Westinghouse (1846-1914), an able adapter of other people's research, purchased their patents and expanded on their work. His first patent was received for a train air brake. In 1869, he formed the Westinghouse Air Brake Company. Eventually, he held 360 patents and founded six companies. He lost
control of his companies in the 1907 panic, but went on working for them for another three years. The experiences of electricity's founding fathers parallel in many ways the electronic technology breakthroughs of the past half-century that have brought us a whirlwind of innovation in computer hardware, software, and Internet communications. Just as a wave of electrical inventions dramatically changed the world as the 20th century progressed, so can we anticipate a steadily escalating rate of innovation in these emerging electronic disciplines beyond the dawn of the 21st century
Engineers that Changed the World - Nikola Tesla
Nicola Tesla
Tesla's Own Company As it was mentioned in the first part, Tesla (a Croat by nationality and Austo-Hungarian by citizenship) had emigrated to US and worked with Thomas Alva Edison. However, as they were having constantly disagreements whether direct current (Edison's "love") or alternating current should be researched more, Tesla parted ways with Edison and eventually started his own business. He formed his own company "Tesla Electric & Light Manufacturing" in 1886 under that banner, Tesla created some of his most creative work and the greatest inventions ever known.
A large part of Tesla’s work was concentrated on wireless transmission of AC electricity over large distances. He maintained: “Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point of the universe.” Something that today is taken for granted and is known as the Tesla effect. In subsequent years till 1900, Tesla's work revolved around X-Rays, high frequency AC, transmission of electromagnetic energy, and building the first radio transmitter (the Nobel Prize for which, however, was given to Marconi), and mainly wireless transmission. He also built Warden Clyffe, the first wireless power transmission facility. The company, however, was indulged in a "War of Currents" with Edison (Ac v/s DC) which led to the bankruptcy of Edison's company, but also damaged the Tesla's company financial infrastructure
Electrical engineering Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical power supply. It now covers a range of subtopics including power ,electronics, control systems, signal processing and telecommunications. Electrical engineering may include electronic engineering. Where a distinction is made, usually outside of the United States, electrical engineering is considered to deal with the problems associated with large-scale electrical systems such as power transmission and motor control, whereas electronic engineering deals with the study of small-scale electronic systems including computers and integrated circuits. Alternatively, electrical engineers are usually concerned with using electricity to transmit energy, while electronic engineers are concerned with using electricity to process information. More recently, the distinction has become blurred by the growth of power electronics
By: Emmanuel Perez
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