Jim Gigliotti - Who Was Nikola Tesla?

Nikola Tesla was seven years old on the day the people of Gospi, in what is now modern-day Croatia, received a brand-new fire pump. The town had organized a fire department for the very first time. The firefighters trained hard to learn to work together. But it was the fire pump that everyone wanted to see. It was a really big deal. The pump let firefighters move water from the local river and direct it onto flames, in order to put out fires quickly.

The leaders of the town organized a celebration to show off the fire pump. Everyone in Gospi (say: GAH-spich) put on their best Sunday clothes. They gathered around when the machine was brought down to the river. There was a ceremony, and several people gave speeches. Then came the big moment: a demonstration to show how the pump could spray water.

The new machine was painted black and red. It needed sixteen men to work it. They took their positions, turned on the hose, and... nothing! No water came out. The pump didnt work!

None of the grown-ups was sure what to do. But young Nikola (say: NEEK-oh-la) had an idea. I know what to do, mister, he told one of the men in charge. You keep pumping. Nikola jumped into the water and felt for the hose. There was no pressure. He tried to picture the reason in his mind. He thought something might be blocking it.

Quickly, Nikola found the problem. The hose had bent sharply in one spot and stopped the pressure from pushing the water out. He straightened out the line, and water surged through the hose! The crowd cheered. Many of the people got wet! But they didnt mind. Nikola was a hero. They carried him on their shoulders.

Before Nikola jumped into the river that day in the early 1860s, he didnt know anything about fire pumps or water pressure. He just knew there was some reason the machine was not working properlyand he knew he could figure out a way to fix it.

Nikola never lost his gift for figuring things out. He grew up to be one of the most important inventors in the history of the world! He helped create the technology that led to radios and remote-control devices. He imagined cell phones and the Internet many years before anyone heard of such things. He created a motor that helped power machines around the world. And he is most famous for helping to bring electricity into homes everywhere.

Nikola had a talent for picturing a problem in his mind and figuring out a way to fix it. Luckily for us, he loved to develop new and better ways of making things work.

CHAPTER 1

Learning Experiences

Young Nikola Tesla was a very smart boy who one day did something not very smart: He tried to fly. He went out to the barn at his familys farm carrying an umbrella. He climbed to the roof of the barn, opened the umbrella, and jumped off. Not surprisingly, Nikola fell directly to the ground with a thud. Fortunately, he didnt break any bones. He spent several weeks recovering from the fall. Then he was as good as new.

Nikola wasnt even six years old at the time. There was no such thing as an airplane then. He didnt know about gravity or lift or the forces that allow things to fly. He didnt know it was not possible to fly simply by holding an umbrella in the air! The only thing Nikola knew was that he could picture himself floating through the air with his umbrella. And if he could picture something in his mind, he believed he could make it work.

The Tesla family farm where Nikola tried to fly that day was in a village known as Smiljan. Thats where Nikola had been born in 1856. Smiljan is in what is now known as the country of Croatia. But Nikolas family was Serbian. Serbia is a neighboring country.

Nikolas father was Milutin (say: mil-YOU-tin), the priest in the local Serbian Orthodox Church. Orthodox priests can be married and have children. Milutin wanted Nikola to be a priest just like he was. Nikolas mother was named Djouka (say: DYOH-kah). She ran the family farm and had never gone to school. Djouka had never even learned to read or write. Her mother had become blind when Djouka was still a young girl andas the eldest daughter in the familyshe took over running the household. There had been no time for school.

But Djouka was a very intelligent woman who had an incredible memory. Word for word, she could remember stories from the Bible and poems she had heard. Her husband was an educated man who wrote poetry, owned many books, and spoke German and Italian in addition to his native Serbian-Croatian language. Milutin probably recited many of his books to her.

Djouka worked tirelessly from dawn until dark around the farm. She often used tools that she invented herself, such as a mechanical eggbeater. I must trace to my mothers influence whatever inventiveness I possess, Nikola once wrote.