Right now I am reading probably the most in depth Biography of Tesla. This guy has always fascinated me. What is even more fascinating, is how overlooked he is, no one hardly knows who he is!!!
It is sad that more people know who Edison was. Edison, was a douchebag, hardly an inventor, more a business man who made all his money by exploiting people like Tesla.
Tesla was so ahead of his time, that our modern technology has yet to even catch up to his feats. Wireless transmission of mass energy is a possibility, has been since the early 1900's, thanks to Tesla, but it is kind of hard to charge people without a meter connected to a wire. By the turn of the century he was already delving into electric vehicles and even dabbled in warfare machines that would make foot soldiers and manned vehicles obsolete.
Edison and Marconi set out on a devastating propaganda campaign to discredit falsly all his inventions and discoveries, and this negative attitude towards a mind as great as Einstein and Newton still lives on!
Almost every single electronic appliance you have from a vibrator to a washing machine is eityher possible, or improved because of Tesla. Still to this day patents that were stolen from him are being overturned and rightly placed in his name.
here is a list of things he only patented, not even a quarter of the inventions he was drawing plans for and actually had function on a few occasions:
US Patent 11,865 Method Of Insulating Electric Conductors
US Patent 334,823 Commutator For Dynamo-Electric Machines
US Patent 335,786 Electric-Arc Lamp
US Patent 335,787 Electric-Arc Lamp
US Patent 336,961 Regulator For Dynamo-Electric Machines
US Patent 336,962 Regulator For Dynamo-Electric Machines
US Patent 350,954 Regulator For Dynamo-Electric Machines
US Patent 359,748 Dynamo-Electric Machine
US Patent 381,968 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 381,969 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 381,970 System Of Electrical Distribution
US Patent 382,279 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 382,280 Electrical Transmission Of Power
US Patent 382,281 Electrical Transmission Of Power
US Patent 382,282 Method Of Converting And Distributing Electric Currents
US Patent 382,845 Commutator For Dynamo-Electric Machines
US Patent 390,413 System Of Electrical Distribution
US Patent 390,414 Dynamo-Electric Machine
US Patent 390,415 Dynamo-Electric Machine Or Motor
US Patent 390,721 Dynamo-Electric Machine
US Patent 390,820 Regulator For Alternate-Current Motors
US Patent 396,121 Thermo-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 401,520 Method Of Operating Electro-Magnetic Motors
US Patent 405,858 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 405,859 Method Of Electrical Power Transmission
US Patent 406,968 Dynamo-Electric Machine
US Patent 413,353 Method Of Obtaining Direct From Alternating Currents
US Patent 416,191 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 416,192 Method Of Operating Electro-Magnetic Motors
US Patent 416,193 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 416,194 Electric Motor
US Patent 416,195 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 417,794 Armature For Electric Machines
US Patent 418,248 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 424,036 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 428,057 Pyromagneto-Electric Generator
US Patent 433,700 Alternating-Current Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 433,701 Alternating-Current Motor
US Patent 433,702 Electrical Transformer Or Induction Device
US Patent 433,703 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 445,207 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 447,920 Method Of Operating Arc-Lamps
US Patent 447,921 Alternating Electric Current Generator
US Patent 454,622 System Of Electric Lighting
US Patent 455,067 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 455,068 Electrical Meter
US Patent 455,069 Electric Incandescent Lamp
US Patent 459,772 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 462,418 Method Of And Apparatus For Electrical Conversion And Distribution
US Patent 464,666 Electro-Magnetic Motor
US Patent 464,667 Electrical Condenser
US Patent 487,796 System Of Electrical Transmission Of Power
US Patent 511,559 Electrical Transmission Of Power
US Patent 511,560 System Of Electrical Power Transmission
US Patent 511,915 Electrical Transmission Of Power
US Patent 511,916 Electric Generator
US Patent 512,340 (HTML) Coil For Electro-magnets
US Patent 512,340 (PDF) Coil For Electro-Magnets
US Patent 514,167 Electrical Conductor
US Patent 514,168 Means For Generating Electric Currents
US Patent 514,169 Reciprocating Engine
US Patent 514,170 Incandescent Electric Light
US Patent 514,972 Electric Railway System
US Patent 514,973 Electrical Meter
US Patent 517,900 Steam Engine
US Patent 524,426 Electromagnetic Motor
US Patent 555,190 Alternating Motor
US Patent 567,818 Electrical Condenser
US Patent 568,176 Apparatus For Producing Electric Currents Of High Frequency And Potential
US Patent 568,177 Apparatus For Producing Ozone
US Patent 568,178 Method Of Regulating Apparatus For Producing Electric Currents Of High Frequency
US Patent 568,179 Method Of And Apparatus For Producing Currents Of High Frequency
US Patent 568,180 Apparatus For Producing Electrical Currents Of High Frequency
US Patent 577,670 Apparatus For Producing Electric Currents Of High Frequency
US Patent 577,671 Manufacture Of Electrical Condensors, Coils And Similar Devices
US Patent 583,953 Apparatus For Producing Currents Of High Frequency
US Patent 593,138 Electrical Transformer
US Patent 609,245 Electrical Circuit Controller
US Patent 609,246 Electric Circuit Controller
US Patent 609,247 Electric Circuit Controller
US Patent 609,248 Electric Circuit Controller
US Patent 609,249 Electric Circuit Controller
US Patent 609,250 Electrical Igniter For Gas Engines
US Patent 609,251 Electric Circuit Controller
US Patent 611,719 Electrical Circuit Controller
US Patent 613,735 Electric Circuit Controller
US Patent 613,809 Method Of And Apparatus For Controlling Mechanism Of Moving Vessels Or Vehicles
US Patent 645,576 System Of Transmission Of Electrical Energy
US Patent 649,621 Apparatus For Transmission Of Electrical Energy
US Patent 655,838 Method Of Insulating Electric Conductors
US Patent 685,012 Means For Increasing The Intensity Of Electrical Oscillations
US Patent 685,953 Method Of Intensifying And Utilizing Effects Transmitted Through Natural Media
US Patent 685,954 Method Of Utilizing Effects Transmitted Through Natural Media
US Patent 685,955 Apparatus For Utilizing Effects Transmitted From A Distance To A Receiving Device Through Natural Media
US Patent 685,956 Apparatus For Utilizing Effects Transmitted Through Natural Media
US Patent 685,957 Apparatus For The Utilization of Radiant Energy
US Patent 685,958 Method Of Utilizing of Radiant Energy
US Patent 723,188 Method Of Signaling
US Patent 725,605 System Of Signaling
US Patent 787,412 Art Of Transmitting Electrical Energy Through The Natural Mediums
US Patent 1,061,142 Fluid Propulsion
US Patent 1,061,206 Turbine
US Patent 1,113,716 Fountain
US Patent 1,119,732 Apparatus For Transmitting Eleectrical Energy
US Patent 1,209,359 Speed Indicator
US Patent 1,266,175 Lightning Protector
US Patent 1,274,816 Speed Indicator
US Patent 1,314,718 Ship's Log
US Patent 1,329,559 Valvular Conduit
US Patent 1,365,547 Flow Meter
US Patent 1,402,025 Frequency Meter
US Patent 1,655,113 Method Of Aerial Transportation
US Patent 1,655,114 Apparatus For Aerial Transportation
British Patent 1,877 Improvements in Electric Lamps
British Patent 2,801 Improvements in Reciprocating Engines and Means for Regulating the Period of the same
British Patent 2,812 Improvements in Methods of and Apparatus for the Generation of Electric Currents of Defined Period
British Patent 2,975 Improvements in Dynamo Electric Machines
British Patent 6,481 Improvements relating to the Electrical Transmission of Power and to Apparatus therefor
British Patent 6,502 Improvements relating to the Generation and Distribution of Electric Currents and to Apparatus therefor
British Patent 6,527 Improvements relating to Electro-motors
British Patent 8,200 Improvements relating to the Transmission of Electrical Energy
British Patent 8,575 Improved Methods of and Apparatus for Generating and Utilizing Electric Energy for Lighting Purposes
British Patent 11,293 Improvements relating to the Utilization of Electromagnetic, Light, or other like Radiations Effects or Disturbances transmitted through the Natural Media and to Apparatus therefor
British Patent 11,473 Improvements in Alternating Current Electro-magnetic Motors
British Patent 13,563 Improvements in, and relating to, the Transmission of Electrical Energy
British Patent 14,550 Improvements relating to the Insulation of Electric Conductors
British Patent 14,579 Improvements in and relating to the Transmission of Electrical Energy
British Patent 16,709 Improvements relating to the Conversion of Alternating into Direct Electric Currents
British Patent 19,420 Improvements in Alternating Current Electro-magnetic Motors
British Patent 19,426 Improvements in the Construction and Mode of Operating Alternating Current Motors
Canadian Patent 24,033 Improvements in Dynamo Electric Machines
Canadian Patent 29,537 Improvements in Methods of and Apparatus for the Electrical Transmission of Power
Canadian Patent 30,172 Improvements in Methods of and Apparatus for Converting and Distributing Electric Currents
Canadian Patent 33,317 Improvements in Methods and Apparatus for Converting Alternating into Direct Currents
Canadian Patent 135,174 Improvements in Fluid Propulsion (Tesla Pump)
Canadian Patent 142,352 Improvement in the Art of Transmitting Electrical Energy Through the Natural Mediums
Tesla was a cool guy. Edison was a classic American success story of intelligence combined with crookedness.
I was impressed when I read about how Tesla could visualize working models well enough to "proof" and improve them.
I empathized with how he had to go lie down in a dark quiet room sometimes.
i think the government might have wanted tesla to keep quiet as alot of his ideas and inventions ended up in black programs.
yeah, after his laboratories burned down for the second time (mysteriously!) the FBI confiscated all his works and journals, and only until lately has much of that stuff been uncovered due to the Freedom of Information Act.
When I was in high school I had a good friend who was into Telsa and told me alot about the man. He was truly an astonishing figure when it came to the abitilty of making the impossible possible. Maybe thats why all the real important stuff disapeared.
GP
Well, that whole supposed death ray he invented and then dismantled was pretty wierd. Have seen large tesla coils in person and now that is impressive! And I couldn't find any refference to it online but he I think tried to pass off a few fraudulent inventions at one time, and I think that hurt his record in the long run. And didn't he come up with a gyroscopic engine at one time?....... I don't see it in that patent list above.
from all the Biographies and info I have read, I never once came across stories of him creating fraudulent inventions. Tesla made a lot of claims that were outrageous for the time, which he later proved almost all of them. He was laughed at in college, when he told his professor in front of the class that rotating field magnet motors didnt need a commutator, which converts the raw AC into crappy DC.....12 years after that he succeeded in proving everyone wrong.
Maybe the tales you have heard about fraudulent inventions came from some guy who claimed he had made a steam engine of sorts, which he gave many public displays of, but after his death, they found out it was just a huge complex looking box that had compressed air and a pedal which released a puff and made the crowd go "ooohhhh".
I just came across this thread and I was suprised that I never noticed it before. I am a geek when it comes to Tesla and his life. I started learning about him due to his employment by Edison. Although I have heard that Edison ripped him off, Tesla was still fond of the man and said that he treated him well. It was in fact a foreman under Edison that had ripped Tesla off. I know about the whole Marconi thing, but what was not mentioned was the fact that Tesla taught a lot of the RF stuff to Marconi and in fact Marconi was an apprentice so to speak of Tesla's. When Tesla died, a couple of years later, so did Marconi, his boat the Electra disapeared, and along with many other scientists that had dealings or were faithful to Tesla and Marconi. The rest is just speculation as to why all that occured and if they really did die. Tesla was also one who was very eccentric, but if you read his autobiography you would understand why. He had a fondness with flying and loved pigeons. A story about such love occurs late in his life. A white pigeon that was his whole world came to him one night and he describes that the pigeon told him that she was dying and that "white light shone from her eyes." When the pigeon died, so did Tesla's dreams and he passed away shortly afterwards a poor and destitute man. To me Tesla never was part of this world as most people believe as reality and that he had help due to the "friends" he had while he slept, he just never understood that he was not ever part of society, but of a much higher order. I would actually consider Tesla more of a sorcerer than that of a true inventor. He looked at the world not as atoms and molecules, but rather as life forces and energies that one can tap into. In fact most people do not truly understand that most of his inventions were not powered by AC but rather by a strange more powerful force that exists right before the electrons flow down the transmission line. Therin lies the fault by which most cannot reproduce the same results as he did of his inventions.
interesting take dergheist.
You can find alot of his patents here at this site, including talks with mars exc.
http://www.rexresearch.com/1index.htm (http://www.rexresearch.com/1index.htm)
About 6 or 7 years ago I went to visit a friend who had moved to live in Belgrade. It was just between the two terrible wars. The place was falling into disrepair due to the fact that the economy was basically knackered.
I knew that Nikolai Tesla was born there, and that his house had been turned into a museum, so my friend and I went to seek it out. We found this huge old house, which was in darkness and all closed up. I was going to walk away because I presumed that it had closed down due to what was happening. I decided however to give a feeble ring of the bell before walking down the steps to the street, kind of disappointed.
Then the door opened and this young man answered - He invited us in and put all the lights on. He then proceeded to give Maria and I a guided tour. He switched on all the electrical apparatus so that we could experience all the amazing inventions he had constructed. Huge Van De Graaf generators that lit up fluorescent lights we held up, brass eggs that would do the impossible and rotate and stand up on their thin end. We were given free run of the place to read all the letters he had written and received from other scientists such as Einstein.
The most fascinating thing was a letter he had written to another scientist about this feeling he had that something was wrong with his mother. She was desperately ill in Belgrade, and he was working in America. He got straight on a ship and reached her a couple of days before she died. There had been a letter in the post to him, but it was going to take 3 weeks to reach him. They crossed over in transit!! If he had waited for the letter, he would have been too late (it still sends nice shivers down my spine to think about it). He was definitely tapped in to other communication channels.
Interestingly, most of the old 'great' scientists (Newton, Galileo, Descartes and etc.) were just as much mystics as well as hard line scientists. Only history has recorded only what some people [wonder who?] considered to be the the less contentious facets of their life!! (although thankfully now the orthodox physics is being called into question, and metaphysics explored more sympathetically)
What a really amazing experience for me. I think he was probably the most turned on scientist around!!
Zalien
That is a very interesting story, and thanks for taking the time to write about your experience. This story thrills me to no end! :D