Lindsey Graham

And as you know, the use of the commutator has been an obstacle for years.

The brushes wear down, and friction makes the generation of electricity inefficient.

I know many of you here have spent long hours repairing this flawed component, but my model has no need for a commutator.

Ah, that's impossible.

It was impossible, sir.

It was.

Not anymore.

But how do you propel the electricity forward?

By what mechanism?

Magnetic fields.

By this point, the entire room is wrapped with attention.

You can see the crowd around you is abuzz.

So slowly, you sit back down, your face flushed, as your eyes settle on the spinning motor on the stage.

It galls you to admit, but if what Nikola Tesla says is true, you've never seen anything like it.

Despite initial criticism and disbelief, Tesla's demonstration at Columbia College was a sensation.

His introduction of polyphase alternating current sent shockwaves through the electrical community.

He followed it up with an article in Thomas Martin's journal outlining his new system in detail.

He described how his polyphase motor sent multiple currents coursing through the machine like propelling waves.

The waves moved so quickly, the effect was a steady, seamless, and powerful electric current.

Observers called it wondrous and elegant.