African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 627 - 305 Nikola Tesla
With strong support from East Africa, Soga City has been developing steadily over the past few years. As for rapid development, that’s unlikely; the houses built by the East African government have not yet been fully allocated. Only three blocks have been filled, mostly by workers and service personnel who maintain the city’s operations.
This is quite normal, as East Africa is not well-known on the international stage. Researchers from various countries either choose to work in their own countries, attach themselves to the Five Great Powers—Britain, Germany, France, Austria, Russia—or consider other European countries. Some go to the United States, the land of entrepreneurs.
So, by 1881, Soga City had only attracted just over a thousand researchers and experts. Anyone with a university degree from Europe could be recruited by East Africa.
As for East African overseas students, they are quite different. The East African student group has government quota allocations, which is like taking a shortcut, and it’s hard to say if they can become successful.
However, given East Africa’s current level of science and technology, there’s a high probability that the group of overseas students will become pillars of East Africa in the future.
This point can be seen with the students from the Far Eastern Empire. Although the Far Eastern Empire’s student quota is much smaller than East Africa’s and is just a fraction, it has produced a large number of outstanding talents—of course, from Ernst’s perspective in a former life.
Compared to Soga City’s lukewarm talent introduction plan, the establishment of four universities has boosted the city’s popularity.
The East African National Power University is the most noteworthy, being the only university in East Africa that can compare in strength with other European universities.
This is mainly reflected in its faculty, backed by the Heixinggen Electricity Company, so the East African National Power University does not lack faculty.
This is because Heixinggen Electricity Company is one of the world’s giants in the electricity field, gathering a group of top electrical experts of this era under its wing.
With the support of Heixinggen Electricity Company, East African National Power University can easily hire European experts and scholars in the electricity field for teaching.
Among them, the young scholar Nikola Tesla is one such individual. Tesla is currently just an unknown figure in Europe.
However, he enjoys exceptional treatment in East Africa. As a consequence, he has also lost his freedom, as his family has already moved to Soga City and, barring any accidents, they are tied to East Africa for the future.
As for how Tesla was brought into East Africa’s fold, there is really nothing particularly noteworthy.
Tesla is a Croatian from the Austria-Hungary Empire, where the most powerful electricity company is Heixinggen Electricity Company.
Unlike Germany, which also has Siemens vying with Heixinggen Electricity Company, in Austria-Hungary, Heixinggen Electricity Company dominates.
So, students and scholars in related fields in Austria-Hungary inevitably have dealings with Heixinggen Electricity Company.
Thus, the young Tesla naturally made contact with Heixinggen Electricity Company. Back in 1875, he entered Graz University of Technology in Austria, studying physics, mathematics, and mechanics, and achieved excellent results, receiving a scholarship from the Austrian "Military Border Authorities."
Guided by Professor Boesel, who taught theoretical and experimental physics, Tesla was drawn to the field of electricity. However, in his second year, the "Military Border Authorities" withdrew the scholarship, and Tesla faced the crisis of dropping out, as his family wasn’t wealthy—relatively speaking. If he couldn’t cover his tuition, he would have to attend the more affordable Prague University.
Of course, this is past history. In this timeline, things changed after his excellent performance as Professor Boesel’s student; upon learning of his plight,
Professor Boesel recommended him to Heixinggen Electricity Company’s Vienna branch, where he secured a scholarship.
However, the condition was that he would be secured by East Africa in the future—a routine measure East Africa uses to attract talent.
Thus, after graduating with outstanding grades, Tesla was directly included in East Africa’s talent acquisition list, which Ernst personally reviewed each year.
As there weren’t many researchers to be absorbed into East Africa, it didn’t take much effort from Ernst, and he naturally noticed Tesla on the list. Consequently, this young graduate became a key focus of the East African government, directly joining East African National Power University as a professor, equipped with a lab and assistants, which was certainly an overwhelming honor for Tesla.
Apart from giving Tesla the green light, Ernst didn’t take any other actions, as the path had already been paved. Whether Tesla could achieve his previous life’s accomplishments was left to fate.
Besides teaching in East Africa, Tesla mainly focused on researching alternating current. During his studies at Graz University of Technology, he had already begun contemplating a machine to replace the direct current motor.
Upon arriving in East Africa and requesting approval "easily" granted by the East African government, he began to realize his initial ideas.
"Good morning, Mr. Tesla. Are you still researching your alternating current?"
"Yes, Professor Kael. I believe alternating current will eventually be promoted as widely as direct current. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but having more options is also beneficial for East Africa."
"Direct current has a constant current direction or magnitude, whereas alternating current varies over time. Both are commonly used in society. The typical application of direct current is in batteries, which allow many appliances to function."
"An additional advantage of alternating current is that it can be stepped up or stepped down, which is useful for transmission and more efficient generation. Equipment used in production is simpler and more convenient, in contrast to direct current, which has no obvious advantages in these areas. Additionally, converting it to direct current is convenient, whereas converting direct current to alternating current is more troublesome."
"Currently, factories use direct current for generation, but direct current easily dissipates during power transmission through wires, and efficiency is poor. The direct current system requires a power station every square mile, and due to large transmission losses, the transmission distance is very limited."
"In contrast, the alternating current system uses thinner wires with higher voltage, resulting in lower transmission losses, longer transmission distances, lower infrastructure investment, and cheaper electricity. Clearly, alternating current has more advantages. With East Africa’s vast territory and long-distance transmission needs, my project has already received strong support from the government; they’ve even provided me the best laboratory and assistants."
Professor Kael, as a botanist, didn’t understand much about this but still posed a question: "So you’re paving a new path on top of the traditional one, is that correct?"
"Not to that extent. It’s more like new branches growing on the main trunk of a big tree, essentially continuing to advance on the shoulders of predecessors," Tesla modestly replied.
"But I must remind you, direct current has been used for nearly a hundred years; it might not be so easily replaced by your alternating current,"
Tesla said, "Since 1660, when the German scientist Otto von Guericke built the first electrostatic generator and was hailed as the ’Father of Modern Electricity,’ the study of electricity officially began. Up to now, electricity has developed into a new industry that can drive societal progress, and its importance is not less than that of the invention and improvement of the steam engine. Thus, the research on electricity is ongoing and endless."
