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In Praise of the Mad Scientist [Genius Inventor Nikola Tesla]
The Village Voice ^ | January 4th, 2005 | Samantha Hunt

Posted on 01/13/2005 8:04:25 PM PST by The Loan Arranger

Inventor Nikola Tesla is beginning to remind me of the Michigan Mushroom—that underground fungus, nearly as large as its native state. He keeps cropping up unexpectedly like a truth suppressed. In 2004 this once forgotten scientist peppered films as motley as the smoky Coffee and Cigarettes, the silicone-sleek Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and the shoestring Primer. Tesla, beside inventing the radio (check with the Supreme Court, Marconi fans), the radar, remote control, and alternating current (AC electricity), also tinkered with a series of dreamy though equally ingenious ideas: plans to light the oceans, photograph thoughts, use insects to create a harnessable power supply, communicate with life in outer space, harvest free energy from the Earth's atmosphere, control the weather with electricity, even build a ring about the equator that, by remaining stationary while the planet rotates, would make it possible to travel around the entire world in one day.

At the start of the last century, Tesla's mind-bending inventions foreshadowed a future in which an enlightened citizenry, wardrobed in silver space suits, would travel about a world where no one was ever hungry and war existed only in memory—where scientific wonders were invented every day in backyards, garages, and small workshops. Tesla, the cult hero of independent invention, is materializing again, a bright-red streak on the gray background of corporatized science, to remind us that something went awry.

(Excerpt) Read more at villagevoice.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; US: New York
KEYWORDS: callingartbell; deathray; electricity; inventions; radio; remotecontrol
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He truly was one of the great minds of the 19th & 20th centuries.
1 posted on 01/13/2005 8:04:31 PM PST by The Loan Arranger
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To: The Loan Arranger

I can never get enough of Tesla. If Hollywood knew how to make something besides a sequel or prequel, maybe they'd help spread his genius.


2 posted on 01/13/2005 8:06:45 PM PST by fo0hzy
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To: The Loan Arranger

Excellent article, BTW.


3 posted on 01/13/2005 8:08:49 PM PST by fo0hzy
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To: The Loan Arranger
What a load of crap the entire the article is. Not only is it the usual Tesla-centered slam against capitalism, but it also takes a slam against president Bush and his decision to limit embryonic stem cell research. One should expect as much from the Village Voice.
4 posted on 01/13/2005 8:22:33 PM PST by Moonman62 (Republican - The political party for the living.)
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To: fo0hzy

I'd rather have another good movie about Thomas Edison. There hasn't been one in over 60 years.


5 posted on 01/13/2005 8:24:17 PM PST by Moonman62 (Republican - The political party for the living.)
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To: fo0hzy
Excellent article, BTW.

Especially if you don't mind them leaving out the part of Tesla making millions of dollars with George Westinghouse, because that would ruin their angle of slamming president Bush and capitalism in general.

6 posted on 01/13/2005 8:27:03 PM PST by Moonman62 (Republican - The political party for the living.)
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To: Moonman62

That, too.

ARE YOU LISTENING, MICHAEL MOORE????

Wait... strike that...


7 posted on 01/13/2005 8:27:31 PM PST by fo0hzy
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To: Moonman62

WTF are you talking aboot?

Tesla died penniless. All of his papers were consficated.


8 posted on 01/13/2005 8:28:56 PM PST by fo0hzy
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To: Moonman62
at would ruin their angle of slamming president Bush and capitalism in general.

The Village Voice does not have one staff member who has any critical thinking skills. They are dominated by anti-Capitalistic Communists who are consumed with hating those who achieve great things and become rich in the process. I truly HATE all collectivists worldwide. The are truly one with SATAN.

9 posted on 01/13/2005 8:32:12 PM PST by liberty2004
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To: fo0hzy
Tesla died penniless. All of his papers were consficated.

He did die a pauper, but he was a millionare many times over at one time (probably worth close to a billion dollars in today's money). He lost all his money and all the money JP Morgan had invested in him chasing down the dream of wireless power distribution.

10 posted on 01/13/2005 8:33:35 PM PST by Moonman62 (Republican - The political party for the living.)
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To: Moonman62

http://foia.fbi.gov/tesla/tesla1.pdf

Indeed he gained wealth many times over with his inventions. But to say he exited this world a happy, rich man is pure fiction. He was forced to spend his wealth to prove himself, and to further his goals for his homeland, America. Tesla was a great Patriot; Marconi was a foreign thief of ideas.

I won't even mention your glib inclusion of the Bush name.

Marconi stole Tesla's thunder, not to mention his dream.

If Tesla had been able to chase his demons, who knows where we'd be this day.


11 posted on 01/13/2005 8:41:26 PM PST by fo0hzy
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To: fo0hzy

Uh, Bush was mentioned in the article quite prominently--no poster mentioned it as a glib aside. The author of this article--which is like a rock tossed in the air, praising one man, then gradually falls and hits its real target, the slamming of another--did that.


12 posted on 01/13/2005 8:50:16 PM PST by Darkwolf377 (Americans never quit. --Gen. Douglas MacArthur)
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To: Darkwolf377
***Especially if you don't mind them leaving out the part of Tesla making millions of dollars with George Westinghouse, because that would ruin their angle of slamming president Bush and capitalism in general.***

I'm sorry, what?
13 posted on 01/13/2005 8:54:09 PM PST by fo0hzy
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To: The Loan Arranger

I built a seven foot high ten million volt Tesla Coil once. Lit it up (10 foot arcs) on a residential driveway. Cops showed up, neighbor lady called them, thought UFOs had landed. :-)



14 posted on 01/13/2005 8:57:53 PM PST by RadioAstronomer
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To: RadioAstronomer

Did you? I hope that's true. lol


15 posted on 01/13/2005 8:59:26 PM PST by fo0hzy
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To: fo0hzy

Completely true. I will add those pics to my home page. :-)

I am finally creating a home page after 4 years here LOL!.


16 posted on 01/13/2005 9:01:35 PM PST by RadioAstronomer
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To: fo0hzy
***Especially if you don't mind them leaving out the part of Tesla making millions of dollars with George Westinghouse, because that would ruin their angle of slamming president Bush and capitalism in general.*** I'm sorry, what?"

Uh, did you actually READ the article?

Please go back and look at the final paragraphs of the actual article. THEN come back and tell me the other poster brought Bush into the discussion.

Word to the wise: Reading the article first will save you from embarassment in the future.

17 posted on 01/13/2005 9:01:43 PM PST by Darkwolf377 (Americans never quit. --Gen. Douglas MacArthur)
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To: fo0hzy
***Even more terrifying, scientists and inventors who cannot operate laboratories without government funding find themselves bound to a near medieval morality. President Bush, in an August 2001 speech delivered at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, stated, "I'm a strong supporter of science and technology, and believe they have the potential for incredible good—to improve lives, to save life, to conquer disease." But he then followed up that statement by saying, "I also believe human life is a sacred gift from our Creator," and, "I have made this decision [to curb the types of embryos that can be used in stem-cell research] with great care. I pray it is the right one." In such a climate, what will happen to the independent scientist? Somewhere they are toiling in suburban basements, on city rooftops with well-thumbed copies of Popular Mechanics piled by their sides, but with evolution being labeled "just a theory" in some textbooks, try building a submersible airplane in your garage or grafting your own DNA with the great blue heron's today. Try building a ring around the equator or drafting plans for population control that read like poetry. Chances are your neighbors will turn you over to the Department of Homeland Security. And so after praying for a winning lottery ticket, independent scientists should start to pray for a government that doesn't use prayer to draft scientific policy. ***

I'm sorry, what?

18 posted on 01/13/2005 9:02:47 PM PST by Darkwolf377 (Americans never quit. --Gen. Douglas MacArthur)
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To: Darkwolf377

No need for direction, I get the gist of it.

Your argument is as invalid as mine. So nyah.


19 posted on 01/13/2005 9:03:08 PM PST by fo0hzy
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To: RadioAstronomer

You'll always have something to talk about at parties. Were the cops impressed?


20 posted on 01/13/2005 9:03:23 PM PST by Moonman62 (Republican - The political party for the living.)
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