Living and working at the turn of the century, Tesla was alive during a very exciting time in the planet's development, as many of the amenities we appreciate today are direct descendants of discoveries made during this period.
Working for, and then being a professional rival of, Thomas Edison, Tesla's main passion was in electricity. His list of friends included such names as Mark Twain, Ruyard Kipling (author of The Jungle Book and Rikki Tikki Tavi) and Sandford White (designer of Madison Square Garden). His list of business partners is just as impressive. For his AC venture he was partnered with George Westinghouse. For the wireless endeavor he courted J. P. Morgan.
Tesla invented the AC, Alternating Current, poly phase motor, and the harnessing of AC electricity. Literally every electrical outlet and every power plant in the world uses his (not Edison's) method of electricity. His discovery powers the entire world and most people don't know who he is.
He also laid the fundamental groundwork for: wireless communication, radio, and remote control. While the rest of the world was trying to master sending simple impulses along wires for Morse code, Tesla had already perfected a fully functioning remote-control boat, which could receive commands of moving different directions, as well as turn lights on and off. (Remember this is 1900 we're talking about.) His investigations into the wireless communication of intelligence included making it so that receivers would only activate if the correct combination of 2 or 3 wireless signals triggered it, therefore creating an unlimited amount of channels, and encryption utilized today for secret communication and channels you must pay to activate on your TV.
He invented fluorescent and neon lighting, that is, lights that utilize no filament like the conventional bulb. His lights literally excited the air in the entire chamber making a universal glow versus a light coming from one central spot (filament.) This type of lighting simply excited the air, and so it created no heat. The term was the cold-bulb. And if you notice today when you change a fluorescent light, you don't get burned like with an incandescent bulb.
He noted that the earth has intrinsic electric and magnetic waves, and calculated the frequency of the earth's waves. Using these Tesla Waves, he literally harnessed the frequency of the earth to send signals through the ground to receivers many miles away.
He noted that wireless signals could be sent using either the earth itself, or the air as a medium. The work he did along these lines led to the discovery and development of two different types of radio transmission AM, and FM. (Amplitude Modulation travels through the ground, Frequency Modulation goes through the air).
His story is a sad combination of true genius matched with eccentricities, lack of business sense, and being hugely ahead of his time. The concept of wireless communication was entirely foreign and even scary to the people at the time.
So why does noone know who he is? The two main reasons can be attributed to the main flaws stated above, an eccentric personality which gained several important enemies, and a lack of business know-how which cheated him in the business arena as well.
Do you know why the electric chair is one of the preferred methods of execution today? Thomas Edison and his DC, Direct Current, enterprise did not want to go down without a fight. He had perfected the light bulb and become a worldwide name in invention, he was not about to lose this spot to a crazy idea like an alternating current. An extremely stubborn and irritable man, Edison fought with tooth and nail to have his inferior DC win out against the AC which time has shown to prevail. In an attempt to stall for time, he secretly promoted a propaganda campaign against the AC movement. Using somewhere in the range of 1,200 Volts, different propagandists pulled such stunts as killing an elephant and other large creatures with AC electricity. "Look at how dangerous AC power is!" Was the message they were trying to get across. How could we have wires with this killer electricity near our families and our children?? Eventually it was taken into the jails as a way to kill inmates, part of this propaganda campaign.
Tesla's response, once he perfected his AC system, was to lower the amplitude and run 500,000 Volts through his body, shooting lightning bolts across the stage and lighting bulbs by shooting arcs of lighting at them. He would walk off the stage un-scathed and the audience could not believe their eyes.
When Tesla was partnered with Westinghouse he foolishly signed a contract which only entitled him to limited royalty rights, and so he did not make much money off of the system which revolutionized the planet. Additionally there was much piracy going on at the time, and it took years of litigation before he was cleared as the true inventor. Add to this that the head engineer at the Westinghouse camp disliked Tesla, and that it was a better deal for George and Co. if the idea was internal vs from an outside eccentric Serb. For as long as they could, the company made the invention seem that it was something developed by the Westinghouse engineers, and that Tesla did not add much original material.
Wireless communication followed much of the same story, only pairing with JP Morgan.
Did you know that wireless transmission of electricity is possible? Ya me either. Guess who invented, and utilized it.
Tesla, during his demonstrations, would light bulbs around the room wirelessly, simply by tuning his generator to a certain set of frequencies. The bulbs would be tuned to the same combination of frequencies and turn on magically. Wireless electricity is a real possibility, and the reason for why we don't use it, I actually don't have the answer for. What I do know is why it never got more initial traction: JP Morgan had his hands in many industries, one of his most profitable being the power industry. The idea of wireless electricity for the whole world to tap into for free (or very cheap) was a risk he was not going to take, and as soon as he realized Tesla's true intentions he shut the project down.
As far as why he was written out of history books: long story short he made enemies with very important academic people. Mostly Michael Pupin and Charles Steinmetz. Both of which were high up in the world of the IEEE (Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers). This matched with the cloudy time of piracy (and that both of them were involved in these pirate activities at times) essentially wrote him out of the history, and science, books.
If you've seen The Prestige with Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, you will have seen Tesla portrayed by none other than David Bowie (who does an amazing job by the way.) And many other cult-type movies have been made in honor of the electrician. There was a 70's movie titled The man who fell to earth about an alien who came to earth to teach us all. The alien, Tesla, was played by? David Bowie...haha.. So not only was he great in The Prestige, it was the second time he had played that role.
Mark J. Seifer does an amazing job of pulling together a complex and interesting life. Finding such first-hand sources as personal letters and diaries from Tesla and Morgan (among others) you literally get line by line quotations of some of the conversations which shaped the course of our entire world.
AC electricity, wireless communication, and fluorescent lighting. The first 2 of the 3 are easily some of the most fundamental inventions which have advanced our race to where it is today.
Did you know that there is a hydroelectric generator plant at Niagara Falls, which powers 1/4 of the North American continent? Well I had absolutely no clue.... Guess who's system it utlizes to generate the power, who's name is on 90% of the patents cited on the patent plaque at the site itself, and who was asked to give the inagural speech when the power plant was opened? The same crazy inventor that most of you are just now learning about.
These accomplishments are not conspiracy theory ideas, they're documented facts recognized by the patent office and reluctantly now the rest of the engineering world. However the different mis-steps along the way prevented his name from being the household kind we associate with, say, Edison or Einstein.
The unit for magnetic flux density (or magnetic field strength) has been deemed the Tesla, anyone who hated their way through physics-2 will remember that unit. Hopefully through books like the one I read, blogs like the one you're reading, and actors like David Bowie, people can be educated on the life of an incredible man who time seems to have forgotten.
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Mark Twain in Tesla's Lab
Tesla in his Colorado Springs Lab (Multi-Exposure photo)
Drawing of Tesla Demonstrating his Wireless Lightbulbs
Tesla Illuminated by a Cold-Lamp Bulb being Lit Wirelessly
Wow, I'm impressed. All I can talk about is Philo T. Farnsworth. He invented the TV. He's from Rigby, ID. As you see - I don't get out much....
ReplyDeleteNice write.
I have actually heard of Philo T Farnsworth, and actually if you look at his story it follows a very similar pattern to Tesla's. He was essentially robbed the credit of his invention for a very long time... glad u liked the summary ;)
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