Thomas Edison is one of the most important figures in human history, he has more than two thousand inventions, more than a thousand patents, including electric lights, phonographs, sound films and so on that have a profound impact on human civilization. Edison was also contemporary of many well-known figures, including one person with whom Edison had an intricate relationship: the famous engineer Nikola Tesla.
Tesla spent his early years as an engineer at a telephone company in Paris, France, headquartered in the United States, whose big boss was the famous Thomas Edison.
After working for a while, Tesla's talent and ability were unanimously recognized by the leaders and colleagues of the French branch. Charles Baccello, general manager of the branch, believes that tesla's talents should be fully utilized at the US headquarters. So he wrote a letter of recommendation to his boss, Edison, in which he wrote, "I know two great people, one is you and the other is this young man." ”
After Tesla came to the United States, he soon became the main engineer of the head office. Many of the problems that others are helpless to solve are easy for Tesla. At one point, the head office hit a bottleneck in improving DC generators. Edison told Tesla that if he could solve the puzzle, he would give him a huge bonus of $50,000. However, when Tesla successfully overcome this technical problem and asked Edison to cash in the bonus, Edison said that his previous promise was only American humor, not counting.
In addition to the contradictions in terms of money, the differences between Edison and Tesla on the issue of technology are even more obvious.
Edison was the most famous inventor of his time, and the story of his successful invention of the electric lamp after thousands of experiments is a household name. However, Tesla believes that this only proves that Edison is too stupid and has been using the wrong method, so he needs to experiment so many times, if he can understand some of the most basic theories and calculation methods, it will save at least 90% of the useless work.
Edison and Tesla later broke up because they had completely different views on the current technology route. Edison insisted on direct current and staked all his wealth on related industries, while Tesla believed that alternating current represented the future. It is worth mentioning that alternating current was originally invented by Tesla under the guidance of Edison, and if Edison applied for an alternating current patent at that time, there would be no tesla to do anything later.
After several heated arguments, neither Edison nor Tesla could convince each other. In 1886, the 30-year-old Tesla ran away and founded his own company, focusing on the development of lighting and power systems using alternating current. Thus, the "war" between Edison and Tesla officially began.
Most of the scenarios we encounter in our lives now use alternating current, so in hindsight, Tesla's judgment of future direction seems to be more accurate than Edison's. So did Edison really not understand the benefits of alternating current? Why would he refuse alternating current? In fact, from Edison's point of view, he also had his concerns.
In New York at the time, wires were crossed and exposed above people's heads. If people touch a charged DC wire, at most they just feel that they are struck by the current, and there is no danger to their lives. But people can die on the spot when they touch a charged AC line. At that time, deaths due to alternating current occurred from time to time.
Although the current dispute between Edison and Tesla ultimately proved Tesla right, it should not be considered that Edison was short-sighted. In fact, when people are in the game, how many people can clearly see the future direction? Tesla is a technology geek, and naturally stands on the most favorable side of technology. Although Edison is an inventor, his more accurate identity should be that of an entrepreneur, and he should consider not only technology, but also social impact, corporate responsibility and other issues.
Of course, Edison did have a big mistake, he knew the benefits of ALTERNA, but did not consider how to solve problems such as safety, but obstructed the promotion of AC everywhere. It was this old-fashioned thinking that led him to miss a new era.