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Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison: Who Was the Better Inventor?
- Thread starter WorldStar
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I like how this bit tries to twist it to make J.P. Morgan seem like the reason Tesla's plans failed and not you know, his inability to get it working.
This was the main reason Edison had so many patents. He had a world-class laboratory and employed some brilliant people who were deeply involved in many of his projects (like Francis Upton, among others). Edison persistently pursued patents for anything developed by his company. Not to sell Edison short, but his immense collection of patents is more reflective of his entrepreneurial skills and his ability to run productive research labs. The Menlo Park lab was unmatched at the time and pioneered industrial R&D as we know it.
As for who was the better inventor, it depends how you judge that. Tesla was a more capable scientist and his inventions were often on the cutting edge of contemporary knowledge. Edison was a better entrepreneur and his way of thinking was very systems oriented. He had a knack for effectively combining different technologies and tackling "big picture" problems, so his inventions tended to be refinements and combinations that were very well designed for broader adoption and utility-scale applications.
cheezcake
Member
Come on dude where talking about the era where DC voltage conversion had to be done with inefficient, unreliable and expensive motor-generator sets. Not LCC's developed half a century later.
Yes which improved efficiency by dramatically reducing copper losses in TX lines.
DiscoJer
Member
Edison was to science what Henry Ford was to manufacturing. He revolutionized how research happened.
Like the light bulb - the idea was well known, but he figured out how to make it practical by having his assistants make light bulbs all sorts of materials in a slow and methodical manner. Eventually they hit on something that worked well.
Anyway, I get why the internet loves Tesla. But I really wish James Clerk Maxwell got more love. He should be as well regarded as Einstein, if not more so, given most of his equations are used in modern life than relativity
Like the light bulb - the idea was well known, but he figured out how to make it practical by having his assistants make light bulbs all sorts of materials in a slow and methodical manner. Eventually they hit on something that worked well.
Anyway, I get why the internet loves Tesla. But I really wish James Clerk Maxwell got more love. He should be as well regarded as Einstein, if not more so, given most of his equations are used in modern life than relativity
triplestation
Member
RustyNails
Member
Tesla is an internet darling, and definitely the guy deserves all the recognition he gets. There is so much extraordinary things he did. It makes no sense when you read it on a wiki. Dude was probably an alien.
Maxwell needs love as well. Edison was ok, but he was more of an entrepreneur.
Maxwell needs love as well. Edison was ok, but he was more of an entrepreneur.
cheezcake
Member
Its a lot harder to say
than it is to say E= mc^2
But really as brilliant as Maxwell was, Einstein is more revered for his radical thought process. The ability to first conceptualize theories as unintuitive as special and general relativity, and be proven correct, is just insane.
JJDinomite
Banned
Dude has his own museum Idk what youre talking about
Lovely Salsa
Banned
Many people have never heard of Tesla so my vote goes to Edison
Chiaroscuro
Member
Edison was an inventor??? Edison was The first CEO.
Huh? I learned about Tesla in high school.
Uh... I think we said the exact same thing in agreement?
TheContact
Member
No contest is was Tesla. Eddison ripped off ideas and basically destroyed Tesla with manipulative ways. Poor Tesla
Eddison also bet 50k that Tesla couldn't make Eddisons inventions more efficient, and when Tesla did make them more efficient, Eddison said it was a joke but did give him $10 a week more in his paycheck. Tesla quit and made his own company and ended up winning because AC is used a lot more than DC
Eddison also bet 50k that Tesla couldn't make Eddisons inventions more efficient, and when Tesla did make them more efficient, Eddison said it was a joke but did give him $10 a week more in his paycheck. Tesla quit and made his own company and ended up winning because AC is used a lot more than DC
GentlemanCrow
Member
I like Tesla. Edison seemed like a colossal dick.
I've read a couple of biographies on Edison and Tesla, and to me It seems like pitting them as enemies is the wrong move. They were rivals, but they weren't rivals exclusively. History remembers them this way because it makes for a good story. They were sometimes friendly and had a lifelong relationship.
I look at it this way: Edison was a businessman, and knew how to sell things. He invented to make money, and knew how to pitch an idea. Tesla invented to make cool things, and to push the boundaries of possibility. He thought investors would be interested in his creations because they were profound and interesting, but did not have a knack for making money and had a bunch of personal hang-ups and eccentricities that pushed people away. He may have been more brilliant, but he was less personable, and he did not belong to the ethos of his time.
I look at it this way: Edison was a businessman, and knew how to sell things. He invented to make money, and knew how to pitch an idea. Tesla invented to make cool things, and to push the boundaries of possibility. He thought investors would be interested in his creations because they were profound and interesting, but did not have a knack for making money and had a bunch of personal hang-ups and eccentricities that pushed people away. He may have been more brilliant, but he was less personable, and he did not belong to the ethos of his time.
BrokenEchelon
Banned
Tesla. Fuck Edison.
Which is why articles like these are bullshit. If you get into a game of "well X was working on Y the same time as Z, they clearly would have invented Y if Z hadn't been around", then I'm sure Tesla too would be irrelevant to the march of progress.
But these people existed and it's pointless trying to judge them on "what if" scenarios.
Edison ultimately through himself and the people he brought together did a lot more to actually bring about the future. Sometimes that requires not just being brilliant but being canny and a businessman.
Both were brilliant, both contributed greatly, but "there would have been another Edison" ignores that there could have just as easily been another Tesla, too.
Choosing one person as the "mother/father" of an invention or industry often ignores the people who were just behind the curve or just didn't get the word out (such as early automobiles and early flight discoveries.)
Orbis Tabula
Member
Yeah, I'm with you. It's weird how Tesla has got this insane following ever since that comic.
RandyBobandy
Banned
Edison was a thief, so Tesla
cheezcake
Member
Wut, I mean I think a lot of people like to dismiss Edison's impressive work by the fact that he was a colossal douche. But AC power generation and transmission single handedly pushed humanity into a new era.
teruterubozu
Member
What if David Bowie played Edison?
Buggy Loop
Gold Member
AC won the war of the currents in the end, it was easy to implement and produce for the time period. We're losing ~10% of all the electric energy produced on earth with AC though. HVDC transformers are still hard to produce and they costs a lot more, but that cost completely evaporates when you consider the savings in energy you get through the transformer's life, which is on average 25 years. But they'll be used only for HV line transmission. But its not an argument of AC vs DC anymore, its AC and DC working together to optimize the electric grid.
I design all the dielectric insulation for AC oil immersed transformers at a certain place, from what i've heard its a pain in the ass to design for DC, because over a hundred years worth of know-how and easy to predict reactions then turns into fucking witchcraft
I vote Tesla all the way. Edison actually hired Tesla at one point to help him redesign his DC generator and didnt pay Tesla. Edison's a business man.
I design all the dielectric insulation for AC oil immersed transformers at a certain place, from what i've heard its a pain in the ass to design for DC, because over a hundred years worth of know-how and easy to predict reactions then turns into fucking witchcraft
I vote Tesla all the way. Edison actually hired Tesla at one point to help him redesign his DC generator and didnt pay Tesla. Edison's a business man.
Septimus Prime
Member
You mean in the league of some of the best scientific minds of all time?
Tesla made possible the modern world and asked for nothing in return. Edison may or may not have invented things.
Tesla, no contest.
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