Re: Tesla or Westinghouse?

[Jerry Hester <jhester@MTU.EDU>]

Tesla was directly involved in the AC/DC debate and fights.  At one time Tesla worked for
Edison, but supposedly Edison didn't like Tesla because he felt threatened by Tesla's
ideas.  In the end Edison is rumored to have cheated Tesla of a fairly large sum of money
so Tesla quit.  After that Tesla joined up with Wesinghouse and several other financial
backers to produce AC systems.  Tesla showed his system at the (world's fair or
exposition ???) of the time.  Because of this show, Tesla along with Wesinghouse won the
contract to build the hydroelectric station at Niagra.  This did not end the battle and
Edison often resorted to dubious tactics in his attempts to make the Tesla system appear
unsafe.

Michael Edmiston wrote:

> Lawrence Ruby has a nice report in The Physics Teacher (May 2002) about DC
> power transmission rather than AC.  In his report he describes the "battle"
> between Edison and Tesla over DC versus AC power transmission.  He also says
> it was the 3-phase generator and high-voltage transformation process that
> allowed Tesla to win.
>
> The history books I have say the DC/AC battle was waged between Thomas
> Edison and George Westinghouse, not between Edison and Tesla.  It is my
> understanding that the works of Tesla, the patents of which were bought by
> Westinghouse, were what ultimately allowed Westinghouse to "win," but I was
> not under the impression that Tesla himself was part of the debate with
> Edison.
>
> I was also under the impression that Tesla's work leading to the induction
> motor was the major deciding factor in favor of AC because it allowed a
> brushless arcless motor.
>
> Of course, some historians might not understand the science and might have
> got some things twisted around.  Does anyone have reliable information on
> this?
>
> Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.              Phone/voice-mail:       419-358-3270
> Professor of Chemistry & Physics        FAX:                    419-358-3323
> Chairman, Science Department            E-Mail                  edmiston@bluffton.edu
> Bluffton College
> 280 West College Avenue
> Bluffton, OH 45817

--
Jerry Hester
Jhester@mtu.edu
Laboratory/Lecture Demonstrations Coordinator
Department of Physics
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, MI 49931-1295
Phone: (906) 487-2273
Fax: (906) 487-2933