Page - 22 - in Nikola Tesla and the Graz Tech

22 In his third year of studies (1877/78), Nikola Tesla attended ten courses. They comprised the following subjects: Applied mathematics Mathematics III C Theory of invariants Theory of conical sections Analytical mechanics General theoretical mechanics Special theoretical mechanics Physical geography French language II C English language However, in the academic file only the following notes have been added: ‘Did not contact the professor’ and ‘Excluded for not paying the course fees for the first semester 1877/78’. Regarding Tesla’s further development, Professor Jakob Pöschl was definitely his most important contact person among the teaching staff. Jakob Pöschl (born 1828 in Vienna, died 1907 in Graz) was full professor of physics at the Technical Academy of the Joanneum and at the College of Technology in Graz from 1855 to 1887. Today, Nikola Tesla is primarily seen as an inventor in the field of electrical engineering. A special lecture on electrical engineering was first held at the College of Technology in Graz in the 1889/90 academic year by Albert von Ettinghausen, professor of physics. Up until then – and thus also during Nikola Tesla’s time – the subject matter of electrical engineering was dealt with in the physics lectures. A document (prepared by Josef Schaschl /9/) for the lecture on ‘Technical Physics’, held by Jakob Pöschl in the 1878/79 academic year, contained the following topics: • Applied electrical science • Applied thermodynamics • Applied optics