Ah, we had such lofty hopes, didn't we.
Posted on 02/18/2005 9:13:26 PM PST by El Conservador
In the article "The Future of the Wireless Art" which appeared in Wireless Telegraphy & Telephony, 1908, Tesla made the following statement regarding the Wardenclyffe project:
"As soon as completed, it will be possible for a business man in New York to dictate instructions, and have them instantly appear in type at his office in London or elsewhere. He will be able to call up, from his desk, and talk to any telephone subscriber on the globe, without any change whatever in the existing equipment. An inexpensive instrument, not bigger than a watch, will enable its bearer to hear anywhere, on sea or land, music or song, the speech of a political leader, the address of an eminent man of science, or the sermon of an eloquent clergyman, delivered in some other place, however distant. In the same manner any picture, character, drawing, or print can be transferred from one to another place. Millions of such instruments can be operated from but one plant of this kind. More important than this, however, will be the transmission of power, without wires, which will be shown on a scale large enough to carry conviction. These few indications will be sufficient to show that the wireless art offers greater possibilities than any invention or discovery heretofore made, and if the conditions are favorable, we can expect with certitude that in the next few years wonders will be wrought by its application."
Well, screw him!!! (/light-hearted sarcasm)
I believe Tesla is one of the most under-rated inventors...
I usually recoil from predictions, but I found these electrifying.
Yep. I agree. I wonder if it's related to the fact that he's from Yugoslavia that people didn't really recognize his inventions.
He wasn't all-seeing. He completely missed the enormous potential to access boobie pics at any time and from any location.
Ah, we had such lofty hopes, didn't we.
And what's he get remembered for? Those cool coils that shoot lightning bolts.
L
Edison was a great refiner. That being taking existing know-how and making it useful or better.
Tesla was an excellent pathfinder. He was constantly coming up with new theories and devices which utilized his ideas. Tesla was on par with Einstein in terms of his peers of the day except he was more skilled in the physical utilization of his work.
They hade nickelodians back then, that could of suggested what direction that would've taken hold. :)
Tesla eclipses Edison by an order of magnitude, in terms of scientific accomplishments.
The only thing Edison should rightly be credited with is inventing the modern industrial / scientific "sweat shop" method of turning scientific discoveries into profitable processes and products. That is an accomplishment that may have more practical affects on human society than any of the "pure" scientific accomplishments of someone like Tesla, but it is not the same thing.
Tesla suffered 50 years of unremitting propaganda, primarily at the hands of Hollywood creating the stereotype of the eastern European mad scientist who is either out to destroy the world intentionally, or does damage through his ignorance of "nature's wisdom." This propaganda was created initially by Edison and continued out of perverse "loyalty" to him (really pandering) by those he helped establish in the early film industry through his patents (long story, Hollywood was created by "independents" who were fighting Edison's patent monopoly on motion pictures, but they helped perpetuate the anti-Tesla propaganda in part to assuage Edison after they beat his illegal trust).
I think Franklin would have liked both Edison and Tesla, but for different reasons. I'm desperately wanting to get hold of a relatively new book Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World. I love Tesla stuff.
Did you know that a derivative of a Tesla invention was used by the US government to cause the recent earthquake and Tsunami in Indonesia? It's true. They used the designs for the Wardenclyffe Project, which Tesla tested and accidentally caused the Tunguska incident. Really. I read it on the Internet. ;^>
Tesla actually managed to build his power broadcasting prototype (mostly by his own hands). Eventually his company foundered, and the tower was demolished to make way for (if memory serves) a pickle plant.
Wardenclyffe:
http://www.teslasociety.com/teslatower.htm
vintage photo of tower:
http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/td_tow2_pop.html
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