There was some intention in 1912 of giving a Nobel Prizejointly to Thomas Alva Edison and the electrical engineer NikolaTesla.Both were well deserving of the honor.Tesla， who waseccentric，loathed Edison because he believed he had beencheated by Edison in a financial transaction.Tesla refused to beassociated with Edison in the honor，and the physics prize insteadwas awarded to a Swedish inventor of lesser merit .
1912年曾有将诺贝尔奖授予托马斯·阿尔瓦·爱迪生和电气工程师尼古拉·特斯拉的打算。他们俩都无愧于这一荣誉。可是脾气古怪的特斯拉讨厌爱迪生，因为他相信爱迪生在一次金融交易中欺骗了他。特斯拉拒绝和爱迪生分享这一荣誉。结果当年物理学奖被授予成就不如他们的一名瑞典发明家。