A brief history on Nikola Tesla
Some called him a ‘Mad Scientist’ other called him an ‘Electrical Wizard’. But behind the curtain he is one of the unacknowledged inventor who used to dream future and then ‘practically’ invent them in his laboratory.
Yes, he was Nikola Tesla.
He was born on 10 July 1856 in Austria (present day Croatia). It is said that he was born late night when thunderstorm roar in the sky than at that moment his mother claimed that he will be the child of light.
The childhood of this genius was not something extraordinary. He was a fun loving kid but usually fall sick. In his book “My Invention” he had mentioned many of his childhood exploration. His brother, Dane Tesla whom he consider to be an extraordinary gifted, died when Tesla was seven years old. Then being the only son alive his parents (father in general) always expected him to become like his brother. Tesla mentioned that after that incident whatever he achieve were never acknowledge by his family but rather demotivate him by saying that if his brother might have been alive than he would have done it better. Tesla, for many time was very close to death. Once he got cholera but surprisingly recover when he was allowed to pursue his engineering.
He had a photographic memory and he always credited his upbringings (specially his mother) for it. He used to say that whatever inventiveness he possess is mainly because of his mother’s influence who also invent many artifacts for household applications. From his early life he used to have visions, images and scenes and sometimes they were so strong that he doubt that they are not real. Later he controlled this ability and which really helped him to simulate machine in his mind and do all sorts of complex modelling and analyses and the final result could not have been more accurate and satisfying. He claim that there were not a single exception. Later he also said that using his power of vision he traveled unknown places and had also made many friends (imaginary) who were as dear to him as the living one.
His health were never better. He frequently fall ill. He got Cholera, many time due to illness he was given break from school for months. He never grow healthy and as a joke he once said that his suits fit him like gloves because the measurements were taken 35 years ago and never changed. His habits were unique. He always get rid from women. He never married in his life. He used to dislike women’s earing, pearl. He never touch the hair of other people (about women he wrote an article too titled-“Mr. Tesla Explains Why He Will Never Marry”). He gambled and had lost almost everything he possess in his pocket, he smoke intensively, he had a heart trouble due to excessive consumption of coffee. But he said that because he had awaken his dormant power hence find no difficulty to get rid of all his bad habits. He left gambling (here I want to paste a beautiful thought from his mother: One afternoon, I(Tesla) remember, when I had lost all my money and was craving for a game, she(mother) came to me with a roll of bills and said, “Go and enjoy yourself. The sooner you lose all we possess the better it will be. I know that you will get over it.”). He then never smoke or consume coffee. When he used
to live in hotel, he always had food in measured quantity and because he hated germs so he used many number of towels to keep clean. You may often encounter may quotes from tesla showing a strange relation with number 3,6,9 but there is no any reference that all those quotes comes from Tesla.
Life of an inventor are never easy especially for those who value a free society rather than an opportunity to earn. Ideas are never born in a corrupted brain. Tesla was not an exception. He have to make a deal with his father and to God himself for engineering. He selflessly devoted all his working hour to learn and invent stuffs. He reads a lot and have acquired all required knowledge from all books available. He was exceptional during his 1st years of college life. Even his professor once wrote in a letter to his father that unless he took him away from the Institution he would be killed through overwork. Same nature can also be found in later part of his life where even Mr. Edison was so impressed due to his exceptional work that he entrusted him to design the improved version of his existing DC generator for which Edison will pay him 50,000 dollar. But Tesla never received the amount. After he left Edison Company he had to spend his next few months digging ditches. His life becomes more stable only after he met George Westinghouse. Tesla owned about 300 patents (while Edison owned more than 1000 patents). Tesla later established his own company- “Tesla Arc & Light Company”. But he was not a business minded person. He sacrificed his normal life, he was in Paris when his dearest mother pass away. His entire youth was spend to invent and improve the machines to makes others life easier. However, he loved being with philosophers and poets. Mark Twin, one of the greatest English poet was one of his closest friend. He made his childhood’s dream to harness the power of Nigrafall successful after ruthless “Current War” with Edison. His laboratories catches fire where he lost his almost 10 years of his extensive work. He was also invited to give a lecture on future of electricity in American Institute of electrical engineering where he for the first time demonstrated his one of the greatest invention- “The Tesla coil” and make them speechless by allowing millions of volts of currents passing through his body and by lightening florescent bulbs without any wires. Those engineers were so impressed that he was honored to set in Faraday’s Chair and drink whisky from Faraday’s glass.
There are many myth regarding Nikola Tesla. ‘Einstein was once asked how it felt to be the smartest man alive. Einstein's reply was "I don't know, you'll have to ask "Nikola Tesla."’ This is a myth. Yes tesla did comment on Einstein Theory of Relativity but this two genius never face each other. "If you only knew the magnificence of the 3, 6 and 9, then you would have a key to the universe.” Tesla never said this sentence. Today media present Edison as the enemy of Tesla. However, Tesla personally never criticize Edison. He always considered his as one of the greatest inventor. Media also present J.P Morgan as a selfish business person who stop funding Tesla for his last dream project. While that was not the view of Mr. Tesla.
There are few rumors which are true. Mysterious signal received in his radio and that of his prediction of mobile phone and internet. Here is his actual words from his autobiography “My invention”:
““The ‘World-System’ has resulted from a combination of several original discoveries made by the inventor in the course of long continued research and experimentation. It makes possible not only the instantaneous and precise wireless transmission of any kind of signals, messages or characters, to all parts of the world, but also the inter-connection of the existing telegraph, telephone, and other signal stations without any change in their present equipment. By its means, for instance, a telephone subscriber here may call up and talk to any other subscriber on the Globe. An inexpensive receiver, not bigger than a watch, will enable him to listen anywhere, on land or sea, to a speech delivered or music played in some other place, however distant…”
‘World-System’ was his last dream project for which he had extensively worked for many years but couldn’t completed due to lack of funding. Here he wanted to build a system which could wirelessly power the entire world. It could have really transform our technology for 500years advance but the greed of human overpower an inventor. In one of his interview “Everything is Light” when journalist asked what is his view when futurists say that the twentieth century and the twenty-first century were born in the head of Nikola Tesla. Tesla answered: “Yes, these are some of my most important discoveries. Yet I am a defeated man. I have not achieved the greatest of my goals” and then he added- “…Humanity is not prepared for greatness”.
It is not that he is being forgotten. While the unit of magnetic field intensity in named after him i.e. Tesla. Today there are many electrical brand including Elon mask’s Tesla Company which also become the first car to go to space. I think he have seen the future as he rightly said- “Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine.”
At last his fate was not different than most of the inventors. He died in a hotel room of New York Hotel. The person who have practically bought industrial revolution in America (without AC it couldn’t have gain momentum) and who have transformed 20th century and shaped 21st century in his laboratory, died alone starving for every penny.
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