Edison vs. Tesla | Work of the World | 2

0:00American History Tellers:Hello, American History Teller listeners. I have an exciting announcement. I'm going on tour and coming to a theater near you. This live show is a thrilling evening of history, storytelling, and music, with a full band accompanying me as we look back to explore the days that made America. And they aren't the days that you might think. Sure, everyone knows July 4th, 1776. We'll be hearing a lot about that date this year. But there are many other days that are maybe even more influential. So come out to see me live. More shows to be announced soon. So for information on tickets and upcoming dates, go to AmericanHistoryLive.com.

0:34American History Tellers:That's AmericanHistoryLive.com. Come see my Days That Made America tour live on stage. Go to AmericanHistoryLive.com.

0:50American History Tellers:Imagine it's late November 1886 in Buffalo, New York. You're a local grain trader, and you usually work long hours managing your business. It's early evening now, and you should be still in your office reviewing the details of your latest shipments. But as darkness fell, you found yourself straining to see your account books in the dim gaslight, so you gave up. Instead, you've joined your friend from the city council to marvel at Buffalo's latest attraction, the newly electrified four-story department store on Main Street. You gape at the dazzling display of electric lights illuminating the inside of the building.

1:25American History Tellers:Well, now, isn't that something? Sure makes a store look beautiful. I'll say, and not only that, it's a sign of our city's growth. Tells the world that Buffalo is open for business, you know. That Mr. Edison certainly is a genius. His lights are astounding. Oh, this isn't Edison's work. You turn to your friend, confused. What do you mean? Well, this may look like Edison, but it's not. In fact, it's better. Better? How's it better? Everyone knows Edison is the genius behind electric lighting. I've heard there are nearly 500 bulbs in that display. Who else could it be? Well, Edison may be a genius, even a wizard, as they say.

2:00American History Tellers:But the lights you see before you were not manufactured by him. I know this. They are courtesy of George Westinghouse. That tycoon from Pittsburgh? That's the one. It's not just railroads he's invested in. From what I've heard, these lights are part of a much bigger endeavor of his. he's developing some new way to generate electricity, they say, better than Edison's. No, come on. Edison's been at this a long time. What does Westinghouse know about electricity? Well, more than you think. I've been reading about the system Westinghouse is backing. It's called alternating current. Apparently, it can carry electricity over much greater distances, and it's more efficient.

2:37American History Tellers:And, you know, as a businessman, I suppose you know what that means. Well, generally, it means it's cheaper. That's right. I'm sure you can see the beauty in that. Well, yeah, maybe, if I got a piece of the pie. Well, I'll let you in on something. Your friend takes your arm and tugs you out to the edge of the bustling crown. A lot of Westinghouse's men came by the other day. This demonstration downtown is just the beginning. He says they intend to light up whole blocks of the business district, even private homes, warehouses like yours down by the waterfront. Well, I'll be. Is that so? Yeah. He's working up a proposal as we speak.

3:14American History Tellers:Maybe Westinghouse isn't Edison, but he is a genius businessman, and he's partnering with smart investors who know what they're doing. I'm telling you, Westinghouse and his boys are the future. Well, I suppose there's going to be an economic benefit for us, too. Hmm. You turn from your friend and stare back at the department store, its lights casting a golden glow on the crowd all around you. You've never seen such a beautiful sight. whoever's behind it has a bright future maybe you do as well

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4:27As America fights for freedom from Britain, Arnold emerges as one of the rebel's greatest generals. But when his loyalty is pushed to the limit, he turns spy and devises a plot to shatter the rebellion and made George Washington a prisoner. Follow The Spy Who now, wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen to the full season of The Spy Who Betrayed the American Revolution early and ad-free on Audible.

4:54American History Tellers:From Audible Originals, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers, our history, your story.

5:18American History Tellers:Shortly after Thanksgiving, 1886, residents of Buffalo, New York, were amazed to see a new and glorious site downtown. Their business district lit up with electric light. Many assumed it was the work of Thomas Edison, the famous inventor who had become synonymous with electrical innovation and technology. But Buffalo's illumination was instead the latest project of George Westinghouse, a prominent industrialist known for his aggressive business style and technological know-how. After Edison introduced his incandescent light in 1879, he and his investors dominated the fast-growing electric market.

5:55American History Tellers:But competitors soon rushed in, and among them was the hard-charging Westinghouse, who founded Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company to begin installing lighting systems to rival Edison's. But still, Westinghouse struggled to catch up. What Westinghouse needed was a technological breakthrough, and it would come from an unlikely source. In 1888, a little-known Serbian immigrant named Nikola Tesla unveiled a revolutionary new design for a system run on a polyphase alternating current, a method of producing electricity that promised to be cheaper, more efficient, and capable of transmitting electricity over far greater distances.

6:33American History Tellers:Westinghouse moved quickly to partner with Tesla, betting that together they could bring Tesla's system to commercial scale and challenge Edison's dominance once and for all. This is Episode 2 of our three-part series, Edison vs. Tesla, Work of the World.

6:52American History Tellers:Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856, in a small village near the Adriatic Sea in what is today Croatia. According to family legend, as his mother labored with him, a vicious thunderstorm raged outside, illuminating the countryside with bright bolts of lightning. The midwife declared he'll be a child of the storm, but his mother responded, no, of light. As soon as he could run, Tesla joined his older brother Dane, chasing sheep, geese, and chickens through the family's yard. But it was an encounter with a family cat that first sparked his interest in science. While stroking its back one evening, Tesla was stunned to see that its hair stood up in what he described as a sheet of light.

7:33American History Tellers:Later, he recalled, My hand produced a shower of sparks loud enough to be heard all over the house. When he asked his father about this mysterious force, his father explained it was electricity, the same phenomenon that lit up the skies during a storm. Fascinated by what he'd seen, Tesla began to read everything he could about electricity and developed a deep interest in engineering and mechanics. But this early sense of wonder was soon overshadowed by tragedy. At just seven years old, Tesla watched in horror as his older brother Dane was trampled and killed by the family's horse. Grief-stricken, Tesla's father became depressed and brooding, so Tesla turned to his mother for comfort.

8:13American History Tellers:She was the creative force in the household, and he often sat with her as she wove intricate patterns and designs with thread and invented tools and devices to help with household chores. Watching her work inspired Tesla and helped to channel his grief and confusion after his brother's death. And while he found comfort with his mother, expectations for his future were already taking shape. Tesla's father and grandfather were both priests in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and and it was expected that young Tesla would eventually join the clergy. But as he grew, his interest in science only deepened.

8:47American History Tellers:In school, Tesla's teachers complimented his intelligence, but warned his parents that he often strayed from his lessons and neglected his homework. And while he appeared to have a photographic memory, he also demonstrated an extreme sensitivity to sound and light, which was so intense that it often provoked anxiety and visions that haunted him at night. At the age of 18, Tesla contracted cholera and was confined to his bed for nine months, at times hovering near death. When he recovered, his parents relented in their expectation that he entered the priesthood and allowed him to take a military scholarship and enroll at a polytechnic university in Graz, Austria.

9:25American History Tellers:Once there, he delighted in his physics and engineering classes. But even as a young university student, Tesla was not satisfied with learning what had already been discovered. He later recalled, One day in 1877, Tesla entered his physics classroom and saw an oddly-shaped machine on the table. It was a new dynamo, or electric generator, invented by the Belgian engineer Zenobe Gram. Gram's generator was the latest development in European electrical innovation. For years, rudimentary electric motors had run on batteries, which provided only limited power. But Gram's new dynamo system demonstrated that motors could also be powered by a continuous generator, and this meant that the power source could be located far away from the motor and then connected by wiring, an innovation which opened up the possibility that electricity could someday be used more widely in factories, businesses, and even homes.

10:22American History Tellers:In his classroom, Tesla watched with fascination as his physics teacher demonstrated Gram's machine. But he noticed that his teacher had trouble with a part of the machine called a commutator. Grom's system, and all others like it, relied on a commutator, which was a rotary electrical switch that helped conduct the flow of electricity. But this component frequently broke down and wasted electrical power due to friction. Tesla recognized the inefficiency of the design right away. He didn't yet know how to solve the problem, but it lodged itself in his mind and refused to let go, drawing more and more of his attention as his studies continued.

10:58American History Tellers:By this time, Tesla had grown to be a tall, wire-thin young man with black hair and a taste for fashionable clothing. And initially, he was a diligent and hard-working student, but over time, he developed a fondness for card-playing and gambling at the local cafes. These social distractions began to take a toll on his studies, and he lost his scholarship. Eventually, he was forced to return home, where an even greater hardship awaited. In 1879, when he was 23, his father died. In the aftermath, his mother encouraged him to quit gambling and return to his studies. Tesla vowed to follow her direction, but without his father's support or a scholarship, he had to abandon formal schooling.

11:39American History Tellers:Needing to earn a living, in 1881, he moved to Budapest, Hungary, where he found a job as a draftsman in a telegraph office. The work offered important hands-on experience with the fast-evolving technology of telegraphy, and while working there, Tesla was frequently called on to help design and install new telegraph lines. But in the meantime, Tesla remained fixated on the problem that had first captured his mind at university, how to improve on Xenogrom's Dynamo. Over time, though, Tesla became increasingly frustrated by his inability to envision a more efficient machine, and his obsession plagued him so intensely that he suffered a nervous breakdown.

12:17American History Tellers:His sensitivity to light and sound also became debilitating. He later reflected, a carriage passing at a distance of a few miles fairly shook my whole body. The whistle of a locomotive 20 or 30 miles away made the bench or chair on which I sat vibrate so strongly the pain was unbearable. Doctors couldn't help him, so he retreated to his room where his mind churned with images of his electric motor design. He became pale and emaciated from lack of sleep until finally a concerned friend intervened.

12:53American History Tellers:Imagine it's a cold February afternoon in 1882 in Budapest. You're a student and part-time telegraph worker, and you finally convince your ailing friend Nikola Tesla to leave his room and take a walk in the city park. You've been worried about his health these past few months, and now you watch with concern as he shuffles along next to you, his face gaunt and his shoulders hunched. Hey, why don't we just take a rest on this bench for a minute? He waves you off. You continue to walk beside him slowly, matching his ambling pace. Okay, but it's still good to see you outside. I don't know how you can stay confined to that tiny room of yours.

13:30American History Tellers:Well, I've been working. On what? You left the office weeks ago. On my design. Ah, yeah, that electric motor thing. You have any sketches of it? Can I see them? Maybe I could help. No, nothing on paper. Well, how are you recording your designs then? Tesla smiles and points to his head. Don't worry, it's all up here. You can't help but smile, too. He's always been an odd character, earnest and sensitive, but you know he's also brilliant. And your shared fascination with electricity has bonded you. But you watch his face as it tightens with tension. I feel the city is assaulting my senses, and my mind won't stop whirling.

14:08American History Tellers:Well, maybe you should take a longer rest, you know? You could go to the seaside. Well, I can't rest. Not until I solve this puzzle, but the final design eludes me. I think you need to focus on your health, or you won't be around to finish the puzzle, or anything else. But Tesla doesn't seem to be listening to a word you say, his eyes fixed on the horizon. It is a beautiful evening sky. The glow retreats, done as the day of toil, and yonder hastes, new fields of life exploring. You recognize this line of poetry from Goethe's Faust. The German poet is Tesla's favorite. and you're happy that for once it looks like your friend is at peace.

14:46American History Tellers:But then suddenly he lunges forward. You move to catch him, afraid he may be fainting, but instead he grabs a wooden stick from the ground and begins drawing furiously in the dirt at your feet. What are you doing? His eyes are intently focused on the ground. This, this is the design that's been filling my mind for the past weeks. This is my motor here. Now watch as I reverse it. He flicks his wrist with a flourish, and you've strained to follow the lines he's furiously tracing in the dirt. Isn't it beautiful? Sublime! I've solved the problem. Now I just need to build the motor and give it to the world.

15:23American History Tellers:I mean, it's entirely new, right? Are you sure it even can be built? Oh, it can be. I'll find a way. Don't you see? No more will men be slaves to hard tasks. My motor will set them free. It will do the work of the world. You stare down at his drawing, trying to see his vision, but you don't grasp all the details. But maybe that doesn't matter, because one thing is certain. Your friend's eyes are blazing with a new sense of passion and purpose.

15:54American History Tellers:In early 1882, while suffering from overwork and exhaustion, Nikola Tesla received an invitation from his friend Anthony Segetti to take a walk in a nearby park in Budapest. Hoping the fresh air would help him regain his strength, Tesla agreed, and it was there in the park, after months of anguish, that the detailed design for his improved electric motor came to him in an instant. As Tesla later recalled, he spontaneously recited some of his favorite lines from the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and, As I uttered these inspiring words, the idea came like a flash of lightning, and in an instant the truth was revealed.

16:31American History Tellers:The images I saw were wonderfully sharp and clear. What Tesla had envisioned was a fundamental redesign of how a motor could be powered by electricity. Instead of relying on the sparking, friction-prone commutators that plagued existing dynamos, his design harnessed a rotating magnetic field to induce electrical current. It was the beginning of what would become a new, more advanced, and practical form of generating alternating current. But even with a design fully mapped out in his mind, Tesla had to translate his vision into a functioning machine. With the help of his friend Segeti, he spent the next few months in Budapest testing and refining the concept.

17:11American History Tellers:But the experimentation was costly and time-consuming, so to make extra money, Tesla returned to work in telegraphy. By this time, Thomas Edison's enterprise had expanded abroad, and Edison's international division was the leading commercial force in electrical power in Europe. Tesla was soon recruited to work at Edison's headquarters in Paris, and there he impressed his bosses with his understanding of electrical engineering and ability to troubleshoot complex problems. Among those who took note of Tesla's unique intelligence was Edison's trusted assistant, Charles Batchelor. Batchelor thought Tesla was a skillful yet eccentric engineer, so paid close attention to his work.

17:51American History Tellers:But while installing and maintaining Edison's power generators, Tesla was struck by their limitations. Unlike alternating current, which periodically reverses direction, Edison's system used direct current, which flowed in just one direction. As a result, the power generated by direct current was limited in distance because as the electrical line stretched farther, resistance caused the power to diminish. This meant that whenever a factory or business wanted to use electricity, a new power station needed to be built nearby, within half a mile, which added cost and time to every new installation.

18:25American History Tellers:But Edison prided himself on direct current safety because it ran on lower voltage than alternating current. But that also meant that extending its range required increasingly thick and expensive copper wiring. Repeatedly, Tesla urged his bosses in the Paris office to consider his proposed modifications to the Grom design, even sharing with them his vision for an improved alternating current model. But his plans, still lacking detail, were dismissed. Edison's staff were satisfied that customers already wanted their direct current design. They were consumed with working through the flaws in the existing system to make it even more commercially viable.

19:01American History Tellers:Meanwhile, Tesla was left to continue to tinker with his AC system on his own in hopes of perfecting it. But as he labored away in Paris, eventually Tesla became convinced that the future of electricity, the innovation, the investment, and the opportunity would be found in America. So in May 1884, with Charles Batchelor's encouragement and a letter of recommendation to work for Edison's U.S. company, Tesla boarded a ship bound for New York. And there, he hoped to tap into the innovation and financial resources to finally make his mark on the world.

19:42The End

20:04They were in it, and if you don't listen to them, then I will cut off your tongue, then cut off your head, and then put the tongue in the head hole. Aw, you tried. Listen now exclusively on Audible and Donald the Audible after day, or off with your head! I'm kidding.

20:27I'm Raza Jaffrey, and in the new season of The Spy Who, they open the file on Benedict Arnold. the spy who betrayed the American Revolution. America is fighting to free itself from the British Empire, and one of its foremost generals is Benedict Arnold. He's a smuggler turned battlefield hero and admired for his aggressive tactics. But when a war wound, a new wife, debts and politics test his loyalty to the mags, he turns spy and devises a plot to shatter the revolution and help Britain capture rebel commander-in-chief General George Washington. And that plot would make him the most infamous traitor in US history.

21:11Follow The Spy Who now, wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen to the full season of The Spy Who Betrayed the American Revolution early and ad-free on Audible.

21:34American History Tellers:On June 6, 1884, 27-year-old Nikola Tesla arrived in New York City with just a few cents in his pocket and a small suitcase of belongings. As he made his way from the harbor through the packed streets of lower Manhattan, he took in the sights and sounds of a city bustling with industry. Workers wheeled heavy carts into warehouses, storefronts advertised their goods, and immigrants from across Europe poured in from the docks, many bound for crowded tenements across the city. As Tesla made his way through these bustling crowds, he took note of the tall wooden posts looming overhead, barely supporting a haphazard network of sagging electrical wires that powered the city's arc lights, telegraph stations, and telephone lines.

22:15American History Tellers:Tesla, accustomed to the refinement of Europe's great cities, was shocked, commenting, What I saw here was machine, rough and unattractive. Is this America? It is a century behind Europe and civilization. But despite Tesla's first impression, America was entering a new era of prosperity. The country was emerging from a recent economic panic, and booming industry was creating a new wealthy class whose fortunes were tied to technology and innovation. Tesla hoped his revolutionary design for electric power would find fertile ground in this new economy. So the day after his arrival, Tesla followed the instructions he'd received from Charles Batchelor and made his way to the Edison Electric Light Company headquarters at 65 Fifth Avenue.

22:58American History Tellers:It was an impressive brownstone with multiple floors, filled with electric chandeliers and lamps. There was housing on the top floor for electricians in training, a workshop for new employees, and a laboratory where seasoned staff worked on refining Edison's latest inventions. And thanks to his exemplary work at the Edison Company in Paris, Tesla arrived with a reference from Charles Batchelor. Still, he knew he had to gain the approval of the big boss himself, and it was here at the New York headquarters that he finally met Edison. The contrast between the two men was striking. Tesla was tall and dapper and spoke with a crisp European accent, while Edison, hard of hearing, shuffled through his workshop wearing a shabby coat and chomping on an unlit cigar.