Tesla V Edison. How Much Is True?

[flobadob]

I was reading this web page which is basically disparaging Thomas Edison and claiming that Nikolas Tesla was a complete and absolute genius. Does anyone know if the claims made in this are true or just internet based bullarky?

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla

[paddywak]

I think it's probably just a case of two brilliant guys working in similar fields each having there own supporters shouting for their own man.

[LazyGun]

As paddy says - Seems no doubt that Tesla was innovative and brilliant, but both these guys made their names in a fledgling industry of enormous importance to human civilisation, where there were many others also trying to make their name as well.

Tesla has, in more recent years, become the darling of pop and comic culture, and all of that feeds into this idea of some sort of conspiracy.

The reality is that it is Teslas legacy that triumphed over Edison, since AC power transmission has been adopted as the method of choice over Edisons original DC power transmission program.

It is also documented that Edison got up to some pretty unpalatable tricks in order to smear AC as a viable system, even staging a publicity stunt around the execution of a murderer - which went wrong.

Wiki has a fascinating page on this background stuff -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents#Edison.27s_publicity_campaign

[Peter Pedant]

Yes [ or No]
Tesla was certainly a genius

but Edison was much much better in getting the innovations onto the market (and making himself mucho mucho moolah)

in the 1880s Edison had a 1000 techs/researchers in his lab(s) all beavering away making inventions and enabling E to patent inventions which he did at an incredible rate


it is therefore not surprsing that E was able to smother any opposition

[plowter]

Wasn't Edison responsible for inventing the electric chair (AC) because he wanted to demonstrate that Tesla's AC was more dangerous than DC?

[beso]

Westinghouse was Tesla's backer on the AC system.

I heard that Edison wanted the death sentence changed to being called "sentenced to Westinghouse"

[flobadob]

EdisonSo, as the link suggests, maybe Edison was a bit of a douche.

[LazyGun]

From what I have read of Edison, he sounded smart, driven, ruthless and ambitious.

We will often judge historical figures by looking at them through the lens of hindsight, effected as it is by things like modern culture, so I think the label douche might be a little strong..

Although using a public execution as a PR stunt in an effort to smear an opponents product is amoral behaviour, to say the least...