Studying in Europe

With the support of his parents, Tesla decided that he wanted to continue his studies in electrical engineering. In 1875, at the age of 19, Tesla left Croatia and traveled to Slovenia, where he studied at the Polytechnic School in Graz.

Tesla excelled in his studies and was recognized as one of the best students at the school. He devoted all his free time to reading books and experimenting in his makeshift laboratory. It was during this period that Tesla began to develop his first inventions, including an electric motor that used a rotating magnetic field.

After graduating from Graz, Tesla continued his studies at the University of Prague, where he specialized in physics and mathematics. There, he worked as an assistant to Professor Ernst Mach, a renowned physicist who encouraged him to pursue his interest in electricity.

Tesla became fascinated by the theory of electromagnetism, developed by James Clerk Maxwell, and began to explore the possibility of transmitting electrical power wirelessly. It was during his time in Prague that Tesla came up with the idea of building a coil that could generate high voltage, high frequency electric currents.

In 1882, Tesla moved to Paris, where he worked briefly as an electrical engineer before moving to the United States. His time in Europe was critical to his development as a scientist and inventor. There, he had the opportunity to study with some of the greatest names in science at the time and hone his skills in mathematics and physics.