I.

Introduction

Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), Serbian American physicist, electrical engineer, and inventor. Tesla was one of the great pioneers of the use of alternating current electricity. Alternating current electricity changes in strength cyclically over time and is the type of electricity that power companies supply to homes today (see Electricity: Alternating Currents). Tesla invented the alternating current induction generator, a device that changes mechanical energy into alternating current electricity, and the Tesla coil, a transformer that changes the frequency of alternating current. See also Electric Motors and Generators; Transformer.