-Caveat Lector-
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
snip
>
> But Edison had too much money invested in his
> DC system, so Tommy did his best to discredit
> Tesla around every turn. Edison constantly
> tried to show that AC electricity was far
> more dangerous than his DC power. Tesla
> counteracted by staging his own marketing
> campaign. At the 1893 World Exposition in
> Chicago (attended by 21 million people),
> he demonstrated how safe AC electricity was
> by passing high frequency AC power through
> his body to power light bulbs. He then was
> able to shoot large lightning bolts from
> his Tesla coils to the crowd without harm.
> Nice trick!
>
Yes, and not exactly honest. He was using high frequency, low amperage.
Not exactly what you would find in a home.
> <http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/tesla/tesla.html>
>
> Here's a task for you to try:
>
> Go check your encyclopedia to find the answers to the following questions: (answers
>are given in
> parentheses)
>
> 1) Who invented the radio? (Marconi)
>
> 2) Who discovered X-rays? (Roentgen)
>
> 3) Who invented the vacuum tube amplifier? (de Forest)
>
> In fact, while you're at it, check to see who discovered the fluorescent bulb, neon
>lights,
> speedometer, the automobile ignition system, and the basics behind radar, electron
>microscope, and
> the microwave oven.
> Chances are that you will see little mention of a guy named Nikola Tesla, the most
>famous scientist
> in the world at the turn of the century.
> In fact, few people today have ever heard of the guy. Good old Tommy Edison made
>sure of that.
*****
Tesla worked in all these areas, it is true. However, he never developed
a commercial fluorescent bulb. Money for this was invested by John Jacob
Astor, but instead of using it for that purpose Tesla built his lab in
Colorado Springs. He did design a speedometer, but I believe that it
operated differently than those we now use. The ignition system? That
was around before him. What was it that differed from those previously
available? Electron microscope and microwave oven? He had patents on
these? I never heard of them. Have you seen them?
>
> After all, Tesla was considered an eccentric who talked of death rays that could
>destroy 10,000
> airplanes at a distance of 250 miles, claimed to be able split the Earth in two,
>believed that both
> voice and image could be transmitted through the air (in the late 1800's), and
>essentially told
> Edison to take his DC electrical system and stick it you know where.
>
> In other words, anyone that has even heard of Tesla probably considers him to be a
>first class
> wacko.
*****
No, most people who have heard of him seem to think that he was the
greatest genius of all time. They completely fail to see that most of
his problems were caused by his own dishonesty and arrogance. I know, I
used to think in the same way.
>
> But, the times are a changin'.
>
> The problem is that Tesla probably could do all these things that he claimed were
>possible.
*****
Maybe, maybe not. He made great claims for his pump, but he was not able
to develop it, though he did have support. People are still trying
unsuccessfully to reach the efficiencies he claimed for it.
In fact,
> Tesla invented every single one of the items listed above (but gets no credit) and
>much more. Look
> around you and chances are Tesla is somehow responsible for most of the things that
>make modern life
> so modern.
>
****
He does not get credit because except for the AC generator and motor, he
did not develop them to a point where they were commercially viable.
> No doubt about it, Nikola Tesla is the greatest mind since da Vinci.
> So who is this genius?
>
> Little Nicky Tesla was born in Smijlan, Croatia way back in 1856. He had an
>extraordinary memory and
> spoke six languages. He spent four years at the Polytechnic Institute at Gratz
>studying math,
> physics, and mechanics.
>
> What made Tesla great, however, was his amazing understanding of electricity.
>Remember that this was
> a time when electricity was still in its infancy. The lightbulb hadn't even been
>invented yet.
>
> When Tesla first came to the United States in 1884, he worked for Thomas Edison.
>Edison had just
> patented the lightbulb, so he needed a system to distribute electricity.
>
> Edison had all sorts of problems with his DC system of electricity. He promised
>Tesla big bucks in
> bonuses if he could get the bugs out of the system. Tesla ended up saving Edison
>over $100,000
> (millions of $$$ by today's standards), but Edison refused to live up to his end of
>the bargain.
*******
This story may or may not be true. No one else verified it. Why did
Tesla not get this agreement in writing? Was his understanding of what
Edison agreed to insufficient, etc? And, as far as following agreements,
Tesla did not follow his agreements with either Astor or Morgan. It is
often claimed that J.P. Morgan pulled the rug out from under Tesla.
Actually Tesla had agreed to develop wireless inventions in exchange for
a certain amount of investment. Instead, he tried to develop his world
wide transmitting station, etc. going far beyond what Morgan had agreed
to help him in developing. When the money ran out, Morgan refused to
invest further in a project he had not agreed to invest in in the first place.
>
> Tesla quit and Edison spent the rest of his life trying to squash Tesla's genius
>(and the main
> reason Tesla is unknown today).
>
This is absolute bullshit. When Tesla's laboratory burned down, Edison
let him work at his for a number of months and did not charge him.
Meanwhile the Westinghouse corporation was billing Tesla for the
equipment he had borrowed which was lost in the flames, even though they
had just signed a large contract based upon Tesla's technology (for
electric trains) which Tesla did not make a cent.
Probably more important in terms of his neglect was that Steinmitz and
Pupin left him out of their text books on the development of electricity
and emphasized their own contributions instead. Their books were later
the basis of subsequent text books.
> Tesla devised a better system for electrical transmission - the AC (alternating
>current) system that
> we use in our homes today. AC offered great advantages over the DC system. By using
>Tesla's newly
> developed transformers, AC voltages could be stepped up and transmitted over long
>distances through
> thin wires. DC could not (requiring a large power plant every square mile while
>transmitting through
> very thick cables).
> Of course, a system of transmission would be incomplete without devices to run on
>them. So, he
> invented the motors that are used in every appliance in your house. This was no
>simple achievement -
> scientists of the late 1800's were convinced that no motor could be devised for an
>alternating
> current system, making the use of AC a waste of time. After all, if the current
>reverses direction
> 60 times a second, the motor will rock back and forth and never get anywhere. Tesla
>solved this
> problem easily and proved everyone wrong.
>
> He was using fluorescent bulbs in his lab some forty years before industry
>"invented" them. At
> World's Fairs and similar exhibitions, he took glass tubes and molded them into the
>shapes of famous
> scientists' names - the first neon signs that we see all around us today. I almost
>forgot - Tesla
> designed the world's first hydroelectric plant, located in Niagara Falls.
****
Tesla was not the only one who worked on that project and he is given
credit for his achievement.
He also patented the first
> speedometer for cars.
>
> Word began to spread about his AC system and it eventually reached the ears of one
>George
> Westinghouse.
>
> Tesla signed a contract with Westinghouse under which he would receive $2.50 for
>each kilowatt of AC
> electricity sold.
>
> Suddenly, Tesla had the cash to start conducting all the experiments he ever dreamed
>of.
>
> But Edison had too much money invested in his DC system, so Tommy did his best to
>discredit Tesla
> around every turn. Edison constantly tried to show that AC electricity was far more
>dangerous than
> his DC power.
> Tesla counteracted by staging his own marketing campaign. At the 1893 World
>Exposition in Chicago
> (attended by 21 million people), he demonstrated how safe AC electricity was by
>passing high
> frequency AC power through his body to power light bulbs. He then was able to shoot
>large lightning
> bolts from his Tesla coils to the crowd without harm. Nice trick!
*****
And as I said above, a trick. Try doing that with home current!
>
> When the royalties owed to Tesla started to exceed $1 million, Westinghouse ran into
>financial
> trouble. Tesla realized that if his contract remained in effect, Westinghouse would
>be out of
> business and he had no desire to deal with the creditors. His dream was to have
>cheap AC electric
> available to all people. Tesla took his contract and ripped it up! Instead of
>becoming the world's
> first billionaire, he was paid $216,600 outright for his patents.
****
Tesla could have rewritten the contract in such a way that he was
protected. He could have had the contract re-written to defer royalties
or protect him in other ways. However, he was impetuous and did not
consider these possibilities.
>
> In 1898, he demonstrated to the world the first remote controlled model boat at
>Madison Square
> Garden. So you can thank Tesla for the invention of those remote controlled planes,
>cars, and boats
> (and televisions!), also.
>
> Tesla had a dream of providing free energy to the world. In 1900, backed by $150,000
>from financier
> J.P. Morgan, Tesla began construction of his so called "Wireless Broadcasting
>System" tower on Long
> Island, New York. This broadcasting tower was intended to link the world's telephone
>and telegraph
> services, as well as transmit pictures, stock reports, and weather information
>worldwide.
> Unfortunately, Morgan cut funding when he realized that it meant FREE energy for the
>world.
>
> Many stories claim that the U. S. government destroyed the tower during World War
>One for fear that
> the German u-boat spies would use the tower as a landmark to navigate by. In
>reality, Tesla ran into
> financial trouble after Morgan cut funding for the project and the tower was sold
>for scrap to pay
> off creditors.
***
See above for the real story. Morgan never intended to finance this.
Also, Tesla knew that the amount of energy that he would be able to
transmit was not sufficient for anything but the broadcast of radio
waves. It was this that he was trying to provide. His intention was to
set up a broadcast center which would send messages throughout the
world. Basically a radio station. However, his concept was different in
scope to what we have now. I believe that it might have been a very
centralized system. Perhaps it is lucky that he failed.
>
> The world thought he was nuts - after all, transmission of voice, picture, and
>electricity was
> unheard of at this time.
>
> What they didn't know was that Tesla had already demonstrated the principles behind
>radio nearly ten
> years before Marconi's supposed invention. In fact, in 1943 (the year Tesla died),
>the Supreme Court
> ruled that Marconi's patents were invalid due to Tesla's previous descriptions.
>Still, most
> references do not credit Tesla with the invention of radio. (Sidenote: Marconi's
>radio did not
> transmit voices - it transmitted a signal - something Tesla had demonstrated years
>before.)
***
Others had also worked and demonstrated radio before Marconi. Tesla
methods were superior. However, he failed to develop them though he had
been given the money by Moran to do so. He over reached instead of
methodical incremental development. Have you ever heard of the Peter
Principle? Basically it means that people usually advance to their level
of incompetancy. Tesla probably did so, as well. But since it was so
much higher than the level of incompetancy of most we fail to understand this.
>
> At this point, the press started to exaggerate Tesla's claims.
> Tesla reported that he had received radio signals from Mars and Venus. Today we know
>that he was
> actually receiving the signals from distant stars, but too little was known about
>the universe at
> that time. Instead, the press had a field day with his "outrageous" claims.
****
Well they were "outrageous". However, I beleive that he mostly was
treated with great respect even in this. Mostly there were snipes in the
letters to the editor from his opponents.
>
> In his Manhattan lab, Tesla made the earth into an electric tuning fork. He managed
>to get a
> steam-driven oscillator to vibrate at the same frequency as the ground beneath him
>(like Ella
> Fitzgerald breaking the glass with her voice in those old Memorex commercials).
>
> The result? An earthquake on all the surrounding city blocks. The buildings
>trembled, the windows
> broke, and the plaster fell off the walls.
>
> Tesla contended that, in theory, the same principle could be used to destroy the
>Empire State
> Building or even possibly split the Earth in two. Tesla had accurately determined
>the resonant
> frequencies of the Earth almost 60 years before science could confirm his results.
> Don't think he didn't attempt something like splitting the Earth open (well, sort
>of).
>
> In his Colorado Springs lab in 1899, he sent waves of energy all the way through the
>Earth, causing
> them to bounce back to the source (providing the theory for today's accurate
>earthquake seismic
> stations). When the waves came back, he added more electricity to it.
>
> The result? The largest man-made lightning bolt ever recorded - 130 feet! - a
>world's record still
> unbroken!
>
> The accompanying thunder was heard 22 miles away. The entire meadow surrounding his
>lab had a
> strange blue glow, similar to that of St. Elmo's Fire.
>
> But, this was only a warm-up for his real experiment! Unfortunately, he blew out the
>local power
> plant's equipment and he was never able to repeat the experiment.
>
> At the beginning of World War I, the government desperately searched for a way to
>detect German
> submarines. The government put Thomas Edison in charge of the search for a good
>method. Tesla
> proposed the use of energy waves - what we know today as radar - to detect these
>ships. Edison
> rejected Tesla's idea as ludicrous and the world had to wait another 25 years until
>it was
> invented.
***
I don't believe that radar can as yet be used for detecting submarines.
Sonar is required.
>
> His reward for a lifetime of creativity? The prized (to everyone but Tesla) Edison
>Medal! A real
> slap in the face after all the verbal abuse Tesla took from Edison.
>
> The stories go on and on.
>
> Industry's attempt (obviously very successful) to purge him from the scientific
>literature had
> driven him into exile for nearly twenty years. Lacking capital, he was forced to
>place his untested
> theories into countless notebooks.
>
****
As pointed out before it was not "industry" that attempted to purge his
name. It was Steinmitz and Pupin.
> The man who invented the modern world died nearly penniless at age 86 on January 7,
>1943. More than
> two thousand people attended his funeral.
> In his lifetime, Tesla received over 800 different patents. He probably would have
>exceeded Edison's
> record number if he wasn't always broke - he could afford very few patent
>applications during the
> last thirty years of his life.
***
He could have afforded the applications (they were much cheaper then,
than now) if he had worked on his inventions until they were
commercially viable as Edison always did. Instead he would waste his
efforts on inventions he was not financially capable of pursuing. (And
which may have been impossible anyway).
>
> Unlike Edison, Tesla was an original thinker whose ideas typically had no precedent
>in science.
> Unfortunately, the world does not financially reward people of Tesla's originality.
>We only award
> those that take these concepts and turn them into a refined, useful product.
***
Edison was not an original thinker? Before Edison had invented the
phonograph no one had even proposed its possibility. Was the AC
motor/generator more of an original idea? The problem had been stated
for many years. Tesla came up with the solution. That to me is original
thinking. Likewise, Edison solved the light bulb problem, though it had
long been thought that it was impossible to solve.
>
> Scientists today continue to scour through his notes. Many of his far flung theories
>are just now
> being proven by our top scientists. For example, the Tesla bladeless disk turbine
>engine that he
> designed, when coupled with modern materials, is proving to be among the most
>efficient motors ever
> designed.
***
What are the efficiencies? How do they compare with other turbines?
> His 1901 patented experiments with cryogenic liquids and electricity provide the
> foundation for modern superconductors. He talked about experiments that suggested
>particles with
> fractional charges of an electron - something that scientists in 1977 finally
>discovered - quarks!
>
> Wow!
>
> Maybe history will finally recognize a true genius when it sees one.
>
> ---
>
> Electric power is everywhere present in unlimited
> quantities and can drive world's machinery without
> the need of coal, oil, gas, or any other fuels.
> -- Nikola Tesla
>
***
No doubt Tesla was a great genius. His intellect was far greater than
Edison's. However, his faults kept him from succeeding in bringing his
great intellect to its best use. See Seifer's book on Tesla for more
details. I have read three biographies of Tesla and his is the best.
Howard Davis
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