Nikola Tesla: The Genius Who Lit the World

Nikola Tesla: The Genius Who Lit the World

1994, Biography  -   55 Comments
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Ratings: 8.13/10 from 175 users.

Nikola Tesla: The Genius Who Lit the WorldThis is the documentary film about Nikola Tesla, the scientist and inventor, one of the greatest men in history. Nikola Tesla was born on July 10,1856 in Smiljan, Lika in what later became Yugoslavia. His father, Milutin Tesla was a Serbian orthodox priest and his mother Djuka Mandic was an inventor in her own right of household appliances. Tesla studied at the Polytechnic Institute in Graz, Austria and the University of Prague. He began his career as an electrical engineer with a telephone company in Budapest in 1881.

Before going to America, Tesla joined Continental Edison Company in Paris where he designed dynamos. While in Strassbourg in 1883, he privately built a prototype of the induction motor and ran it successfully. Unable to interest anyone in Europe in promoting this radical device Tesla accepted an offer to work for Thomas Edison in New York.

Young Nikola Tesla came to the United States in 1884. Tesla will spend the next 59 years of his productive life living in New York. Tesla set about improving line of dynamos while working in Edison's lab in New Jersey. It was here that his divergence of opinion with Edison over direct current versus alternating current began. This disagreement climaxed in the Battle of Currents as Edison fought a losing battle to protect his investment in direct current equipment and facilities.

Direct current flows continuously in one direction; alternating current changes direction 50 or 60 times per second, and can be stepped up to very high voltage levels, minimizing power loss across great distances. The future belongs to the alternating current. Nikola Tesla developed polyphase alternating current system of generators, motors and transformers and held 40 basic U.S. patents on the system, which George Westinghouse bought, determined to supply America with Tesla system. In February 1882, Tesla discovered rotating magnetic field, a fundamental principle in physics and the basis of nearly all devices that use alternating current.

Tesla's A-C induction motor is widely used throughout the world in industry and household appliances. This motor started the industrial revolution at he turn of the century. Electricity today is generated, transmitted and converted to mechanical power by means of his inventions. Tesla's greatest achievement is his polyphase alternating current system, which is today lighting the entire globe.

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R A Espiritu
R A Espiritu
1 year ago

NEW GENERATION PROPHET! NIKOLA TESLA.

Bucur Felicia
Bucur Felicia
5 years ago

As I was growing in a professional meaning, I was fascinating about Tesla`s discoveries and misteries of his life! I hope to have the opportunity to visit Tesla`s Museum!

mike
mike
7 years ago

I've been dreaming to have a baby boy and name him before Nikola, a little tribute to this genius man. the world owe him so much... I am a Filipino but I admired him so much for his great inventions and contributions to science-

Random Bob
Random Bob
8 years ago

It annoys me so much how little credit Tesla gets. He is not even taught about in school. Its criminal! Nearly all our modern technology is thanks to this man and yet where is the acknowledgement? He knew things more advanced than we have even today.. His work has been hidden away since he died too but the funny thing is I doubt whoever has access to them has a clue what they are looking at and I hope it stays that way.. I mean look what they did to his dream of free electricity.

Ed Torres
Ed Torres
9 years ago

J.P. Morgan Chase huh? Where are we going to put the meters huh? Now there's a person that could not see past the dollar signs. Rather than open his eyes and see the endless possibilities which were within reach, he, instead; only saw money and shut Tesla down. We could have been so much more than we are today.... Damn you JP!! DAMN YOU FOR ETERNITY!!!

yolo mcswaggins
yolo mcswaggins
10 years ago

is there any information about who made this?

nnn
nnn
10 years ago

actually Tesla also had romanian roots :)

Sampan Chakraborty
Sampan Chakraborty
11 years ago

Tesla-the greatest mad genius of all time,but after reading his entire life I must say Tesla was not any ordinary human being where his ideas were even more far reaching those of Newton,Einstein or Pasteur.He was probably the god's own favorite son who was born to electrify the world and he just did it fighting against all sorts of discrimination and cruel fate.Since 19 year age he did not sleep more than two hours in a day.Tesla was highly influenced by a Bengali Hindu monk and one the greatest thinker of all time named Swami Vivekananda who said about Tesla"I know a man in America who hardly gets any time to come out of his lab but he hears my speech hour after hour".

A life long bachelor,these man throughout his life tried to uplift the mankind and humanity and tried to surprised the world through one after one inventions...In my opinion we should worship Tesla instead of reading documentary on him.

Sydkidkid!!!
Sydkidkid!!!
11 years ago

well, he was a great inventer

56745324
56745324
11 years ago

"During WW2, 40 of his relatives in Smiljan are killed by Croatian Nazi government with cold weapons. Survived relatives lives in Serbia.
1991 Croatians destroyed and burn his house in Smiljan."

1. Tesla couldn't have 40 relatives in Smiljan because his family originated from another village 30km south of it. What do those nazis have to do with "Croats in general" anyway? That was a quisling fascist state and a lot of Croats died fighting against it.

2. Tesla's house was neither destroyed nor burned in the recent war. It stayed abandoned untill it was later renovated.

These obvious attempts at stirring ethnic intolerance are ridiculous. Yes, Tesla was a Serb. Yes, he was born in Croatia. Yes, he supported the idea of "southslavism". His greatness owes nothing to any of these facts.

Benny2001
Benny2001
12 years ago

It is so sad,that a man of such vast importance to this world we live in,is overlooked by modern history and Edisson is heralded as the great hero of electical engineering!
Edisson didnt invent the lightbulb either,a british scientist by the name of Swan did.

Gary Nelson
Gary Nelson
12 years ago

The man that gave us knowledge beyond many of his time could not even comprehend.

babablacksheep
babablacksheep
12 years ago

Tesla queried the validity of Einsteins theory of relativity... thus he is labeled as being anti-Semitic! The same m****s who throw around the anti-semitic noose are the ones who denied him the funding for the natural implementation of energy as a power source for all! Thus reducing dependence on crude oil and oil companies and thus eliminating the role the big banks play as financiers of new technology! Hence JP Morgan and his crowd must not be trusted to malign a legend!

Oldrok
Oldrok
12 years ago

There will be another! Man advances through adversity. One day, we will put greed aside and start to live as Tesla would have forseen. We are not all motivated by greed, although our governments seem to be at this time. Greed envoked slavery and now that is dissapearing ( It is not gone yet). We, who live as as a cohesive state, that is to say, people who wish to advance while not at the expense of others will prevail as will genius!

Annie Kovaleva
Annie Kovaleva
12 years ago

i don't think this is a worthy documentary about tesla. it's a rather dull account of a remarkable genius.

jellybean8309
jellybean8309
12 years ago

Great tribute!...because of J P Morgan and others greed we have been denied many things!

Northansence
Northansence
12 years ago

The Man Who Invented The 20th Century

Clancy Bill
Clancy Bill
12 years ago

"If anyone can draw on the power, where do we put the meter?" -JP Morgan.... Its such an outrage that people like that run our world and hold back free,clean, limitless energy for all because of greed....

mikey
mikey
12 years ago

intresting man, i thought he also invented cars that run on water among other inventions.

Perry
Perry
12 years ago

I didn't think it was possible, but somehow this documentary manages to suck all the awesome out of Tesla's life story. So completely dry and without even a hint of how amazing this man was.

Cabdiqadar
Cabdiqadar
12 years ago

True genius and the Greatest Inventor of all time. He lit our world and enlightened all of us. Without his electrafication of our world by Telsa, science and industries would have never taken off, and little would have changed in our world.

Cabdiqadar
Cabdiqadar
12 years ago

True genius and the Greatest Inventor of all time. He lit our world and enlightened all of us. Without his electrication of our world by Telsa, science and industries would have never taken off, and little would have changed in our world.

mikbe
mikbe
13 years ago

Finding out someone as brilliant as Tesla is anti-Semitic is really disappointing. It's like discovering a person you admire punches kittens or drives a BMW.

Miguel N. Cabrera
Miguel N. Cabrera
13 years ago

I read that Tesla never actually graduated from a university. If this fact is true then he learned enough mathematics and physics to burn new roads in the world of Electrical Engineering. Passion combined with Fundamental Knowledge can change this world and it's inhabitants. Nikola Tesla, this world needs you so badly, now !! If only you could return to help this world solve it's energy dependence on oil!!!!

toddy
toddy
13 years ago

Any one interested in Tesla this is a must see documentary for it shows some of his work in action

Igor
Igor
13 years ago

Serbs and Croats will forever dispute about which nation he belongs to but the truth is, Tesla was a citizen of the world, a supreme human and unlike any other person. He might as well been born in the Amazon jungle but it is of no relevance. Croats and Serbs who want to claim him as a thing to boost the national ego are fools, Tesla did not belong to anyone but everyone and all he ever did was in the name of discovery, progress and helping mankind.

Jake
Jake
13 years ago

Can only imagine if his wireless electric transmission system took off, how it might have induced all kinds of cancers and health problems as a result!

Malcom
Malcom
13 years ago

@Jokoono02/22/2010 at 17:11

"He was born in Smiljan, Croatia, what was Croatia and is Croatia today and will always be Croatia. Republic of Croatia was a part of Yugoslavian federation."

True. But, Tesla was a Serb.

Simon
Simon
13 years ago

Good doc, I think that Tesla advanced technology tenfold.

Milan Golob
Milan Golob
13 years ago

Tesla evokes the vitality

makisig
makisig
13 years ago

A genius is a genius, no matter where he came from!

Victor
Victor
13 years ago

I visited Tesla`s museum during my last stay in Belgrade and saw the urn with his ash.It was strange feeling to be so close to such a great inventor.All those inventions,scripts,photos are amazing.Serbs are very proud of him,they consider him the greatest of all Serbs along with their saint Sava.He has relatives living in Belgrade today.

Ivan
Ivan
13 years ago

Nikola Tesla is Serb who was born in Smiljan,today that is Croatia and then that was be Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

Yavanna
Yavanna
14 years ago

Umm yes that's what the doc said...

Tesla
Tesla
14 years ago

He was genius but persecuted by Edison for his revolutionary ideas!

Jokoono
Jokoono
14 years ago

He was born in Smiljan, Croatia, what was Croatia and is Croatia today and will always be Croatia. Republic of Croatia was a part of Yugoslavian federation.

Yavanna
Yavanna
14 years ago

Nice doc.

Charles B.
Charles B.
14 years ago

Very good. The museum curator was a bit boring, bless his proud Yugoslovian heart!

Ra
Ra
14 years ago

Good