Galileo Ferraris

Galileo Ferraris was an Italian physicist and electrical engineer who in 1885 independently discovered the rotating magnetic field principle, the physical basis of the induction motor, publishing his findings openly rather than patenting them. Working at almost the same time as, but independently of, Nikola Tesla, Ferraris demonstrated that two alternating currents out of phase with each other could produce a rotating magnetic field capable of turning a rotor without any direct electrical connection to it, the working principle behind the AC induction motor that became the workhorse of industrial and household electrical machinery. Because he did not seek patent protection, Ferrariss priority in the discovery was for decades overshadowed by Teslas patented and commercially exploited version of the same principle. His theoretical description of the rotating field is now recognized as a foundational and independent contribution to the AC power and motor technology that industrialized the use of electricity.