While he was among us, Nikola Tesla displayed a level of knowledge that was far ahead of his time. As of right now, he’s widely regarded as one of the greatest geniuses in history. When certain predictions that he made in the 19th century became a reality, his prominence in the modern world increased even more.
When it comes to the electrical systems we use today, we can get a sense of the impact Nikola Tesla has had by looking at how widely alternating current (AC) is used today because of its ability to travel long distances. Let’s take a look at some more of his incredible works.
The Use of A Wireless Network
This was a major point of interest to the great inventor Nikola Tesla, who worked tirelessly to develop wireless technologies that could more effectively transmit information. Tesla’s preserved papers (primarily diaries) readily reveal that the inventor speculated about the possibility of sending messages, telephone signals, and documents without the use of wires in the near future.
Wi-fi proved to be a great success for Tesla, making this prediction practically indispensable in the world we now inhabit.
Smartphones, Tablets, And Other Portable Devices
In 1926, the visionary demonstrated his plans for a technology that would allow anyone to receive images, music, and even movies from anywhere in the world. It was curiously titled, ‘Pocket technology’.
It’s strikingly similar to modern-day cell phones. Even the inventor claimed that we could attend meetings and other events remotely as if we were actually there. His demonstrations perfectly justify the use of today’s smartphones.
Remote Inventions
In 1898, Tesla exhibited the first remote-controlled device. It was made abundantly clear during the demonstration that a wire between the command centre and the object was not required for proper operation. Tesla’s demonstration was a major technological leap in the evolution of remote-controlled devices.
In his mind, remote devices would play an important role in the future. He got it right yet again. Some examples of this include robots (used in war, factories, and at home), some types of vehicles, drones, and even the controls for television and cell-phones.
Why Did Nikola Tesla Say That 369 Was The Key To The Universe?
Aircraft Used For Commercial Purposes
One of humanity’s greatest aspirations was to travel the world in the shortest amount of time possible. On the other hand, Tesla predicted that aircraft would be capable of transporting large numbers of people in a short period of time.
“Airship propulsion will be a major use of wireless energy in the future because it will eliminate the need for fuel and open the door to new possibilities not possible with current technology. In a matter of hours, we’ll be able to travel from New York to Europe”, the inventor stated. Using only fuel-powered aircraft, it still came very close to capturing the current state of affairs.
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8 Things You Didn’t Know about Nikola Tesla
- He Was Born During A Lightning Storm
Nikola Tesla was born around midnight, between July 9 and July 10, 1856 during a fierce lightning storm. According to family legend, midway through the birth, the midwife wrung her hands and declared the lightning a bad omen. This child will be a child of darkness, she said, to which his mother replied: “No. He will be a child of light.”
- He Was Really Funny
Most people don’t know that Tesla had a terrific sense of humour, Seifer said. For example, after dining with writer and poet Rudyard Kipling, he wrote this in a correspondence to a close friend:
April 1, 1901
My Dear Mrs. Johnson,
What is the matter with inkspiller Kipling? He actually dared to invite me to dine in an obscure hotel where I would be sure to get hair and cockroaches in the soup.
Yours truly, N. Tesla
- He & Edison Were Rivals, But Not Sworn Enemies
Many have characterized Tesla and inventor Thomas Edison as enemies (see this and this,) but Carlson says this relationship has been misrepresented. Early in his career, Tesla worked for Edison, designing direct current generators, but famously quit to pursue his own project: the alternating current induction motor. Sure, they were on different sides of the so-called “Current Wars,” with Edison pushing for direct current and Tesla for alternating current. But Carlson considers them the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates of their time: one the brilliant marketer and businessman and the other a visionary and “tech guy.”
On a rare occasion, Edison attended a conference where Tesla was speaking. Edison, hard of hearing and not wanting to be spotted, slipped into the back of the auditorium to listen to the lecture. But Tesla spotted Edison in the crowd, called attention to him and led the audience in giving him a standing ovation.
Seifer qualifies it more, saying the two had a love/hate relationship. At first Edison dismissed Tesla, but came to eventually respect him, he said.
“When there were fires at Tesla’s laboratory, Edison provided him a lab, so clearly there was some mutual respect,” Seifer said
- He Developed The Idea For Smartphone Technology In 1901
Tesla may have had a brilliant mind, but he was not as good at reducing his ideas to practice, Carlson said. In the race to develop transatlantic radio, Tesla described to his funder and business partner, J.P. Morgan, a new means of instant communication that involved gathering stock quotes and telegram messages, funnelling them to his laboratory, where he would encode them and assign them each a new frequency. That frequency would be broadcast to a device that would fit in your hand, he explained. In other words, Tesla had envisioned the smart phone and wireless internet, Carlson said, adding that of all of his ideas, that was the one that stopped him in his tracks.
“He was the first to be thinking about the information revolution in the sense of delivering information for each individual user,” Carlson said.
He also conceived of, but never developed technology for radar, X-rays, a particle beam “death ray” and radio astronomy.
- ‘He Shook The Poop Out of Mark Twain’
One famous legend surrounding the eccentric Tesla was that he had an earthquake machine in his Manhattan laboratory that shook his building and nearly brought down the neighbourhood during experiments.
Tesla’s device wasn’t actually an earthquake machine, Carlson said, but a high frequency oscillator. A piston set underneath a platform in the laboratory shook violently as it moved, another experiment in more efficient electricity.
It didn’t bring the block to ruins, Carlson said, but it did “shake the poop out of Mark Twain.” Twain was known for having digestive problems, so Tesla, who knew Twain through their gentlemen’s club, invited him over. He instructed Twain to stand on the platform while he flipped on the oscillator. After about 90 seconds, Twain jumped off the platform and ran for the facilities.
- He Had Famous Friends
People aren’t aware that he was close friends with conservationist John Muir, Seifer said. Muir, one of the founders of the Sierra Club, loved that Tesla’s hydroelectric power system was a clean energy system. It runs on waterfalls, which Tesla referred to as “running on the wheelwork of nature.” Also among his friends: financiers Henry Clay Frick and Thomas Fortune Ryan. “He lived in the Waldorf Astoria, at the height of the gilded age,” Seifer said, adding that his fame later in life lessened.
- Pearls Drove Him Crazy
Tesla could not stand the sight of pearls, to the extent that he refused to speak to women wearing them. When his secretary wore pearl jewellery, he sent her home for the day. No one knows why he had such an aversion, but Tesla had a very particular sense of style and aesthetics, Carlson said, and believed that in order to be successful, one needed to look successful. He wore white gloves to dinner every night and prided himself on being a “dapper dresser.”
Every photograph of Tesla, he said, is very carefully constructed to capture his “good side.”
- He Had A Photographic Memory & A Fear of Germs
Tesla had what’s known as a photographic memory. He was known to memorize books and images and stockpile visions for inventions in his head. He also had a powerful imagination and the ability to visualize in three dimensions, which he used to control the terrifying vivid nightmares he suffered from as a child. It’s in part what makes him such a mystical and eccentric character in popular culture, Carlson said. He was also known for having excessive hygiene habits, born out of a near-fatal bout of cholera as a teenager.
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NEXT UP!
The Inventor of A Water-Powered Car That Died In A Restaurant Yelling ‘They Poisoned Me’
“We recently took a scientific delegation to witness Stan’s work…and came back saying, this is one of the most important inventions of the century.” – Leonard Holihan, from the Advanced Energy Research Institute at the time.
Every day the world becomes aware of technologies that have the potential to halt the unnecessary damage we continue to create using fossil fuels.
We’ve been talking about it for years, transitioning our way of life to be more harmonious with the planet and its natural systems. I’m not talking about solar or wind power (although great), I’m talking about clean and green technology that render fossil fuel burning technologies inferior and obsolete.
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