The Rise and Fall of Nikola Tesla and his Tower

Smithsonian ^ | February 4, 2013

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

That nasty Edison electrocuted every animal he could get his hands on. Even an elephant!

[imardmd1]

I worked for GE for 5 years, back in the 70s, as a Member of the Technical Staff, Semiconductor Products Dept., when Neutron Jack Welch ran it. I know what they do to their people.

[imardmd1]

AC is the best means of long distance power transmission.

If the transmission was by superconductor?

[Notforprophet]

That coral castle is far less impressive in person than Nimoy made it sound...

[Pan_Yan]

Since no one else has posted it:

Click for video.

Song: Edison's Medicine
Artist: Tesla
Album: Psychotic's Supper
Year: 1991

(You would think this song would be on the album "The Great Radio Controversy" but it's not)

Lyrics:

You're guilty of crime in the first degree,
Second and third as well.
My jury finds you'll be serving your time
When you go straight to hell.

'Cause he was Lord of the Lightning,
Though "socially fright'ning",
But never out to sell.

Their nickels and pence
Meant more than did sense,
And not the sensible thing.

Nor did the man outta time, man outta time.
Thought you was crazy. You was one of a kind.
Man outta time, man outta time.
All along, world was wrong. You was right.

All that he saw, all he conceived,
They just could not believe.
Steinmetz and Twain were friends that remained,
Along with number three.
He was electromagnetic, completely kinetic,
"New Wizard of the West."
But they swindled and whined that he wasn't our kind,
And said Edison knew best.

He was the man outta time, man outta time.
Thought you was crazy. You was one of a kind.
Man outta time, man outta time.
Said you was outta your mind!

You took a shot and it did you in.
Edison's medicine.
You played your cards, but you couldn't win.
Edison's medicine.

I spent twelve years of hard time,
More like the best years of my life.
Never heard or read a single word
About "the man" and his "wicked mind."
They'll sell you on Marconi.
Familiar, but a phony.
Story goes they sold their souls
And swore that you'd never know...

About the man outta time, man outta time.
Thought you was crazy. You was one of a kind.
Man outta time, man outta time.
Swore you was outta your mind!

You took a shot and it did you in.
Edison's medicine.
You played your cards, but you couldn't win.
Edison's medicine.

[skinkinthegrass]

thanks, for the post.

[TexasRepublic]

“This guy was so much more brilliant than Edison. In some regards, Edison was a punk and a copycat.”

Tesla was an errant genius and brilliant, mostly in an abstract way. Yes, his concepts for A/C power systems (motors, dynamos, transformers) were commercially realized, but what else outside of that field? His idea for wireless power distribution [Tesla coil] that everyone swoons over is still impractical even 100 years later because of the rate that radiant power diminishes relative to distance.

Edison spawned a broad range of industries that still affect our lives a century later. He is credited with over 1,000 inventions, and among the best was his concept of a research and development laboratory. Edison was empirical yes, but he was a pragmatist. Who goes farther, the dreamer or the doer? “Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration”. Edison’s lab was collaborative, nothing wrong with that. Most “invention” is a progression of other’s ideas. He guided research along promising lines, regardless where the idea originated. There are very few “bolt from the blue” inventions.

Tesla died broke, obscure and crazy. Edison died the opposite. So, who’s the genius, practically speaking?

[archy]

Wasn’t that a Tesla invention? Around 1894?

Can you recommend a bio of Lamarr?

Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World

Wal-Mart's got it.

[archy]

Yes, as a boy he saw a drawing of Niagara Falls in a book of the natural wonders of the world, and he had the vision of converting that falling water to power with turbine tunnels. And he built it.

And one of the first targets bombed by the USAF during Clinton's war on Serbian Christians was the Tesla museum in Belgrade.

[PA Engineer]

For your reference the first Tesla-Westinghouse power station is the Ames Power Plant in Telluride, CO. It is still in operation and I had the honor a little over 15 years ago to tour it. As far as I know, this plant is still in operation.

That is not me in the picture.

[Moonman62]

Tesla died broke, obscure and crazy. Edison died the opposite. So, who’s the genius, practically speaking?

Edison of course. But Tesla is now the patron saint of crackpots. I don't think Tesla was a crackpot. He was a brilliant inventor who suffered from mental illness and ended up being his own worst enemy. Tesla didn't face circumstances any worse than any other inventor of his time. He was a rich man at one point and had the financial backing of Westinghouse.

[TexasRepublic]

But Tesla is now the patron saint of crackpots. I don't think Tesla was a crackpot. He was a brilliant inventor who suffered from mental illness and ended up being his own worst enemy.

Agreed. I am not here to denigrate Tesla, but to defend Edison from his detractors. The same dark forces that are trying to tear down America are systematically discrediting and destroying all of our cultural heros and icons, whether they are historical, military or captains of science and industry. That trend is a contagion that is thoughtlessly spreading, even at FR, even in this thread. Edison was no saint, but he was a self-made man, a rough-and-tumble capitalist, a self-promoter, creative, and transformed the world in a positive manner that few men (especially politicians) in history ever have. He exemplified every thing the Left would tear down. Edison perfected ideas and commericalized them where others had only dreamed or failed. When you turn on a light, watch a movie, play a record, or listen the radio, you have Edison to thank. By comparison, Tesla is overrated.

[cyn]

Ah, but the story of its construction and later re-construction to a new site is an incredible one!