Perhaps more than any other individual, Nikola Tesla was responsible for developing the AC (alternating current) system of power supply that provides the world with electricity. A prolific inventor of keen intelligence and exceptional insight, Tesla patented more than 700 inventions in his lifetime.

Born on July 10, 1856, in Smijan, Croatia, Tesla was the son of a clergyman about whom little is known. Tesla may have acquired his knack for inventing from his mother. Although illiterate, she was a clever person who invented numerous implements for use at home and on the farm.

Tesla studied mathematics and engineering at the University of Graz and philosophy at the University of Prague. From the start, he was especially interested in electricity, and in 1881 he took a job as an electrical engineer in Paris, where he designed equipment and repaired power systems. It was around this time that Tesla first developed the polyphase...