(7) Nikola Tesla
Not since Benjamin Franklin has one man’s name been so inextricably linked to electricity. Tesla’s major breakthroughs, including the rotating magnetic field, made the alternating current we use in our homes possible. His Tesla coil was a key part of early radios. He’s still revered as a god among electrical engineering fans, and he might just have been the most important inventor of the 20th century.
(10) Alexander Graham Bell
Bell was born to make some sort of breakthrough in the world of talking. He came from a long line of respected experts on elocution, so he had an innate gift of gab. With his invention of the telephone, Bell enabled everyone to practice enunciating with audiences hundreds of miles away, effectively changing communication forever and opening the door for the 900-number industry to flourish.
The Breakdown
Sure, having a phone is nice, but Tesla’s alternating current gives us electricity in our homes. Tesla could be ripe for a minor upset, though, if his fans are looking ahead to a second-round matchup with his old rival Edison. Wouldn’t that be shocking?
[poll=31]
[See the whole bracket here.]
Comments (13)
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Tesla is overrated, Bell is underrated.
posted by Rey on 3-20-2009 at 12:44 pm
Bell is overrated, Tesla is underrated.
Now we are back to even. Anybody else got anything more;)
posted by Rich on 3-20-2009 at 1:29 pm
This will be long … sorry!
Bell should also be credited with inventing an early version of the MRI. President James A. Garfield had been shot and had lingered for a month with the bullet wound. Doctors had been unable to find the bullet, and Garfield was dying.
Bell brought to the doctors an experiment he was working on. He passed magnets above and below the bed on which the president lay, but the only feedback he got was steady static. He went back to the lab and shot a pig carcass, passed the magnets around the pig, and pinpointed the bullet easily. He tried again with the president, and again failed. He went back to his lab, shot another pig carcass, this time with a penny, and found the penny in the pig, no problem. Took the machine back to the president, and failed a third time, still getting nothing but steady static. So he decided the machine was useless and abandoned it.
What Bell didn’t know was the the president, for his comfort, was lying on the newly-invented inner spring mattress.
posted by Southern Buddhist on 3-20-2009 at 1:56 pm
Bell is overrated. If he had not been born, there were at least two others who would have invented the phone in the same time frame he did.
When Tesla made his contributions there was no one even close to matching his inventions.
posted by Bradley on 3-20-2009 at 2:15 pm
The kids love Tesla. He was the underdog and a bit mentally unstable, a true icon for the counter-culture. Plus, he was played by David Bowie in Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige. Batman and Bowie?! As they say on the street: “ice”.
posted by Lynn on 3-20-2009 at 3:59 pm
Bell didn’t invent the telephone. He stole the invention. Unless you’re a revisionist or a Canadian (I don’t know which is worse), you no longer should credit Bell with the invention.
Elisha Gray, still not better than Tesla, should be on this page instead. See wiki for more on Elisha Gray.
posted by Nathan Miller on 3-20-2009 at 4:26 pm
Tesla all the way. A 7 seed is a major snub!
Basically, what Nathan said. Minus the jab at Canada. I mean, who could stay mad at cute little Canada??
posted by Sean on 3-20-2009 at 11:58 pm
I agree with Rey there. Tesla’s too overrated, does not contribute to the advancement of humanity & civilization as a great inventor should, and has mental problems. I mean, he didn’t invent anything significant at all. Here in the Philippines, if you showed an educated man these two scientist, he or she will point Bell & not Tesla. Bell is known around the world as a famous inventor. Tesla instead is known in every country in the world except the US and Serbia as a mad dillusional crackpot with mental problems.
posted by Karl on 3-21-2009 at 4:40 am
Go to Wikipedia and look at the ‘known for’ section on the right under the picture. Bell is only credited as the inventor (read: thief) of the telephone. Tesla? only 17 items he is known for. Insignificant things, like the alternating current that’s most likely being pumped into your home at this moment. Bell got the benefit of being in every middle-school history book, but this is about genius, not fame.
posted by Sean on 3-21-2009 at 8:52 am
its a toss up… but tesla had a rock band named after him… so that was the closer
posted by nomadfarmer on 3-21-2009 at 12:26 pm
not even close! tesla has done things with electricity that still havent been duplicated to this day! light bulbs with no wires? lighting up a theater using only dinner plates?!!? walking through millions of volts of electricity? tesla was way too complex for this world to handle. he would still be unappreciated today.
posted by Jah on 3-21-2009 at 6:19 pm
Bell had help or used his helpers to invent. He solely put his name on all the patents. Tesla was/is way underrated. His patents and inventions speak for himself. Others, who are jealous, will never acknowledge his achievements. Mr. Weir will be written down in history as the inventor of the “Quantum” battery. :)
posted by eelect_tron on 6-30-2011 at 10:24 pm
Both people was a genius, but yes i think Tesla, like all East European inventor is underrated.
posted by Nordsmetal on 10-17-2011 at 11:15 am