Electricity has become an essential commodity to all human beings living in the world now. It has become a measure of wealth and development of a country. Sri Lanka should be proud that 90% of our household population uses electricity for their daily needs. This number is a very high figure compared to the same in some other Asian countries. In the more affluent countries such as the USA and Canada, no permit will be issued to any residence, if there is no provision for a supply of electricity - at least a local source must be available. Hence we are aware that electricity is one of the most important basic living requirements of any country.

As engineers in the field of Electricity, do we ever stop to wonder who discovered this wonderful source of energy? Electricity has in fact always existed naturally and waiting to be discovered and harnessed to enhance the quality of human life. Over the years, pioneers in the field of science have made great strides to explore the mysteries of nature and in their attempts, discovered electricity, its applications and usefulness. This discovery led to the invention of appliances such as motors, electric bulbs, dynamos, batteries and so forth.

It is interesting to note that in various engineering disciplines, numerous units, and formulae and theories are named or denoted by the persons who invented or discovered these entities and theories. For instance, potential difference in a circuit is measured in volts to honor Alessandro Volta who invented the battery. Resistance of a circuit is measured in ohms to honor Georg Simon Ohm who formulated the Ohm’s Law. Andre Ampere, Michael Faraday, James Watt are others whose names are remembered by various theories they formulated or units of measuring electricity that bear their names. These scientists and inventors contributed immensely to make electricity the wonder power it is today.

Over the centuries there have been many discoveries and inventions based on electricity. Names of two of its greatest pioneers and inventors stand out foremost as we think of electricity in the modern world. They are Thomas Alva Edison and Nicola Tesla. On a personal note, as an Electrical Engineer in Canada for the last 15 years and having been a participant at many seminars, training sessions and workshops in all three North American Countries, there was no meeting of professionals in this field that commenced without mentioning these two great scientists – Edison and Tesla. It is no exaggeration to state that everyone engaged in the electrical industry today, honor and revere these two scientists. I am greatly inspired by the life and the legacies of these two scientists. This is what led me to research further and this article is the result of my study.

Edison and Tesla were both born in the same era. Edison was born in 1847 in the USA and Tesla in 1856 in Croatia (formerly Yugoslavia). By some strange quirk of fate these two super minds met when Tesla migrated to the USA in 1884. Edison was already a Scientist, Inventor and Businessman and had to his credit the development of the DC powered electric light bulb, which made him a popular figure then, as he is even now. He installed this electrical bulb for the first ever commercial electrical system in street lighting with his DC generator which was also invented by him. In 1882, Edison switched on the first ever-electrical distribution system providing DC power with 110V to 99 customers. This distribution system was located in Pearl Street of lower Manhattan. This station provided light and electricity to customers within one square mile only.

When Nicola Tesla migrated to the USA he joined Edison’s Machine Works, a company that was focused on marketing and financial activities of the electrical items that Edison had invented. Hired by Edison, Nicola Tesla worked together with Edison for a while, but their personalities were widely different making it impossible for them to work in unison.

Tesla worked under Edison in the beginning. Tesla was a genius yet he had poor marketing and financial skills. Edison thought Tesla would become a threat to his career since Tesla was criticizing Edison’s DC systems and their limitations and inefficiency. History says that Tesla had been asked by Edison to improve the DC system further and he did it successfully by solving the company’s most difficult problems. With these different personalities and conflicting business and scientific activities, Tesla and Edison parted ways and Tesla joined a company run by a wealthy businessman named George Westinghouse.

Here, given a free hand by Westinghouse who recognized Tesla’s skills, Tesla worked untiringly on his ideology of inventing another system called the Alternating Current or AC system. Prior to the AC system is invented, Edison’s DC system was the standard mechanism used in the USA, and Edison did not want to lose his patent that he had acquired for the DC system.

A few years later, Tesla succeeded in inventing the system for alternative current generators, motors and transformers and it became clear that AC is the future of electric power distribution. The main drawbacks of the DC distribution system invented by Edison was then evident, as it could not be distributed to a larger area. Tesla’s AC system overcame this drawback of the DC system as it was more efficient with its ability to distribute to a larger range of customers through transformation.

With these two great inventions, Edison has been fondly named as Mr. DC and Tesla as Mr.AC. Edison being the shrewd businessman that he was, had much money invested into his DC system and he tried his best to discredit Tesla by highlighting that the AC system was more dangerous than the DC System. They became rivals and the Cold War Battle between them was named as the “War of Currents” in the electrical engineering world. Both Edison and Tesla are so well known in the Electrical Engineering world that numerous video clips on them have been created – often hilarious showing the funny side of this great duo.

Edison was known as a great experimenter and inventor but lacked in mathematical skills. It is said that he invented the light bulb after more than 900 trials. He was almost deaf throughout his life but was a successful American inventor and a businessman. Edison developed many devices and held more than a thousand patents. Edison being the older of the two and also a powerful figure who focused mostly on marketing of his discoveries appeared to the world at large as a more popular and recognized figure than Nicola Tesla.

Tesla in contrast, was a great mathematician and a brilliant scientist - a true genius. He was an electrical engineer as well as a mechanical engineer with the skills and knowledge that helped him invent the first AC motor and the generator.

Edison died in 1931 in New Jersey at the age of 84. Many communities, corporations throughout the entire world dimmed their lights or briefly turned off their power system to honor him and commemorate his passing. Tesla the more innovative, creative genius of the two, was at a disadvantage due to being commercially out-of-tune and often helpless in his efforts. Although Tesla did work intermittently in business ventures he never had the will to succeed in financial enterprises. This was a man who found happiness in his creative tasks rather than accruing money for his efforts. Thus, Nicola Tesla died in 1943 at the age of 86 in New York City - a poor man with no money to his name but left a glorious legacy of fame and his name. In honor of Tesla, a coil he himself invented had been named as the Tesla coil which is in use even today in radio transmission.

Regardless of this battle of the brains – titled the “War of Currents” between them in their time, we as electrical engineers respect and value them both as pioneers and giants of the two electrical engineering systems: AC and DC systems which are widely used in all kinds of equipment, systems, networks in both electrical and electronic engineering.

However, AC and the DC systems are not the only outcomes facilitated by these two remarkable scientists. Edison held more than 1000 patents including ones for the phonograph, motion picture camera, printing telegraph instruments, and electric locomotive set, a few to mention here. Likewise Tesla held more than 300 patents, including patents for the electric magnetic motor, electric meter, tesla turbine, electric circuit controller, and a few apparatus for electrical transmissions. All these inventions became popular in the same era, but independently and simultaneously, as each great mind trying to outwit the other.

Since it appears they worked with some kind of rivalry between them, they achieved and invented much more than if they had worked together. I believe that this completive attitude between them has promoted more discoveries and inventions which are for the benefit of all humankind.

It is interesting to note that Nicola’s genius is more respected than Edison’s entrepreneurship in North America. It is said that Tesla had the last bit of genius that Edison did not possess. However, these two pioneers are remembered by the world as the two scientists who banished the darkness of the world.