Nikola Tesla - The Forgotten Wizard

[kentauros]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt8Y93k0pB0

:)

[begin_within]

1. He wanted electricity to be free for everyone.

[NoGOPZone]

2. Forgotten? How many people have a unit of measurement, a music group, and a car named after them? nt

[kentauros]

3. Well, when I mentioned to my redneck work-mate some months back

that Tesla had invented the three-phase motor (in a conversation about him having to get 3-phase power to run his milling machine) he'd never heard of Tesla. That's how he's "forgotten". Growing up, I learned all about Edison. No one ever mentioned Tesla. And most won't unless they take some coursework in electricity or electronics. As for the "Tesla" car, how many that know about it know about Tesla beyond "Oh, he invented AC power" ? ;)

At least 60 patents to his name and all anyone that has ever heard of him remembers is he invented AC power, and the Tesla Coil (without knowing any details about what the coil was meant to do.) His name is simply not in the common mind like Edison's is.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

7. is this co-worker

under the age of 30 or just a Republican?

[kentauros]

9. Just a Republican piper over 30

(he may be 40.) He claims he never listens to RW-radio or TV, yet all his positions are right from their talking points. He does claim he knows what he knows because of his family and friends, so I guess he learns by osmosis ;)

[QueenOfCalifornia]

14. Maybe if

he lies under a sunlamp he will know all there is about global warming? :shrug:

[kentauros]

19. He's afraid of light.

I share a room with (formerly) four others, but he "controls" the blinds. That is, the blinds remain completely shut while he's in the office, because, in his words "I was here first." That is, he was here as an employee in this room before anyone else, so his word goes. I let him have his darkness although when the other piper is here, she opens the blinds on her side of the room. I "get back" at him everyday by turning the blinds the opposite direction than he likes so he has to take the minor effort (and to this guy, any effort to do anything he doesn't like is tantamount to calling him a "librul") to rotate them the other way ;)

We've suggested he wear sunglasses since the light supposedly "hurts his eyes", but he flatly refuses. Yet he can walk into the bright sunlit-hallway and drive home in the middle of the afternoon everyday with no problem. One afternoon (after he had left) I sat at his desk because he complained that there was a glare on his screen from any blinds being open. I found that was a lie and wrote on a note that it was against the Laws of Physics for there to be a glare on his screen. I got a whiny note back the next day that we would be moving to new offices soon (that's been "promised" for over a year and a half now) and he'd get a windowless office to himself and not have to put up with our lack of consideration any more. (Our supervisor said that won't happen, that we will all be in a common, cubicle room like now, only with more room and way more windows :D)

He's a typical, ill-informed and unwilling to be informed, whiny Republican redneck piper, greedy as hell, selfish and all the other labels you can put on him. Until Heather (the other piper) gets back from medical leave, it's quiet in here and I don't have to interact with him other than professionally. Of course, Heather and I will sometimes discuss the things that go on in the world and he'll interject when his hackles are up (his rule, by the way, on conversations, is that it's okay for a guy to interrupt a conversation between a man and a woman or two women, but it's not okay for a woman to interrupt two or more men talking. Yeah, seriously :eyes:)

So, that's my little public service announcement of working with a redneck piper that has absolutely nothing to do with Tesla other than previously mentioned :P

[SoxFan]

15. Please, respect the man

Don't bring this up

[csziggy]

17. He is even a major character in a SF book

Spider Robinson features Tesla in some of the Callahan's Salon series, notably in Callahan's Key.

[Shine]

4. Wow, that was absolutely fascinating!! Thanks for posting.

I've definitely heard of Tesla before, but it was cool to get even more info on him. My hubby is really into the idea of a Tesla electric car. My 14 yr old son had to give a 10 min speech last month for his history class on Thomas Edison and part of it included the piece about Edison and Tesla's argument for A/C vs D/C current and the public electrocutions of animals that Edison did. Did you know at one point Tesla was actually an employee of Edison's? I hadn't known that, prior to my son's speech research. Apparently, they had a big falling out over the A/C D/C stuff ....AND Edison didn't pay Tesla for some of his work!

If you've never seen the fairly recent movie "The Prestige", you should check it out. It's about dueling magicians and the theme of revenge...but there's a whole bit in there about Tesla and his brilliant mind. It's a cool and intriguing movie, I recommend it.

It's rather sad that he was so tormented, mentally, even though he was such a genius. I wonder if he ever married, or found love? It was sad to hear he'd died penniless and basically alone, at the end.

Oh well, his legacy lives on, indeed.

Anyway, thanks again for posting this. I really found it intriguing and I'll pass it on to my hubby and son, too. :hi:

[kentauros]

6. You're welcome!

:)

In a way, I only posted this as a mild copycat to some other music-video post that had "nicole" (I think) as one of the names

I may have heard of Tesla working for Edison, so it's nice to be reminded. One thing I do remember is that in grade school it was never mentioned what a crook Edison really was.

"The Prestige" sounds familiar, too, so I'll have to look it up as well. PBS did a documentary on Tesla a couple of years ago, though I never saw it. They still sell it on their site, though. Some of his patented ideas were amazing, including this one check-valve that had no moving parts. It simply used the fluid (or gas) against itself by creating eddies that forced the fluid back on itself. Understanding it works better if you saw the patent diagram (nevermind, here's a link for his "valvular conduit".) I believe he had invented that for use with his Tesla Turbine :)

[crimsonblue]

16. many times

the greatest minds are also the most tormented; see Van Gogh, Nash, Da Vinci, Lincoln, and Dubya--->(just kidding)

[Shine]

20. Yes, it's strange how that works, huh?

It's kind of sad, too.....and begs the question: Is it possible to have a brilliant mind and still be emotionally balanced and mentally healthy? :shrug:

Hmmm.....I guess we ALL have "issues", no matter how brilliant, or not, we are. :D

:hi:

[Sequoia]

22. Read the book about Tesla, "Man Out of Time"

The whole nasty Edison bit is in there. Edison tested his currents on elephants and other animals until they died. I don't like Edison one bit. If he did that to animals now he'd be thrown in prison. He treated Tesla horribly and was very jealous of him. Tesla was responsible for the power that makes Niagra Falls what it is today.-

[Call Me Wesley]

5. Sure not forgotten here. ;)

I've built my own Tesla coil when I was ten years old. I don't think I have heard of Edison then. ;) Besides, a German guy invented the light bulb before him.

Thanks for posting!

[kentauros]

8. I didn't know a German had invented the lightbulb first.

Did Edison steal that idea, too? ;)

Tesla had some interesting lightbulb ideas as well, to be used with his ultra-high-frequency electricity. Single-elements that basically worked like neon or those "plasma balls". I have no idea how bright they'd be. When GE or whomever it was came out with their "radio-frequency lightbulb" my first thought was that they had ripped off Tesla. It was lauded as a unique discovery, so obviously the reporter had never heard of Tesla's research into lighting, either.

[Shine]

12. No, Edison didn't steal the idea for the lightbulb, he simply improved upon it

yes, someone else (whose name escapes me) invented the lightbulb, which had existed for decades, but it was Edison who discovered a cheaper and more efficient way to keep it lighted, for longer.

He was good at improving what already existed.

The one thing he did invent, completely on his own, in an "Aha! moment", and the one he personally felt the most proud of, was the phonograph.

Interesting, huh?

I love history. :D

[kentauros]

13. I guess it depends on whose history you read

;)

I know he did improve some things, but he also took credit for inventions by others. He did that with motion pictures and supposedly had a staff that did most of the "improving" while he took credit for "inventing" whatever. Much like corporations do these days ;)

It is too bad that our govmint decided to confiscate and classify the remaining inventions of Tesla. I'd love to see those notes :D

[qb]

10. I can't view the video, but here's an interesting take on his rivalry with Edison:

http://www.electroherbalism.com/Bioelectronics/Tesla/TeslaversusEdison.htm

[kentauros]

11. Thanks for that link

That's a page I'm going to have to look at thoroughly this evening :)

You might be interested in this page: Rex Reasearch

[FloridaJudy]

18. Hardly forgotten

The man was fascinating - the original "mad scientist". At one time I believe he had a plan to illuminate the entire sky over North America. Fortunately, someone managed to talk him out of it: it would have made it a lot easier to read at night, but gods know what it would have done to the plants and animals!

[Sequoia]

21. I adore him!!!

http://www.viewzone.com/tesla.html

http://www.frank.germano.com/nikolatesla.htm


He was born during a comet (The Man Who Fell to Earth) and had pet fireballs he kept in a box. Friend of Mark Twain.