Tesla's father, Milutin, was an Orthodox priest in the village of Smiljan. Tesla afterwards wrote that he turned interested in demonstrations of electricity by his physics professor.[b] Tesla mentioned that these demonstrations of this "mysterious phenomena" produced him want "to learn far more of this superb power".
Bernard Carlson notes Tesla could possibly have satisfied company founder Thomas Edison only a handful of instances.[forty two] A type of occasions was observed in Tesla's autobiography in which, after keeping up all night restoring the broken dynamos over the ocean liner SS Oregon, he ran into Batchelor and Edison, who built here a quip regarding their "Parisian" being out all evening. After Tesla instructed them he had been up all evening correcting the Oregon, Edison commented to Batchelor that "it is a damned good gentleman".[39] One of the assignments given to Tesla was to produce an arc lamp-based Road lights method.[forty four][forty five] Arc lighting was the preferred type of Road lights but it really necessary superior voltages and was incompatible With all the Edison very low-voltage incandescent program, causing the company to get rid of contracts in certain cities. Tesla's types were being by no means place into output, probably on account of technological improvements in incandescent street lights or as a consequence of an installation deal that Edison created by having an arc lights company.[forty six]