Who is cooler: Tesla or Edison?

[Gamerlord]

Tesla IMHO.
This article (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704362004575000841720318942.html) got me thinking, so lets have a vote, who is cooler?

Tesla: 49 vote
Edison: 1 votes
Faraday: 4 vote
Dawkins: 2 vote
Newton 1 vote

[The Extinguisher]

Tesla.

http://www.harkavagrant.com/history/teslafinal.png

[Etcetera]

Tesla. No contest. He had a cooler name and more science fiction/steampunk technologies could be "designed" from his work. Plus, he has an Eastern European name (Croatian).

[Dallas-Dakota]

Tesla .

[drengnikrafe]

Tesla. Hands down.

[Cobra_Ikari]

There is so Edison. There is only TESLA!

...sides, wasn't Edison supposed to be a jerk and an intellectual thief?

[Gamerlord]

There is so Edison. There is only TESLA!

...sides, wasn't Edison supposed to be a jerk and an intellectual thief?

Eidson also electrocuted animals, and was a hypocrite.

[reorith]

Tesla above all.

[Murska]

Did Edison make a death ray? No? Thought so.

Tesla.

[Catch]

It didn't help that Edison was wrong. AC voltage is no more dangerous then DC - it's the current that is deadly. High voltage normally means high current, so it doesn’t matter what version of voltage it is.

[Gamerlord]

Guess it is true that Edison is "so last century". :smalltongue:

[RobotPerfomance]

I am going to have to go with Tesla he was just more crazy awsome

[wxdruid]

I'll go with Tesla. :smalltongue:

[GrlumpTheElder]

Tesla!! Why?
Because
http://www.thinkin-lincoln.com/index.php?strip_id=404
http://www.thinkin-lincoln.com/index.php?strip_id=405

[thubby]

tesla made a machine that shoots lightning...
is this really any contest?

[Gamerlord]

Edison is probably rolling in his grave and spewing expletives by now :smalltongue: .

[Comet]

I was nearly going to vote for Edison just to be different and unique.
Then I remembered how awesome Tesla really is.
My vote goes for Tesla.

[BisectedBrioche]

It didn't help that Edison was wrong. AC voltage is no more dangerous then DC - it's the current that is deadly. High voltage normally means high current, so it doesn’t matter what version of voltage it is.

He only really said that because his competitor was using it.

[Mystic Muse]

Is that Grigori Rasputin talking to Abe lincoln there?

[Eldan]

Teeeeeslaaaa!

I mean, seriously.

[Sneak]

Oh, come on. You didn't expect this to be a real contest, did you? Tesla is practically a deity of geek.

[Mystic Muse]

and oh yeah. Edison.

[Athaniar]

Tesla, of course.

[Starscream]

Definitely Tesla. Edison was said to be actually kind of a jerk.

[Blas_de_Lezo]

Every nerd knows Tesla kicks Ed's ass :smallbiggrin:

[Gamerlord]

Definitely Tesla. Edison was said to be actually kind of a a big fat jerk.

Fixed it for you. :smalltongue:

[Keshay]

Tesla on Edison:

If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. ... I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor.

And from our friends at The Onion (http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/thomas_edison_invents)

Also, Tesla was great friends with Mark Twain, Edison had no friends. That tells you something of each man.

[Slayn82]

Tesla, of course.

And Genius, the Transgression puts HIM on the evil group. The nerve...

[chiasaur11]

Tesla.

Edison gets some points for teaming up with Roosevelt to fight Hitler on Mars, but he was dead then. Tesla was awesome while still alive.

[Mystic Muse]

(I was just kidding about Edison. I don't know enough about Tesla to make an objective decision though)

[Gamerlord]

(I was just kidding about Edison. I don't know enough about Tesla to make an objective decision though)
Tesla built a doom ray, and a gun that shoots lightning, and invented modern-day electricity, etc.
Link to wikipedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla)

[Ikialev]

Tesla has a cooler name, and he did NOT invent the electric chair.

[Mauve Shirt]

Did you really think you'd get any support for Edison on a message board of nerds? :smalltongue: Tesla, btw.

[Comet]

Ooh, I'm pretty sure Tesla had a grand adventure on Mars with Grigori Rasputin, Sigmund Freud, Marie Curie and Buffalo Bill among others that I can't remember just now.

Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams. It's definetly made of pure win.
So my vote has been changed from Tesla to Tesla. On Mars.

[Lord Blace]

Did you really think you'd get any support for Edison on a message board of nerds? :smalltongue: Tesla, btw.

Agreed, and I'll toss my vote Tesla's way too.

Didn't he find some way to transmit electricity wireless over... 6 miles? And scientists have JUST figured out how to do it for 15 feet? Or something? I think I read that somewhere. Maybe I'll try to find it.

[Emperor Ing]

Tesla, for 1 reason and 1 reason only

Death Ray :smallbiggrin:

[Flickerdart]

This comparison is unfair: one of the competitors has an unfair advantage in that he is Nikola Tesla.

[Blas_de_Lezo]

Didn't he find some way to transmit electricity wireless over... 6 miles? And scientists have JUST figured out how to do it for 15 feet? Or something? I think I read that somewhere. Maybe I'll try to find it.

Yes. He did. But I think the "sponsors" of that invention destroyed the device, because Tesla wanted to give free electric energy to everyone, but they wanted to make profit out of it, so they just destroyed it.

[chiasaur11]

Ooh, I'm pretty sure Tesla had a grand adventure on Mars with Grigori Rasputin, Sigmund Freud, Marie Curie and Buffalo Bill among others that I can't remember just now.

Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams. It's definetly made of pure win.
So my vote has been changed from Tesla to Tesla. On Mars.

Warren Spector was there too.

On the other hand, at some point Edison. Roosevelt, and the time machine teamed up with The Amazing Joy Buzzards, the best band of all time, to recover a toupee made of Samson's hair before Frankenstein's monster, Eskimos, or Sweeney Todd can get it, so that was rad.

Then again, Tesla's adopted son wrote "Stephan Hawking is a Bastard" on Mars in giant letters, so that's one for him.

So, yeah. Tesla. Even if Edison's adventure on Mars was a bit more awesome.

[Hell Puppi]

This comparison is unfair: one of the competitors has an unfair advantage in that he is Nikola Tesla.

He was also David Bowie

http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2006_The_Prestige/2006_the_prestige_021.jpg


I vote TEEESSSLAAAAA!!!

[Flickerdart]

Yes. He did. But I think the "sponsors" of that invention destroyed the device, because Tesla wanted to give free electric energy to everyone, but they wanted to make profit out of it, so they just destroyed it.
You know who else knew a way to give free electric energy to everyone?
http://earthfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/force-lighning.jpg

[Icewalker]

My friend and I named the (rather mad) scientist character in our novels after him. Actually, I think it technically is him, seeing as it's an alternate history. Bit more ridiculous though.

[Gamerlord]

30.FRIGGIN VOTES.

Tesla pretty much wins.

[Tirian]

This is related to why the American side of Niagara Falls is cooler than the Canadian side. On the Canadian side, there are casinos and wax museums as far as the eye can see. On the American side, you can get a picture of yourself sitting in Nikolai Tesla's lap (http://www.flickr.com/photos/69159674@N00/2446254447). So he's like Santa except with a death ray.

[Toastkart]

Tesla all the way.

[Mystic Muse]

like Santa except with a death ray.

Is there any part of this not to like?:smallconfused:

[Alteran]

It didn't help that Edison was wrong. AC voltage is no more dangerous then DC - it's the current that is deadly. High voltage normally means high current, so it doesn’t matter what version of voltage it is.

No, that's actually true. The fluctuations in current direction make the electricity more effective at interfering with the normal electrical signals that control the beating of the heart, when compared to a steady (direct) current. However, in practice it doesn't actually matter. Both AC and DC systems would use high enough currents to be deadly.

Also, Tesla.

[Temotei]

Nikola Tesla for the win!

Also: In Fallout 3, there's a skill book named after him (Nikola Tesla and You) that raised your energy weapons skill. DEATH RAY! :smallbiggrin:

[Lupy]

TESLA!!! *rawr*

[OverdrivePrime]

C'mon, now. Tesla's even got his own entry in Badass of the Week (http://www.badassoftheweek.com/tesla.html).

Tesla! What!

[golentan]

Tesla. Edison's most famous work was probably actually lifted from tesla given the highway robbery contracts edison had his researchers and engineers sign.

[Pyrian]

I know that if I take a nine-volt battery and touch both ends, I feel little or nothing, yet when I put that same battery into an alternator and touch the leads, I get a fairly serious-feeling shock. :smallconfused:

[Gamerlord]

Okay.

I decalre Mr.Tesla SCIENTIST IN THE PLAYGROUND!
Because I feel like it, and so many have voted for him.

[RobertoBlasini]

This is related to why the American side of Niagara Falls is cooler than the Canadian side. On the Canadian side, there are casinos and wax museums as far as the eye can see. On the American side, you can get a picture of yourself sitting in Nikolai Tesla's lap (http://www.flickr.com/photos/69159674@N00/2446254447). So he's like Santa except with a death ray.

Tesla all the way, and this argument pretty much is indestructible.

[Temotei]

Okay.

I decalre Mr.Tesla SCIENTIST IN THE PLAYGROUND!
Because I feel like it, and so many have voted for him.

You have yet to ask for everyone's favorite scientist though. You only asked for a vote between Tesla and Edison. :smallamused:

[Gamerlord]

Who is your favorite scientist of all?

[Temotei]

Who is your favorite scientist of all?

Pfft. Probably Tesla. :smallbiggrin:

DEATH RAY!

[DraPrime]

Who is your favorite scientist of all?

Archimedes. That man was one cool Greek. Or Benjamin Franklin, mostly because he succeeded in sleeping with a colossal amount of French women.

[Kallisti]

None of Edison's inventions shoot lightning bolts. Definitely Tesla.

[Soterion]

Coolest: Faraday.

He invented electricity and, along with James Clerk Maxwell, was the greatest demonologist of the nineteenth century. The two men kept hundreds of the little imps locked up in batteries of cages, sorting and shelling electrons after they'd been harvested from Faraday and Maxwell's bumper crop of power plants to produce high-quality, industrial grade electricity, which was shipped out in busses to be used throughout England. Of course, this was before Einstein revolutionized theoretical labor relations and introduced the concept of the Brownie-an Motion, which was the first trade and labor union movement intended purely for hypothetical and axiomatic creatures, fairies, and spirits. Victory in physicist/demon labor negotiations only came about when the striking imps were joined in a sympathy strike by the newly-formed Fraternal League of Cats, Tortoises, Zombies, and Affiliated Creatures, which nearly brought the quantum mechanics revolution, as well as the development of behaviorist philosophy, to a halt. At last, the demons were given a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, the right to regular breaks, and hard helmets for difficult atom-splitting.

Next time on The Modern History of Mythological Physics: "Brujeria and the Bomb: A History of Southwestern Witchcraft and Its Role in America's Atomic Program 1941-1959"

[Moff Chumley]

I was nearly going to vote for Edison just to be different and unique.
Then I remembered how awesome Tesla really is.
My vote goes for Tesla.

Stole my post.


Teeeeeeeslaaaaa!

Aaaand stole my post.


:smallannoyed:

[chiasaur11]

Coolest: Faraday.

He invented electricity and, along with James Clerk Maxwell, was the greatest demonologist of the nineteenth century. The two men kept hundreds of the little imps locked up in batteries of cages, sorting and shelling electrons after they'd been harvested from Faraday and Maxwell's bumper crop of power plants to produce high-quality, industrial grade electricity, which was shipped out in busses to be used throughout England. Of course, this was before Einstein revolutionized theoretical labor relations and introduced the concept of the Brownie-an Motion, which was the first trade and labor union movement intended purely for hypothetical and axiomatic creatures, fairies, and spirits. Victory in physicist/demon labor negotiations only came about when the striking imps were joined in a sympathy strike by the newly-formed Fraternal League of Cats, Tortoises, Zombies, and Affiliated Creatures, which nearly brought the quantum mechanics revolution, as well as the development of behaviorist philosophy, to a halt. At last, the demons were given a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, the right to regular breaks, and hard helmets for difficult atom-splitting.

Next time on The Modern History of Mythological Physics: "Brujeria and the Bomb: A History of Southwestern Witchcraft and Its Role in America's Atomic Program 1941-1959"

Did he build Atomic Robo?

No?

Then I'm sticking with Tesla.

[Voldecanter]

Umm this really isn't a question : Tesla developed and worked on Project Phoenix with I believe Einstein , Nuff said .

[chiasaur11]

So, Feynman.

I mean, the man's lower on the awesome ladder than Tesla, obviously, but how awesome overall?

Keeping in mind his lockpicking skills, of course.

[Lykan]

Let's make this debate more fair:

Tesla Cat or Edison Kitty?
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i311/ChimeraHybrid/My%20avis/TeslaKittyBig.pnghttp://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i311/ChimeraHybrid/My%20avis/giantkittyedison.png

[Mystic Muse]

whichever one is in the power armor.

[Coidzor]

I have to admit, I'm kind of biased.

[SilverSheriff]

There is so Edison. There is only TESLA!

...sides, wasn't Edison supposed to be a jerk and an intellectual thief?

Supposed to be? more like IS.

[Ichneumon]

Coolest scientists? That's difficult. I guess it has to be Darwin or Dawkins. I guess I'll pick Dawkins for writing The Selfish Gene and making up the word meme.

Honestly, I'm a bit confused about this whole Edison or Tesla business. It feels like there is some big internet/meme/reference going on that I don't know about.

[Elder Tsofu]

Edison kitty gets my vote - although its hard to choose between two kinds of "awesome".

[Ikialev]

Feynman. Because he is cool in all ways.

[Sneak]

Oh yeah, if Feynman's in the running, I may have to vote for him. What a BAMF.

He drinks his tea with cream and lemon, you know.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

Tesla is cooler than Edison because he is buried in Eastern Europe, where the ambient temperature is far lower than the resting place of Edison.

[TheBST]

Tesla.

The more I learn about Edison, the bigger a tool he seems.

[Moff Chumley]

Coolest scientists? That's difficult. I guess it has to be Darwin or Dawkins. I guess I'll pick Dawkins for writing The Selfish Gene and making up the word meme.

Honestly, I'm a bit confused about this whole Edison or Tesla business. It feels like there is some big internet/meme/reference going on that I don't know about.

Dawkins, most definitely.

[chiasaur11]

Dawkins, most definitely.

Did he build a death ray?

How about an atomic powered robot that fights Nazis?

Tesla is king.

[Moff Chumley]

I'd link to some of Dawkins' more epic wins, but that would violate the Religion rule... trust me, he's a badass. :smallbiggrin:

[PhoeKun]

My vote goes to Edison-kitty. He has captured my heart with his Death Lamp.

[Xyk]

Tesla. No question. On a scale of 1 to 10, Tesla is a 10 and Edison is a 2. I really dislike Edison's approach to science. "I wanna make a lightbulb! I'll try burning this little thing. Nope. Howabout this? Nope. This? Nope..." It's just annoying how much more attention he gets than Tesla. Someone who invented the Radio, wireless electricity, early robotics, etc. should be on a dollar bill or something.

[Demonia]

Teslar. That will be all.

[Don Julio Anejo]

Tesla. He used the Eiffel tower as one big death ray to "liberate" Paris from American soldiers in the name of communism. Oh wait...

While I personally do vote for Tesla, Edison did have one redeeming feature: GE. His little light bulb shop is now worth almost 800 billion dollars..

[Eldan]

I'd link to some of Dawkins' more epic wins, but that would violate the Religion rule... trust me, he's a badass. :smallbiggrin:

Really? I'm an Atheist and an evolutionary biologist, and I can't stand Dawkins. Well, to each his own. And yes, we shouldn't talk about him.

[Ichneumon]

Really? I'm an Atheist and an evolutionary biologist, and I can't stand Dawkins. Well, to each his own. And yes, we shouldn't talk about him.

Really? I'm an atheist and a biologist too and I love his writing. However, I don't see how talking about him is any worse than talking about any other scientist who was or was not religious. However, going into more detail about his theories might not be a good idea, indeed.

[Emperor Ing]

speaking not as a Catholic (which I am) but as a playgrounder, going into details about some guy who trolled the world in terms of religion is probably not a good idea.

[Asta Kask]

Newton. He goes home with an unsolved problem and comes back the next, having solved the problem and developed an entirely new branch of mathematics.

[Ichneumon]

speaking not as a Catholic (which I am) but as a playgrounder, going into details about some guy who trolled the world in terms of religion is probably not a good idea.

I would agree if the "anti-religion trolling" was the only thing he has done. However, as a scientist he has published important (popular) work on ethology and evolution, both of which are purely scientific achievements. I don't see a reason why he shouldn't be mentioned for this in this thread or why we should shy away from mentioning him when we start mentioning our "favorite" scientists and the importance of their achievements/discoveries. It might be a bit off topic though as this thread was originally about inventors and not about scientists

[Reinboom]

My vote goes to Edison-kitty. He has captured my heart with his Death Lamp.

I'm hurt. :smalleek:

[Coidzor]

I'd link to some of Dawkins' more epic wins, but that would violate the Religion rule... trust me, he's a badass. :smallbiggrin:

He's old and British and mostly just writes... Not really points in favor of him being a badass. What has he wrought, really? Other than posts in the great flamewar of life?

He probably doesn't even have any death ray schematics! Or stolen a Piece of Eden for the Templars.

[bibliophile]

He's old and British and mostly just writes... Not really points in favor of him being a badass. What has he wrought, really? Other than posts in the great flamewar of life?

He probably doesn't even have any death ray schematics! Or stolen a Piece of Eden for the Templars.

Besides his contributions aren't anywhere near as important as Tesla, or Newton.


Tesla wins, no question.

[Lappy9000]

Did some research, and my opinion has not changed: Tesla.

[chiasaur11]

Did some research, and my opinion has not changed: Tesla.

Did the research include Atomic Robo?

Because that's good research.

[Moff Chumley]

Indeed. :smallbiggrin:

[Rutskarn]

I'm not sure this can be called a discussion, per se. If there are people who favor Edison, the purpose of this thread is not to debate them, it is to educate them.

Accept the coil. Embrace the coil. Believe in the coil.

[chiasaur11]

I'm not sure this can be called a discussion, per se. If there are people who favor Edison, the purpose of this thread is not to debate them, it is to educate them.

Accept the coil. Embrace the coil. Believe in the coil.

Also, fear the coil, for it is cruel to the unbeliever.

Not to mention it can play the Doctor Who theme song, so that's pretty boss.