The Master of Lightning

Sometimes I think about the people that have contributed to humankind's evolution, either with their courage and determination or with their unbounded creativity. One of the men, of recent history, that is rarely given due credit for how much he modernized the way we live today is the inventor Nicola Tesla (1856 - 1943).

Tesla, the electrical engineering genius, had over 800 patents most of which are still undisclosed today. One of his most remarkable inventions is the very thing that enables you to read these lines right now, the alternating-current. Tesla had plans to broadcast electricity wirelessly worldwide but his project was dismantled when the US government discovered that electricity could not be metered this way.

To find out more about the incredible inventions of this man watch the PBS documentary - Nicola Tesla - Master of Lightning. Or The Secret of Nicola Tesla to which the following clip belongs.