Talk:Chester Thordarson

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--Smileyporkpyn 16:07, 26 July 2006 (UTC)Chester Thordarson can be credited with a whole lot to the benefit of our modern lifestyles. Back in the early days of electric power, the Edison companies and other power providers did not believe that electric power could be transmitted over long distances. Thordarson argued otherwise. He invented the high voltage transformer. Had Edison had their way, a coal fired Electric Power Plant would have been erected on virtually every block in the country. Thordarson proved that elecrticity could be generated from hundreds of miles away and transmitted over power lines to remote sites.

Thordarson, an immigrant, did not finish grammar school, loved to read. He read every book he could get his hands on. When he was 18 he went back to grammar school and then high school to get his education.

He displayed his One Million Volt transformer at a world's fair.

He bought Rock Island for $5,300 in 1910, then built a boat house and a home on the island, but largely left the island otherwise untouched. He was given an award for conservation by the University of Wisconsin, Madison, for his conservatory vision.