AHC: Improve Tesla Viewed Legacy
- Thread starter Ganon
- Start date
Have the press expose Edison as a sham, maybe. His 'thousand invention' count consisted almost entirely of modifiations and inventions he scammed off his employees. Perhaps if Tesla read the fine print in his contract and gave him the finger, he might have ended up in better working conditions elsewhere and a better reputation. And might have run Edison out of business.
Tesla's reputation (these days) is massively overrated.
Sure, he made some great advances, and sure he got trampled by Edison's PR machine, but...
Edison's numerous advances was a direct result of his famous 'genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration' motto. He had a think-factory, as it were, that came up with ideas, and tested multiple variants to see what worked best.
The comment above that he stole employees' ideas reflects a feature, not bug. Those employees wouldn't have been paid to work on advances if Edison hadn't provided the setting.
Tesla was probably brighter than Edison - but he was also far less stable. A lot of his ideas (especially his later ones) were just wild fantasy and would never have worked.
So... Getting AC, for instance, in place sooner, and associated more with Tesla, that would be possible. But keeping him sane/focussed would have helped a lot.
Sure, he made some great advances, and sure he got trampled by Edison's PR machine, but...
Edison's numerous advances was a direct result of his famous 'genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration' motto. He had a think-factory, as it were, that came up with ideas, and tested multiple variants to see what worked best.
The comment above that he stole employees' ideas reflects a feature, not bug. Those employees wouldn't have been paid to work on advances if Edison hadn't provided the setting.
Tesla was probably brighter than Edison - but he was also far less stable. A lot of his ideas (especially his later ones) were just wild fantasy and would never have worked.
So... Getting AC, for instance, in place sooner, and associated more with Tesla, that would be possible. But keeping him sane/focussed would have helped a lot.
unprincipled peter
Donor
Dathi
no disagreement at all regarding Edison's invention model. However, the common perception is of him as a genius toiling away in the lab, creating and inventing, which was likely the case early on in his career. Folks have extrapolated that out to cover all his inventions/patents. The more correct view should be of him as an inventor turned savvy businessman who set up the lab and then had his name added to the patents. He was likely somewhat involved, but also likely was not a huge contributor to a lot of the creation process on a lot of the inventions/patents accredited to him, especially the further in life he advanced. that isn't a bad thing. My livelihood is in a direct descendant of Menlo Park (his first research think tank/lab). It's how almost all R&D is done these days. But, the notion of Edison spending his life in the lab is seriously flawed. too simplistic to say he ripped off/took credit for the work of others. too simplistic to think he did the lions share of the invention after the think tank was set up.
no disagreement at all regarding Edison's invention model. However, the common perception is of him as a genius toiling away in the lab, creating and inventing, which was likely the case early on in his career. Folks have extrapolated that out to cover all his inventions/patents. The more correct view should be of him as an inventor turned savvy businessman who set up the lab and then had his name added to the patents. He was likely somewhat involved, but also likely was not a huge contributor to a lot of the creation process on a lot of the inventions/patents accredited to him, especially the further in life he advanced. that isn't a bad thing. My livelihood is in a direct descendant of Menlo Park (his first research think tank/lab). It's how almost all R&D is done these days. But, the notion of Edison spending his life in the lab is seriously flawed. too simplistic to say he ripped off/took credit for the work of others. too simplistic to think he did the lions share of the invention after the think tank was set up.