Tesla shaped our current technological landscape more
than any other individual. Radio, fluorescent lights, radar, X-Rays, AC power, induction
motor, hydroelectric generator, vacuum tubes, microwaves, rotary engine, Tesla Coil
This page is a tribute to my long gone friend "in
spirit". Tell your children to read about him. Or at least tell them that Nikola
Tesla was the genius who ushered in the age of electrical power.
Despite his relative obscurity to most, the greatest genius of all time died with over 700
patents in his name.
How, did this great man end up dying in obscurity? Jealousy from the likes of Thomas
Edison and his aides in the media, plus a host of other money hungry and lime light
hustlers altered the true record. The advantages of alternating-current over Edison's
system of direct-current became apparent when Westinghouse successfully used Tesla's
system to light the World Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. In many parts of this
country, people still refer to the electric utility as the 'Edison Company', even though
they use the Tesla-Westinghouse alternating current system, NOT Edison's direct current |
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Many
still credit Marconi with the invention of radio, despite the Supreme
Court decision which overruled the Marconi patent, awarding it to Tesla.
In 1909, Guglielmo Marconi was awarded a Nobel Prize for his development of radio. From
this point on, the history books began to refer to him as "the father of radio."
Marconi was now a wealthy man and Tesla was penniless.
As you use your computer, remember Tesla. His Tesla Coil supplies the
high voltage for the picture tube you use. The electricity for your computer comes from a
Tesla-designed AC generator, is sent through a Tesla transformer, and gets to your house
through 3-phase Tesla power.
Some of The 700 Tesla Patents and Inventions include: Radio, Fluorescent lights, Radar,
X-Rays, AC power (both 2-phase and 3-phase) The polyphase induction motor, The
hydroelectric generator, Vacuum tubes, Microwaves, Broadcast power,
The rotary engine, The Tesla Coil
Philadelphia Experiment and Tesla
Coils for Military Cloaking
In June of 1943, a Naval Destroyer called the U.S.S. Eldridge was fitted with experimental
electronic equipment. According to reports it included two huge generators whick were
mounted near the forward gun turret and distributing their power through four
tesla coils mounted on the deck. Radio frequency transmitters, power amplifier
tubes, modulation circuits, and an array of other specialized hardware were used to
generate massive electromagnetic fields. The purpose was to properly configure the
transmissions and in effect it would bend light and radio waves around the ship, thus
making it invisible to any enemy forces.
THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT
In the 1930's Nikola Tesla got involved with a
group with was experimenting with moving through the Time/Space continuum. In the early
1930's, the University of Chicago investigated the possibility of invisibility
through the use of electricity.
It is believed that the Philadelphia Experiment was mostly an investigation into how
Einstein's Unified Field Theory for Gravitation and Electricity could be used in the
development of electronic camouflage to keep naval ships from being seen by the enemy. The
research was aimed at using intense electromagnetic fields to hide a ship from incoming
torpedoes. This was later extended to include a study of creating radar invisibility by a
similar field in the air rather than in the water.
Nicola Tesla The Philadelphia Experiment - and an effort to Cloak a US Battle ship
from enemy radar with Tesla Coils
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Nikola Tesla was born at midnight on July 9, 1856, in the village of Smiljan, in the
province of Lika, Croatia then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Tesla was the
genius who ushered in the age of electrical power.
Tesla had a vivid imagination and an intuitive way of developing scientific hypotheses.
After seeing a demonstration of the "Gramme dynamo" (a machine that when
operated in one direction is a generator, and when reversed is an electric motor), Tesla
visualized a rotating magnetic field and developed plans for an induction motor applying
the concept. This electric motor was the first step toward the successful application of
alternating-current. Telsa used his imagination to prove and apply his hypotheses.
Here is how he explained his creative process: Before I put a sketch on paper, the whole
idea is worked out mentally. In my mind I change the construction, make improvements, and
even operate the device. Without ever having drawn a sketch I can give the measurements of
all parts to workmen, and when completed all these parts will fit, just as certainly as
though I had made the actual drawings. It is immaterial to me whether I run my machine in
my mind or test it in my shop. The inventions I have conceived in this way have always
worked. In thirty years there has not been a single exception. My first electric motor,
the vacuum wireless light, my turbine engine and many other devices have all been
developed in exactly this way.
Arriving in New York City with four cents in his pocket, Tesla found employment with
Thomas Edison in New Jersey. Differences in style between the two men soon lead to their
separation. In 1885, George Westinghouse, founder of the Westinghouse Electric Company,
bought patent rights to Tesla's system of alternating-current. The advantages of
alternating-current over Edison's system of direct-current became apparent when
Westinghouse successfully used Tesla's system to light the World Columbian Exposition at
Chicago in 1893.
Tesla established a laboratory in New York City in 1887. His experiments ranged from an
exploration of electrical resonance to studies of various lighting systems. To counter
fears of alternating-current, Tesla gave exhibitions in his laboratory in which he lighted
lamps without wires by allowing electricity to flow through his body.
When Tesla became a United States citizen in 1891, he was at the peak of his creative
powers. He developed in rapid succession the induction motor, new types of generators and
transformers, a system of alternating-current power transmission, fluorescent lights, and
a new type of steam turbine. He also became intrigued with wireless transmission of power.
In 1900, Tesla began construction on Long Island of a wireless broadcasting tower. The
project was funded with $150,000 capital from financier J. Pierpont Morgan. The project
was abandoned when Morgan withdrew his financial support. Tesla's work shifted to turbines
and other projects, but his ideas remained on the drawing board due to a lack of funds.
Tesla's notebooks are still examined by engineers in search of unexploited ideas.
In 1928, at the age of seventy-two, he received his last patent, number 6,555,114,
"Apparatus For Aerial Transportation." This brilliantly designed flying machine
resembled both a helicopter and an airplane. According to the inventor, the device would
weigh eight-hundred pounds. It would rise from a garage, a roof, or a window as desired,
and would sell at $1,000 for both military and consumer uses. This novel invention was the
progenitor of today's tiltrotor or VSTOL (vertical short takeoff and landing)
plane. Unfortunately, Tesla never had the money to build a prototype.
Tesla allowed himself few close friends, although one was humorist and author, Mark Twain.
However, when he died in New York City on January 7, 1943, hundreds of admirers attended
his funeral services, mourning the loss of a great genius. At the time of his death Tesla
held over 700 patents.
Tesla's ideas on medical treatment with electricity are in widespread use today, as in
diathermy or deep-heat for injuries, arthritis, etc.; the application of x-ray, microwave
and radiowave to destroy cancer cells, and for healing bones and tissues. The magnetic
resonance imaging machine (MRI) is measured in Tesla Units. Tesla's idea of bathing in
"cold fire" or a low-power therapeutic device, is believed to have a
psychosomatic effect beyond the mechanical.
How could the most versatile and productive
genius in history have been lost to textbooks in America? How is it that even today,
electrical engineers, can describe Tesla as a "cultist" who invented "a
little motor." This might have been excused a generation ago, but today with all the
documentation of Tesla's achievements, it boils down in my opinion to a combination of
ignorance and professional arrogance.
To go back to the basic problem: He was not closely associated with universities or
corporations (except for Westinghouse), had no family to carry on his name; had little
patience with electrical and radio engineers, who were usually mystified by his work; was
himself eccentric, arrogant, and a loner given to making exorbitant claims to the press.
And when Tesla's AC system was used to harness Niagara Falls, the War of the Currents
ended with industrial jealousy and enduring bitterness. We see this today in those
who still champion Edison for his electrical system and Marconi for inventing radio. These
men were commercializers of Tesla patents; and Tesla was a poor businessman. He
understood that full appreciation of his work awaited future generations; and this has
proved correct. (Ref.: Tesla - Man Out of Time, 1981, Cheney; Tesla - Master of Lightning,
1999, Cheney & Uth).
The United States Postal Service honored Tesla with a commemorative stamp in 1983.
Tesla was inducted into the Inventor's Hall of Fame in 1975.
The Nikola Tesla Award is one of the most distinguished honors presented by the Institute
of Electrical Engineers. The award has been given annually since 1976. |
