Lindsey Graham

He didn't yet know how to solve the problem, but it lodged itself in his mind and refused to let go, drawing more and more of his attention as his studies continued.

By this time, Tesla had grown to be a tall, wire-thin young man with black hair and a taste for fashionable clothing.

And initially, he was a diligent and hardworking student, but over time, he developed a fondness for card playing and gambling at the local cafes.

These social distractions began to take a toll on his studies, and he lost his scholarship.

Eventually, he was forced to return home, where an even greater hardship awaited.

In 1879, when he was 23, his father died.

In the aftermath, his mother encouraged him to quit gambling and return to his studies.

Tesla vowed to follow her direction, but without his father's support or a scholarship, he had to abandon formal schooling.

Needing to earn a living, in 1881, he moved to Budapest, Hungary, where he found a job as a draftsman in a telegraph office.

The work offered important hands-on experience with the fast-evolving technology of telegraphy, and while working there, Tesla was frequently called on to help design and install new telegraph lines.

But in the meantime, Tesla remained fixated on the problem that had first captured his mind at university, how to improve on Zenobgram's dynamo.

Over time, though, Tesla became increasingly frustrated by his inability to envision a more efficient machine, and his obsession plagued him so intensely that he suffered a nervous breakdown.

His sensitivity to light and sound also became debilitating.

He later reflected, "...a carriage passing at a distance of a few miles fairly shook my whole body.

The whistle of a locomotive 20 or 30 miles away made the bench or chair on which I sat vibrate so strongly the pain was unbearable."

Doctors couldn't help him, so he retreated to his room where his mind churned with images of his electric motor design.

He became pale and emaciated from lack of sleep until finally a concerned friend intervened.

Imagine it's a cold February afternoon in 1882 in Budapest.

You're a student and part-time telegraph worker, and you finally convince your ailing friend Nikola Tesla to leave his room and take a walk in the city park.

You've been worried about his health these past few months, and now you watch with concern as he shuffles along next to you, his face gaunt and his shoulders hunched.