Nikola Tesla (Part 2)

Last week I started telling you about an inventor named Nikola Tesla, and I told you about an incredible invention he discovered. Now if you remember last week I said that he invented the Alternating Current (AC) electrical system, the first hydro-electric generator at Niagara Falls, X-rays and Radio. Although all of these inventions are still in operation or being used in some way today, the incredible invention that I am about to tell you about was never completed, but would have revolutionised the way in which we use electricity. Basically Nikola discovered a way to magnify electrical energy and to distribute the power wirelessly around the world. Imagine a world where you no longer had power lines connected to every home and the cost of delivering power to a large city would be the same as to deliver power to a shack in the middle of the desert. This is the invention that Nikola Tesla discovered, and not only did he discover it, but he started to build a tower in Long Island (New York State, in the United States of America) between 1901 and 1905. The foundations of this tower still exist today, however the tower was never completed.

Why do you suppose the tower was never complete? It was because the financier of the project realised that there would be no way to measure people's usage of power from the tower, so he could not charge them properly. J. Pierpont Morgan was the financier and his comment regarding the tower and his withdrawal of funding was, "If anyone can draw on the power, where do we put the meter?" So instead of creating a tower that could distribute electricity wirelessly around the globe, we have instead invested billions of dollars in cables being run all around the globe to deliver electricity, which has damaged our environment and I would say cost many more billions in repairs and maintenance just because with this method we are able to measure how much power is used and therefore charge people who use the most power. I think in the long run he would have made millions more distributing power wirelessly regardless of inability to measure people's usage.

If you would like to read more about Nikola Tesla, have a look at his biography on the Tesla Society website, or the original website I viewed to learn about Nikola, The Oat Meal. Learn more about wireless electricity transfer on ncoic.com.

Nikola Tesla (Part 1)

A while ago my friend sent me a website link about a man called Nikola Tesla, he was a Serbian-American inventor who lived from 1856 - 1943. The website outlined many of the great inventions that were attributed to Nikola Tesla, who by the end of his life had registered over 700 patents worldwide. The invention that interested me most was that of the Alternating Current (AC) electrical system. The reason that I find this interesting is because in school I always learnt that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb and modern day electricity, however this is in fact incorrect. Thomas Edison developed a light bulb based on other men's inventions and his Direct Current (DC) electrical system which powered this light bulb was weak and inefficient. It was Nikola Tesla who reinvented this system and created the AC electrical system, which is the system that is used to power all the nations around the world today, so in fact Nikola Tesla is actually the inventor of modern day electricity, not Edison. Tesla, after inventing the AC system, went on to develop the first Hydro-electric plant at Niagara Falls.

Nikola Tesla can also be credited with many other modern day inventions which have in fact been credited to other people. Wilhelm Rontgen is credited with inventing the X-Ray, however at the same time that he discovered this, Nikola Tesla was also experimenting with the same X-Ray technology. Although Wilhelm won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901 for this discovery, it was actually discovered by Nikola prior to his experiments, however Nikola never attempted to claim priority for this invention. Guglielmo Marconi won the Nobel Prize in 1909 for his invention of the Radio, however in 1943 the United States Supreme Court ruled that Guglielmo's most important patent was invalid and recognised that Nikola's earlier discoveries regarding radio were more significant and recognised him as the inventor of Radio. This article highlights only a few, although there were many others, of Nikola's significant contributions to electrical science. In particular, there is one more incredible invention that I would like to highlight  however I do not have the space to include it in this blog. To learn what invention he discovered that was so incredible, you will have to check out my blog early next week.

Normally I include further references about a topic, in this case you will find the articles regarding Nikola Tesla on next week's blog, however to learn more about the invention of the light bulb, check out the UnMuseum website.

Waltzing Matilda definition

I was looking at the fact of the month on my desktop calendar and for November it said that the meaning of 'Waltzing Matilda' in German was 'carrying a backpack'. So in fact the tune would go, 'carrying a backpack, carrying a backpack, you'll come a carrying a backpack with me.' I thought this was very interesting, butI didn't quite believe it, so I did a little Google research. It turns out that the phrase 'Waltzing Matilda' was thought to have originated with the German immigrants in Australia and was derived from the German language. However although the definition could be loosely translated to mean 'carrying a backpack', that is a much too simplified definition of the phrase.The definition that I discovered on a few different sites, was that Waltzing was derived from the German term Auf der walz, which means to travel whilst working or learning a trade. The term Matilda has Teutonic origins and means Mighty Battle Maiden. This term was applied to camp followers of armies and a Matilda came to be known as someone who 'keeps you warm at night'. Eventually Matilda was applied to other things that kept you warm at night, such as a coat or blanket. 

So the phrase Waltzing Matilda actually means to travel whilst looking for work and carrying something to keep you warm at night. I can see why Banjo used the phrase Waltzing Matilda in his song, as the full definition would have really thrown out verses. Sing it with me, 'Traveling whilst looking for work and carrying something to keep you warm at night, traveling whilst looking for work and carrying something to keep you warm at night, you'll come a traveling whilst looking for work and carrying something to keep you warm at night with me'. Quite a mouthful, and it really doesn't have the same ring to it as Waltzing Matilda. I can also see why my desktop calendar shortened this definition, although they left out totally the part about traveling whilst looking for work, and I really don't consider that a backpack would keep you warm at night. So to say Waltzing Matilda means 'carrying a backpack' is an incredibly loose translation, but I can see that it would fit better on a desktop calendar than the real definition.