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Why do we have so much detail on Wardenclyffe Tower here when the article on the tower says no one knows how it was supposed to work? From PBS story on Tesla it appears that he was trying to transmit power through the ground not the air. But they claim no one knows as does the Wardenclyffe article. Rmhermen 15:52, 5 Aug 2003 (UTC)
It'd really be nice to have a section that lists just his inventions. It'd make this article a lot more useful. :-) — Frecklefoot 14:54, 7 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Reddi: are you sure about the 1912 Nobel Prize? I cannot find supporting evidence for it. The official Nobel prize site [ http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1912/] just talks about Nils Gustaf Dalen, no one else
What's a street gang, and can someone expand on that (intriguing) sentence? Graft 02:24, 12 Aug 2003 (UTC)
On a COMPELETELY different topic ... doew anyone know Tesla's middle name? I have search a long time for it (since a year ago, when it started to bother me) .... but to no success (doesn't everyone have a middle name?) ... his museum has his birth certificate, but I cannot read it (i only read / write english and bad english) ... if anyone can, please tell me and I'll find the link to it [or goto the meuseum site and look around) reddi 02:38, 12 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Follow me on instagram: @travis.terayama
Please use past tense to discuss historical facts. Alternating back and forth between past and present tense is rather disconcerting for the poor reader.
Alternatively, if you insist on writing in present tense, the for God's sake be so good as to do it consistently throughout the article. I mean really:
Mkweise 02:47, 18 Aug 2003 (UTC)
In 1884, leaving the warfare of his birthplace behind, Tesla moves to the United States of America to accept a job with the Edison Company in New York City. He arrives in America with 4 cents to his name, a book of poetry, and a letter of recommendation (from Charles Batchelor, his manager in his previous job). Tesla supports his brother-in-law's church in Gospic while in America. | In 1884, leaving the warfare of his birthplace behind, Tesla moved to the United States of America to accept a job with the Edison Company in New York City. He arrived in America with 4 cents to his name, a book of poetry, and a letter of recommendation (from Charles Batchelor, his manager in his previous job). Tesla supported his brother-in-law's church in Gospic while in America. |
— Frecklefoot 19:31, 18 Aug 2003 (UTC)
OK, this is beyond silly. History is almost always written in the past tense because it happended, in well, the past. Why the heck do you think there is a past tense at all? The only exception is the day and year pages because there is an immediacy to them. And Wikipedia general practice has been overwhelmingly to write history in the past tense. -- mav 19:38, 18 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Is this a joke??? You NEVER write professional history articles in the present tense, not for history books aimed at anyone over the age of 6!!! Never ever ever. Lightweight 'cartoon' coverage of history may do it, usually with pictures you colour in with crayons on the side. But no serious textbook, let alone an encyclopædia, does it. If they did they would make themselves an international laughing stock. As someone said above, it is "beyond silly". It is absurd in the extreme. Is this idea some sort of belate April Fools' day joke??? It is so nonsensical an idea as to be sidesplittingly funny. Why next? Writing every thing article in capitals? Bold every second word? Write backwards? FearÉIREANN 21:13, 19 Aug 2003 (UTC)
I've asked a colleague on the phone and (once he had stopped laughing) he explained that writing in the present tense was a rather naff fad a few people on the fringes of historical researches tried, and like all naff fads (roller discos, leg warmers, 1970s architecture, perms, writing 'hir', the Bay City Rollers, Fame, electing Jimmy Carter) is looked back upon with embarrassment, usually of the sort of 'what the hell were we smoking/taking/thinking of at the time?' :-) FearÉIREANN 21:25, 19 Aug 2003 (UTC)
(the following few paragraphs were moved from village pump)
Over at Talk:Nikola Tesla, a disagreement over whether history should be written in the past or present tense has resulted in an article that alternates between past and present tense in a very ugly fashion. I've started a discussion at Talk:Nikola Tesla; if there is an authoritative answer, please post there. Mkweise 16:45, 18 Aug 2003 (UTC)
A lot of the problem is that people are switching back and forth between tenses in the same article. I've also run across the future tense -- "He would go on to ..." form. I change those to "He went on to ..." whenever I see those. RickK 02:12, 19 Aug 2003 (UTC)
I've started converting the bio to past tense and have done some rearranging and rewording in the process. As of this writing, I've reached "Laboratory Construction." If you see any grammar errors or instances of present tense that I've missed, please go ahead and fix them. Changing passive voice to active would also be appreciated (<-- note: that sentence is passive-voice) :-) — Frecklefoot 14:50, 20 Aug 2003 (UTC)
some of this article comes across as rather credulous, repeating the conspiratorial Tesla stuff one comes across on the Internet but which is never properly sourced and is clearly dubious at best.
For example, most people consider Tesla's obsession with wireless power transmission to have been quixotic; the practical inefficiencies doomed it to failure on anything but a very small scale. Similarly his "death ray" (if it existed) was most likely a focussed microwave beam, which would happily fry a bunny at two feet but would have had no practical combat use.
Would be great if someone with knowledge of the relevant history and electrical engineering could update the article to show the borderlines between Tesla the scientist, Tesla the obsessive, and Tesla the part-fictional construct of latter-day conspiracy theorists.
I second the above motion that this article is unduly credulous about several of Tesla's ventures, and this leads me to think that there should be a section in the article about Teslaphiles. You know who I mean. For some reason there seems to be a Tesla fan club that attributes the man with visionary powers beyond all ken. It may have to do with sympathizing with the "crackpot genius vs. the uncaring bureaucracy" mentality. I propose this section not to discredit Tesla or make fun of his defenders, but because it seems to be an actual phenomenon. Tesla fans are about 1000 times more passionate about the subject than Edison fans. Incidentally, see Cecil Adams for a (rather undetailed and summary-like) dismissal of Tesla's broadcast power. Tempshill 22:40, 11 Dec 2003 (UTC)
First allow me to say that I am no Tesla expert and certainly not an EE. I have no expertise as to evaluate how plausible/crazy Tesla's wireless tranmission ideas and work were. My impression from this article (alone) is that the indications are that wireless ground/air power transmission as proposed by Tesla might actually work, but that it has not been tested as a full system. The informative science comments in this section seem to be asserting that pieces of his work on this were subsequently confirmed by independent research. So if his wireless transmission does not work (as one might suppose given we don't see them), perhaps a section akin to the one on the signals from space would be appropriate? Indicate what parts of the discovery have been confirmed, which parts were inaccurate, and which if any remain speculative. As a reader, that would be very helpful. Thanks. - JohnG
I was wondering .... besides being American ... what's up with the Serbian - Croatian thing going on? Is there any data to conclusively state one or both? I was under the impression that it is preferrable to referred to Tesla as a Serbian-American (IIRC, I read this on the Tesla Society (or a letter by them) that he was this) ... but a few web sites, again IIRC, cite him as a Croatian-American. A minority of other sites do both. It really matters little to me ... but I've seen a few edits back and forth and would like to get a general concensus ... and mabey stop the flip-flop ... Sincerely, JDR
Well,you know,if you would say that an american was born and grew up in germany youd still only call him american,so why would this be different?cause tesla is a serb so now he is not allowed to be a serb anymore? he was a serb and son of an orthodox priest so im more than surprised about the croatian claims on tesla.i thought they hate orthodoxy:) so why do they want an orthodox person?cause they cant make their genious?:) anyway,tesla mostly studied in austria which is totally understandable considering that croatia didnt even exist,it was a province of austro-hungary. igore,i heard about the romanian claims on tesla and i cant understand who started with this nonsense:)there are absolutelly no proof of any romanians in these areas. the only people who can say they exist in dalmatia (not like) is the italian national minority. i believe from what i understood on some page that tesla never accepted american citizenship,at least the office for aliens dealed with whats left after his death which brought me to that conclusion. - Katarina
It might be interesting to see how was Tesla referring to his origin in his patents: [4].
The article starts off saying he was born on "1856 July 10". The Biography section does not mention what year (I had to go looking), and says that birth certificate date says "June 28". Can someone clean this up? Scott McNay 09:45, 2004 Feb 16 (UTC)
Some sources suggest July 9 and some sources both July 9 and July 10
"Transmitter" should be his "transciever". JDR
Huh, easy there, Irismeister. Where's the corroboration for this huge Aromanian ethnic nationalist litany? Some quotes from the autobiography perhaps...? Google has astonishing 4 matches for "Nicu Teslea", and I know a few Serb nationalists who will take offense at this (albeit, regardless of whether it's true or not :)... -- Shallot 23:14, 16 May 2004 (UTC)
Teslea is a Vlach. Teslea is also a genius. All governments would like to see their "subjects" boost their governmental legitimacy. Serbs know Vlachs for they prevent them from having schools in their own language. They know the truth and hide it. Therefore it's not in Serb official documents that you'll find what you call my "allegation" on Teslea's ethnicity. As for taking offense, it's their privilege and character, as much as mine are discovering and unearthing the truth, for historical and informational purposes.
As a whole, in the Balkans, you must use your own judgement in lieu of Google or else you'll see how easy it is to bomb those poor Serbs only because of some Google "fact". Let me stress that everybody respects humans in the Balkans, and much as I resent ethnic lies, I also respect Serbs, complete with their governments. Also, bombing them was a war crime and a big mistake.
As for the ethnicon, in truth, you will find it in visiting Lica and Teslea's family, as I did. The corroboration is in facts, and in your own careful analysis and understanding. Or, alternatively, only in your putting together the evidence (linguistical, bibliographical, historical).
Look, if you insist in deleting the fact, I will let you delete my stuff and I will even let you take Google as your ultimate bibliographical source :O) Then, and only then, I will bring you the ISBN and jpg and certified historical files.
What I will not do is either homework for you, or letting you believe Google is the arbiter. Hope this helps :O) - Sincerely, irismeister 13:18, 2004 May 17 (UTC)
If truth were only "corroborated" as you put it, my friend, by our poor understanding, then the world would be fairly chaotic. I concede to you, Shallot, that more and more, these days, people become interested in Google far more than in the real life.
No wonder to me then, that we bomb people to liberate them, that we liberate them to rob them, and we rob them so that we can bomb them more. Talk about circular arguments :O) In the mean time, let this Wiki article NOT be a collateral damage of the "American attitude" to truth, liberty, thinking and culture.
Suggested homework:
01. see if "allegations" contain anything interesting and relevant to the subject matter;
02. do your own research
03. gather material
04. now look at what you've got so far
05. then use your judgement
06. draw your conclusions
07. temptatively put them into writing
08. communicate them to us on this page
THEN we can discuss. But then again, why bother ? It's much more simple to dismiss what you care not accept. In the mean time, remember our Nicu Teslea and all our ancestors would turn into their graves looking at what you do to truth and to their ancestral values.
Yours - irismeister 16:00, 2004 May 17 (UTC)
That's a cliché, not real thinking! Just because Americans have no roots, it doesn't mean that roots are not important. They are essential! Peoples who don't know who they are, become like the Americans, prone to impose a changing in the world before they have a chance to change (or only understand themselves, I'm afraid). There is more than Horatio in philosophy :O) - irismeister 15:26, 2004 May 19 (UTC)
Most Americans have CEASED to judge critically. For a great description of this end of the game and bitter fall, read the book called "The CLOSURE of the American mind". They just watch corporate-media-controlled (what we call CMC in Europe) tv. They are fed lies and every day more lies are rammed down their big mouths and deep throats. They want everybody to be like them. And then they genuinely ask why is it that everybody hates them. Nobody hates them, everybody just pities them! Remember? yYu can't applaude with only one (american) hand! And we don't judge people by "indication" (hence The Ugly American "I bomb you in order to liberate you" approach). But we judge people by recognizing they are human beings FIRST - just as you are, or I am.
Clearly, in all recent international activities, including the so called "international" Wiki in English, this is not the case.
The problem with most Americans thinking they hold the power, mystery and final word in this world is that the "others" get diabolized in the process and ultimately, and sadly, immediately bombed out of their "opinion" and "POV".
Americans call this process "freedom of speech" and "fair" debate.
They first set the rules, then they play by them, then they expect everybody to play the same game, then they don't play by their own rules, and finally they only recognize whatever those rules didn't bomb out in oblivion - themselves.
This is an old logical disaster called petitio principii.
Morally, the disaster is called hubris.
Technically, this is called "globalization".
Please note I did not, nor will I start an edit war.
I just said what the truth of the matter IS.
It's up to you, who cared to react, to take notice.
I have time to comply to whatever onus you invoke, being a volunteer contributor and a free person. See you soon back here, pal, with all the necessary documents - if you still care :O) - irismeister 16:45, 2004 May 17 (UTC)
PS Being a true Vlach, and a man of honor besides being the genius he is, Niţă (tender Nicu, as his beloved mother called him) Teslea suffered enormously from the Ugly American Edison, the FBI and everything and everybody who now run to grab his heritage one more and again. He never suffered from his fellow Vlachs - and fellow Serbs, and fellow Croats for this matter. Americans simply cannot grab everything and then spit on everybody - simply because that they thus only spit on their own foot :O)
Just for the record, Tesla is indeed a nickname last name, as in Serbian it means adze. Same Slavic root is visible in words relating to carpentry, such as tesar or tesati. Dr?ghici is a romanised spelling of Serbian last name "Dragić"; drag means "dear" in Serbian and is also a common Slavic root.
Negative, my friends! The Slavs took the word from the Vlachs, who had, just like the DALMATS, HUNDREDS of florishing life years, using this word in their Romance language, even for their Christianity, before the Slavs arrived. The historical records of the first Serb dynasty, the
Nemanides, show this clearly, and with utter respect for truth:
Teslea, opcina, plemena, katunar, sud, "voinuci", pronoiari, cnez, celnik, comes, primikjur are thoroughly documented as applied to Vlachs as trademark "qualifiers", even ethnicons.
Serbs have a history of taking local words and making them look like Slavic. For instance they also took ponos from Greek, hence ponosnici in the Nemanide chancellery papers starting with the early 13th century.
Yet another example of theft and re-appropriation of history: Vlastelini, the people of the place existed everywhere before the Serbs arrived, and were thus named by Southern Slavs, since they were ubiquitous for eons before the Slavs even entered the Balkans in the late 6th century, and early 7th century, with the Avars.
More such words passing from the Vlach language to Southern, Old and even Pre-Slavic are documented every day now:
Serbian kjelatori, for instance, comes DIRECTLY from Early Romanian and Vlach călători - classical (non-popular) Latin viator.
This certainly didn't look like Latin, but was popular Latin, not Serbian, just because classical Latin had viator instead. Yet another example here: fientia documented as popular Latin, which exists only in Vlachian and Daco-Romanian - but I do not want to start boring you :O).
So, my friend, your élan national is commendable, but we must together say the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
I will let you restore it, and then (if not restored), I will bring the documents to show how what you said hid the facts.
We will not go into an edit war!
We will, however, let the truth be known, and formulate it correctly, and completely, as good as we can, in common, for the record.
As I said, the Serb government, much unlike the Americans, did good to our Teslea, and the bombardment of Serbia by the Americans was a cowardly, criminal, war crime act.
Teslea will not forgive us for telling something else than the truth - and since we all admire him, let it be known. Hope this helps. - Yours, all - irismeister 08:12, 2004 May 19 (UTC)
I can't believe I am wasting my time on this, but point by point: that Lika is inhabited by Istro-Romanians isn't confirmed even by Bogdan's map. That Tesla's father's last name was Tesla could be clearly seen in Tesla's birth certificate (fourth row of the main text, second and third word). First name of Tesla's father was Milutin; this is old Serbian name, coming from word "mil" (now "mio") which mean "dear" which could be confirmed by Serbian-English dictionary. That Teslea is an Aromanian last name is dubious; as I said, Tesla in Serbian means "adze" and is related word to other carpentry-related words such as "tesar" (carpenter) or "tesati" (to hew); does Teslea means "adze" or something similar in Aromanian I don't know because the word is relatively rare and not in dictionaries; however, "carpenter" in Romanian is "tâmplar" or "dulgher", according to English-Romanian dictionary. Old last name of Tesla's family was indeed DragiŪ Draghici is Romanian variant of that name. "Drag" means "Dear" in both Serbian and Romanian but it is clearly a Slavic borrowing into Romanian because it doesn't exist in Latin languages ( English-Latin dictionary) but does exist in Russian which could be confirmed by English-Russian dictionary. Romanian phonebook does list 995 Draghici living in Bucharest, while SCG phonebook finds 200 (maximum search result) Dragić living in Belgrade. They also find one Teslea and three Tesleanu in Bucaresti
while there are 30 Tesla families living in Belgrade. Gica indeed is a Romanian name but it appears to be a male name. According to Tesla's birth certificate, name of Tesla's mother was Georgina, which is a Serbian name (female variant of "George" actually) and Djuka is nickname of that name. Names of Tesla's sisters, Anghelina, Milica and Marica, are also common Serbian female names; Anghelina is a Christian name while Milica has same root as Milutin. Nikola 07:18, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)
User:Irismeister is a currently banned user, and you now have some insight as to why -
David Gerard 17:34, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I been doing some research and his mother's maiden name is Mandic which is very common in Croatia so she's very likely a Croat. This father is most likely a Serb. He himself identified as a Serb and took after his father but is very likely he is a Serbo-Croatian (not pure Serb). He was born in a very multicultural region in Croatia then under Austrian empire and was schooled in Austria. There may some truth to the idea of Serbs "re-writing" history to turn him into a pure Serb. And also there may be some truth to the whole "vlach" background although is quite impossible to prove.
He was born close to Dalmatia which is a historical region inhabited by eastern latin speaking peoples. The actual extents of this region are unknown and were probably much larger than documented. Note that dalmatian people were not same as vlachs. There were at the time vlachs coexisting with dalmatian peoples and vlachs were different. These dalmatian didn't seem to have a very unique and different culture but only spoke a very different language. These people were "slavicized" but they didn't completely vanish. Some of the proper names of places and people were converted into slavic variants. Such as for ex Cattaro became Kotor, Jadera became Zadar names still used today but sometimes completely changed like Ragusa becomes Dubrovnik etc. Is quite likely some Croatian names from the region may be dalmatian people or names that were slavicized. All this is purely speculative but totally possible in regards to the hestory of the region.
Read the blurb above to understand the point of this final message. The name Mandic is actually most common in the Dalmatian region. See here https://actacroatica.com/en/surname/Mandi%C4%87/ Is possible this name is connected to these eastern european latin speaking peoples and the name was probably spelt differently originally. It is possible that he was Serbo-Croato-Dalmatian . His mother's side may be ethnically Dalmatian but due to history she became a Croat. Friendlyworkout ( talk)
This article is part of the Nikola Tesla series. |
Tesla, SI unit |
Duka Mandic (his mother) |
Tesla patents |
Wardenclyffe Tower |
any suggestions on a msg? JDR
Main list of articles related to Tesla
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I understand that many people who edit this page love some of the sentences that appear primarily in the biography section because they keep getting reverted to, but you have to realize that some of them are blatent gush about Tesla. I'm going to address some of them here specifically because they get changed back and forth multiple times every single day, so I think its worth talking about.
1) "In Tesla's early years in America, his fame paralleled that of any other inventor or scientist in history and in popular culture"
There is no way a person can parallel EVERY SINGLE other scientist and inventor. Its just not possible because the personalities and achievements of scientists vary so much. Why does my sentence of:
"In Tesla's early years in America, his fame paralleled that of other inventors or scientists in history and in popular culture."
keep getting reverted to a statement which cannot be true?
2) "His name became a byword for innovation and practical achievement."
Probably applies to Edison more than Tesla. While this might (I'm not convinced completely) have been true at the time, its certainly not true any more (once again, sorry Tesla fans, but Edison wins). Also, I dont think that the word "byword" is being used in a technically correct way here, but is being used colloquially. See dictionary.com.
What is wrong with:
"He was known for innovation and practical achievements."?
This sentence is undeniably true and says the same thing.
3) "He was a "magician" who conjured up technical feats"
This sentence is blatant gush and makes a joke of the entire section in my mind. Tesla was not a magician. He was a scientist. I don't care if you put quotation marks around the word. This sentence transmits no information and explicitly and implicitly compares Tesla to a sorceror. Why?
4) "Tesla was born at the stroke of midnight"
Sensationalistic writing that has no place in an encyclopedia.
Minor Issue:
Extraordinary genius vs. genius
Calling Tesla a genius is a fact. You could argue with almost complete certainty that he was a genius, which is a quasi technical term that is well defined. Calling him an extraordinary genius is an opinion, and wikipedia is not the place for opinions. In my opinion he is not of the same caliber as Einstein, Newton, Galileo etc. Thus he is an extraordinary human being, but not an extraordinary genius (I actually think of him as a good example of a genius). That makes this sentence WRONG in my mind, but I realize that some people do consider him an extraordinary genius. It should be simply "genius", which nobody can dispute really.
(Top posting above his huge list.) Securiger, just fix it. It's a wiki. Make the changes. (BTW, I agree with you point by point, but lacked the sources to cite to make the case. Well done. Just go to the main page and fix it. -- Rick Boatright 14:53, 13 May 2004 (UTC)
How do I go about disputing the factuality of this article? It is just too riddled with Tesla idolatry/crack-pot stuff. A few examples:
The category exists (categories being the MediaWiki 1.3 replacement for article boxes). All the Tesla series articles are in it now, except of course this one, because it's locked ... - David Gerard 23:48, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I am entirely unconvinced that Tesla did anything even remotely related to FEL's as stated in: "He also produced the effects that are now referred to as "free electron lasers."" under the "propagation and resonance" section. The concepts needed to understand and build a FEL are rather beyond the reach of turn of the century physics I think. If no source for this information is provided I think this line should be removed.-- Deglr6328 08:17, 14 Jul 2004 (UTC)
FELs (free electron lasers) require a " electron" beam, notice the coherent beams between the coils (don't get distracted by the corona discharge). Tesla understood the monoenergetic energy for incident electrons (as shown in his discovery of the bremsstrahlung process). This effect is much akin to the cathode rays (without the vacuum) of negatively charged "particles"; a stream of "corpuscles". Things required [which Tesla had set up] for a FEL are a resonant "cavity", not just a "optical cavity" (the resonance between the multiple coils through the natural medium (eg., air) could preform this function to "bounce" energy back and forth within an area). As to the array of static (usually permanent) magnets used today, the energized coils themselves preform this function.
The resonance between the coils sets up a high frequency monoenergetic coherent " ion" energy beam (or "stream") (today it is achieved by means of collimated light). The electron plasma density would exhibit a gain in emission when the coils are in resonance. This is the ase (amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) part of laser [specifically, the spacially periodic alternating polarity electromagnetic radiation Tesla was experimenting with]. JDR 18:11, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC) [PS. I would advise you to find the paper by T. Grotz's "Development of Particle Beam Weapons Based on Nikola Tesla's Design of 1937" for the ultimate culmination of this research. Also, here is a nice link for you].]
Everyone is right to be skeptical. It has nothing to do with FELs. Although Tesla discussed passing hundreds of horsepower through a channel far smaller than the width of a human hair, he was discussing his "Death Ray" invention which was based on atomic clusters of liquid mercury or tungsten accelerated in a vacuum, brought out into the air, and used as a weapon. The accelerating voltage was provided by a huge VandeGraaff machine with a high velocity gas as its charge-carrying belt. It's a particle beam, but one composed of charged atomic clusters rather than single subatomic particles. It's closest relative is the modern water-jet cutting machine. Tesla claimed that it could bring down aircraft at a distance of hundreds of KM, claimed that he had built fully functioning versions, and he attempted to sell this invention as a coastal defense system to several governments at the end of his life. Unfortunately he died during negotiations. The "death ray" is fully explained in the recent PBS show TESLA, MASTER OF LIGHTNING. The "hair-fine channel" discovered by Tesla is easily reproduced in desktop experiments, and currently finds application in research under the name "electrospray."-- Wjbeaty 02:10, Jan 1, 2005 (UTC)
Tesla invented a telephone repeater (or amplifier), which could act as an audio speaker (not an audio transducer).
What does this mean? If something can act as a loudspeaker then, by definition, it is a transducer. -- Heron 10:23, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)
He chose this location [Colorado] primarily because of the frequent thunderstorms and the thinness of the air (reducing its dielectric level), making it more conductive.
What is "dielectric level"? (I know we have a stub article on it, but that doesn't define the term.) Can you use a conventional physical term, please? Do you mean permittivity, conductivity, dielectric breakdown strength, resistivity, or something else? How is thinner air more conductive, and why is that a good thing? -- Heron 10:51, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Thanks. I read the PDF article you referred to. Your statement in the Wikipedia article seems to be combining two of Tesla's statements which I do not think are related. First, he talks about oxidizing atmospheric nitrogen to make fertilizer. Well, that's possible, if expensive, but he says nothing to connect the availability of atmospheric nitrogen with the location of his laboratory in Colorado or with the conductivity of the air. Second, he says that it's easier to ionize air at high altitudes where the pressure is lower. This is also a well-known fact, but has nothing to do with nitrogen. The proportions of nitrogen and oxygen in the air are constant with altitude up to about 80 km [9]. I can see no link between nitrogen and Colorado.
I suggest we replace your statement:
with this:
What do you think? -- Heron 13:44, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)
What can be done about:
Done
Other > is the "External links" section is too long?
Thanks for any input ... JDR
In the last week this article has been constatly sneaky-vandalized, and we're all pretty sick of reverting it back to serbian instead of vlach (and others). I took the liberty to list this page in WP:RFPP, thought this might not be the proper action.
What actions should we take about this? — Kieff | Talk 02:44, Oct 11, 2004 (UTC)
( William M. Connolley 20:03, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)) OK, we have an anon who would like Tesla to be a Vlach. If he was, this is fine by me, but I see no evidence that he was. The Vlach page map would appear to suggest not, but that is hardly definitive. This page [10] includes a quote attributed to Tesla: I am a Serb but my homeland is Croatia, which may or may not be reliable. This page [11] has User:GeneralPatton saying T is a Vlach, so I shall leave a note for him.
Well, i've lived close to tesla's house (5 kilometres), and i know wery well history of the area, and i'm perfectly aware which kind of people are calling Tesla Vlach. Small nationalists trying to erase any trace of cultural existance of local serbs in the area. Like making parking lot from the tesla's father church: http://www.eparhija-gornjokarlovacka.hr/Images/Eparhija/Gospic/Gospic4.jpg or or by destroying graveyard where his parents are burried http://www.eparhija-gornjokarlovacka.hr/Images/Eparhija/Gospic/Gospic11.jpg. Or dinamiting his statute in the centre in the town. More sofisticated are trying to proclame him Vlach. Well guys, why destroy the churches, statues, graveyards of the Vlachs? You were at the war with the serbs? Aren't you?
There is absolutely no doubt that Tesla was a Serb, a very proud one too. He was a huge fan of serbian literature and a writer of poems as well. In his biography I read a qoute from him and it goes something like this "I have invented many great things in that will improve the world but nothing makes more proud then when I think that it was done by a Serb". The qoute is 95% correct as its been some years since I read the book. In another qoute he says that "We Serbs are a proud people that guard the gates of Europe from the Asian hordes" I read a few books on Tesla and the one that these qoutes are from is called Wizard if I'm not wrong. It is one of the more recognized of his biographies.
Tesla unfortunately has become commonly associated with nutters these days, despite apparently being an unsung genius...
this is true. A lot of stuff has been published that speak of fantastic inventions of free energy forever, a motor that runs on gravity or whatever, which have been suppressed by the FBI or men in black. There are many claims that relativity was invented before Einstein such as by Edgar Allan Poe and others. I guess there are at least 50 Reativity inventors in each country ;) -- FrankA 01:35, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)
But the "well documented" claims that he lit lights at 25 miles... can anyone document this?
I read this as well, but under a pretty dubious bio. A lot of his experiements still can't be reproduced today. Makes you wonder how he did them. -- James 10:26, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)
The 25 mile claim is apparently erroneous. It was never directly reported in any of Tesla's lab notes or direct writings. -- Bert 05:05, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Anybody care to comment on his birthdate. 9th and 10th both seem to feature with google.
Nikola Tesla wurde exakt um Mitternacht zwischen dem 9. und 10. Juli 1856 geboren. He was born exactly at midnight:
http://www.dpg-fachgremien.de/p/informationen-dateien/plasmaphysiker/tesla.html
66.68.252.119 wrote: Smiljan, Croatia is no where near serbia and Tesla websites and encyclopedia articles consider him as a Croat not a Serb and changed "Serbian" to "Croat".
This first issue stems from a misunderstanding that the adjective "Serbian" refers to "Serbia", where in fact it refers to "Serbs". I don't know if we'll ever be able to rectify this without using the unusual adjective "Serb". The second issue is patent nonsense. -- Joy [shallot] 01:27, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Nikola Tesla called himself Croatian because he was born and lived there, he also spoke Croatian a slightly different language to Serbian. Yes his father was Serbian but his ancestry is not Serbian. Tesla family name is Romanian in origin. This concludes that Nikola Tesla is Croatian and where his family comes from and their origins are irrelevant...we are talking about him only and he is Croat without doubt...... We can trace most cultures back to Africa .so are we all African...... Nikola liked to be called Croatian and not Serbian and in the end what evidence is there that Tesla name originated in Serbia = NONE.his parents are Serbs of Romanian origin We are not talking about his parents We are talking about Nikola alone and he was born in Croatia.
I don't think that the mention of the Life magazine list deserves to be in the lead section. It's particularly ironic that Edison is number 1 and Tesla number 57 in the same list... but judging by the rest of the list, that may not have been done intentionally, but merely due to U.S.-centricity. -- Joy [shallot] 17:40, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)
i thought he died after being hit by a taxi .not of heart failure.
I would advise someone to check 137.132.3.11's edits as s/he only knows how to vandalise. Do not want to revert any later edits (unsigned comment by User:SqueakBox
An anon user, 66.17.239.99, made several edits in a short span of time that added and/or removed external links. I'm having difficulty following what the user was trying to do, (there were no edit summaries). Can someone confirm that no legitimate links were removed? Thanks. (P.S. Please make use of the "Preview" button, rather than filling up the page history with minor changes, that's what it is there for.) func (talk) 14:57, 24 May 2005 (UTC)
Please sign your edits, unless you want to be seen as deliberately impolite. Use: ~~~~ (but without the nowiki...) William M. Connolley 11:00, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC).
Those interesting in trying to rein in the tesla-philes might also look at Dynamic theory of gravity which also needs attention after a recent bout of boosting by an anon. I've used up my reverts for now :-(. Maybe it should be VFD'd.
Other than the new Wizard, the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla book, does anyone have a link to the fact that this was a Double exposure? Sources usually denote that this was a single exposure (Seifer was the first I know to say that it was a double). Any links? Books? etc? If not, then statement that the photo was a double exposure should be qualified in the article. (PS., Tesla could ingulf himself in plasma ... there are several accounts of him doing this (in america and europe), so this may be an instance that he was not afraid of the amps killing him (the plasma in the photo being just EHV and extremely low amperage)) 9 Jun 2005 by anon user 204.56.7.1
It has to be a double exposure.
Conclusion: It has to be a double exposure. On line sources which concur: [13] [14] [15] (none of these are wiki mirrors...) Rick Boatright 18:41, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)
This page is growing excessively (I've just cut it down somewhat) due to people adding stuff thats already on the sub pages. It doesn't all need to be here and it shouldn't be. Also, every semi-mythological tesla factoid (tungaska...) does *not* deserve a place.
According to Wikipedia (and general encyclopedic) convention, to biography of Nikola Tesla should be put under the lemma Nikola Tesla, not Biography of Nikola Tesla. To make a coherent, readable article, that would require, to shorten the sections on Teslas works and invention, which is no problem at all, because there exist already several separate articles for them. -- Pjacobi 17:06, 2005 Jun 15 (UTC)
I think the best thing would be for the main article to be the biog. The inventions etc can be summarised and sub-paged. That would be better than having the biog sub-paged. William M. Connolley 19:27, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC).
Also, please clarify your statement: NT is the preliminary entry. Do you mean there should be short and a long bio of Tesla? This would set a rather strange and unfortunate precedent. Or do you thing the version Nikola Tesla should be deleted and replaced with Biography of Nikola Tesla? -- Pjacobi 20:31, 2005 Jun 15 (UTC)
Pj: I admire your patience in arguing with The Unsigning One. But... it looks to be pointless. William M. Connolley 21:05, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC).
I've restored the merge notice. Just to clarify (because it is in fact a touch misleading, from my POV): I think there is text on the biog page that should be merged in here, and stuff here that should then be moved out, to keep the article size down to about 32k. If there is a tag for that instead of merge, then lets us it, but failing that I'd like to see the merge tag stay. William M. Connolley 22:04, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC).
After wandering over from RFC and reading both articles and discussions, I absolutely agree that this page should be the biography - it's an article about the man, therefore it's a biography. Biography of Nikola Tesla is just a fork for the Teslaites to rave about how wonderful he was and how we'd all be living high on the hog if all of his marvelous inventions weren't suppressed. If the article is really getting too long create additional articles about his inventions or the crackpot theories surrounding him. Soundguy99 04:13, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I wonder if someone trustworthy and knowledgeable (Joy) could clarify the ethnicity stuff. The page suffers fairly regularly from people swapping serb for croat for vlach for... well I don't know. William M. Connolley 08:41, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC).
Because of the edit wars and non-NPOV edits, should the excess information be moved to wikibooks?
I don't know who's brillian idea it was to start a Wikibook with this material, but it has created a firestorm of activity at The Wikibooks Staff Lounge. If you want to help to define in part the relationship between Wikibooks and Wikipedia, I would recommend that you get involved in the debate. Trust me, there are people at Wikibooks that are watching the content that comes over, and Wikibooks should not be considered a "dumping ground" for random content. Even so, I thought that the material that did make it to Wikibooks was well done in terms of Wikibook format.... before it was deleted by an Admin. That, for me, is what has touched off the controvercy all over again. -- Robert Horning 04:04, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
Its clear we have agreement that *this* should be the biog page. The biog can then be a redirect here. Some of the excess stuff here can probably then be cut/moved elsewhere to keep this page at a managable size. I will do this tonight I think unless someone (other than 204, of course) objects. William M. Connolley 09:10, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC).
This the view of the documentry of PBS : Tesla : Master of lightning
This is what Tesla stated on his single noded tubes. The 2 node x-ray tubes cause damage differenctly. Later, Telsa did have an assistant hurt from his x-ray experiments.
This is true. He was "forgotten", because of the political historical revisionism furthered by D. Sarnoff (who bought the marconi corporation). He was also in poverty near his death. -Anon
OK, I think we (Jnc) and I are in agreement: Tesla was important, but the article gushes. Also... if you have time, take a look at the various duplications... Colorado Springs is here and in Wardencliff tower. William M. Connolley 2005-06-29 08:49:16 (UTC).
Yeah, the article definitely gushes in places. I have edited some of the gush without changing any actual meaning except for the bit on superconductivity. The article was quite misleading in implying that Tesla had a role in the discovery of superconductivity, which is most definitely not the perception in the scientific community. Per wikipedia's NPOV policy, I clarified the issue. Krazikarl August 5, 2005
WMC stated, 20:17, 25 Jun 2005, in the edit history: stop hrowing around baseless charges of vandalism. Why do you insist on duplicating material that exists elsewhere? Reponse: I'll stop charging "vandalism" when that is not being done. The material does not exists elsewhere in the full form. The Magnifying Transmitter article (which you must be citing) covers only alittle bit about the dirary and it doesn't cover the othr aspects in the main NT article which you are removing. -Anon
is still in both. Only a true Telsa-phile could think that - gasp - keeping a diary - how extraordinary! The man *must* be a genius - could be worth mentioning, let alone in two seperate articles. And it had 500 pages! Wowie!
Actually, copies of Tesla's "Colorado Springs Notes" can be easily had via the used book market for $35-40. Bert
I truncated this sentence:
at the comma, because the rest of it doesn't make sense. If we can decide what the second clause means, I'll fix it and add it back to the article. -- Heron 11:40, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I have some pictures from the Nikola Tesla Museum from Belgrade. and i have no time for editing the Tesla page. If someone woud ike the pictures, (s)he can contact me at mulaz@email.si or on irc (www.ircnet.com -> servers and choose one from your country) nick = mulaz . I'm online weekdays usualy all the time, and some weekends.
oh yeah - 19 pics - 12MB
Might try to see if this becomes active @ some time. -Anon
Why is forgotten linked to Historical revisionism? Salsb 7 July 2005 21:20 (UTC)
If you like Tesla... you may like Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Tesla's Tributes and honors. Check it out... William M. Connolley 2005-07-07 22:18:08 (UTC).
==Tributes and honors== [[Image:Tesla Memorial NF small.jpg|thumb|right|135px|Tesla Memorial at Niagara Falls]] There have been many things named in tribute to Tesla. Below are a list of [[Tesla's Tributes and honors]]. The scientific compound derived [[SI]] unit measuring [[magnetic flux density]] or [[magnetic]] induction (commonly known as the [[magnetic field]] '''B'''), the [[tesla (unit)|tesla]], was named in his honor (at the ''Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures'', [[Paris]], [[1960]]). Nikola Tesla was: * Life Fellow IEEE (United States) * Fellow [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] (United States) * Fellow [[American Electro-Therapeutic Association]] (United States) * Member of [[New York Academy of Sciences]] (United States) * Member of [[American Philosophical Society]] (United States) * Member of [[National Electric Light Association]] (United States) * Member of [[Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts]] ([[Serbia]]) * Member of [[Societe International des Electriciens]] ([[France]]) [[Image:Serbia100Dinara.jpg|thumb|135px|Tesla on 100 [[Serbian Dinar]]s in 2004. Photo courtesy of [[National bank of Serbia]].]] ''[[Life magazine]]'', in a special double issue, listed Tesla in the "''[[Life magazine#LIFE.26apos.3Bs_100_most_important_people_of_the_second_millennium|100 Most Important People in the Last 1000 Years]]''". He occupied the 57th position, cited as "[one of] the most farsighted inventors of the electrical age". They state his work on the [[rotating magnetic field]] and alternating currents helped electrify the world. [http://www.teslasociety.com/lifemag2.jpg] Some Tesla monuments include: * Nikola Tesla Corner, 40th Street & 6th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City * Tesla monument at [[Niagara Falls]] : located on [[Goat Island (New York)|Goat Island]] in [[New York]] In addition, a number of things have been named after him or dedicated to him: * A [[Impact crater|crater]] on the far side of the [[moon]] was named after Tesla. It is 26 km in diameter at -2,0°width, -132.0°height. (The USGS [http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/moon/mooncrat.html] has the following data: 43.0 km diameter, 38.5°N 124.7°E.) * [[2244 Tesla]] is a [[minor planet]] named after him * The 100 [[Serbian Dinar]]s banknote in 2004. [http://www.nbs.org.yu/serbian/slike/73s3p.jpg See photograph], courtesy of the [[National bank of Serbia]][http://www.nbs.org.yu] * [[Nikola Tesla (power plant)|Nikola Tesla]] - the largest [[power plant]] in [[Serbia]], 2.8[[gigawatt|GW]] * [[Tesla (band)|Tesla]] - a [[rock band]] Tesla is a continuing character in a series of novels by [[Spider Robinson]] concerned with [[Callahan's Crosstime Saloon|Callahan's]]. The Tesla Coils of the PC games [[Red Alert]] and Red Alert 2 are named in his honor. The super person Nikola Tesla is a [[Japan]]ese comic ([[manga]]). The Tesla Cannon in the computer game Blood is a weapon that shoots electric projectiles. ----
The info between the horizontal rulles (and nowiki tags) needs to be put into the Tesla article if the Tesla's Tributes and honors article is deleted. It was removed becaue WMC complained about the article size, but then wants to delete the split article. If it's not going to be able to exist as it own, then it need to be in the main article. 216.185.232.203
I think some of this deserves to be in the main article. Tesla was a great engineer. However, 1) All of it? any publically known emminent scientist has these honors and more 2) the article is still around for now, so at least wait to see if it gets deleted Salsb 8 July 2005 01:18 (UTC)
Howdy, Could someone please upload the picture of the turbine generator of block A5 in Nikola Tesla power station found at http://www.ear.eu.int/publications/main/news-a1a2b3bo4.htm It's from the EU and so is in public domian.
It would be nice if we could have a articles on the two Tesla Power Stations. It's been established by VfD precident that all public electric power utilities are notable and worthy of inclusion. Together these power plants generate 47% of Serbia's electricity
For more information see http://www.eps.co.yu/about/nikola_tesla.php
Klonimus 9 July 2005 03:14 (UTC)
Could we include his awards, but not his memberships? I ask this because some of them are simply societies any scientist can join with just dues. Also, any famous scientist is named as a fellow to multiple societies, but it is not considered worthy of mention for other scientists. Yet, of Tesla's notable awards none are listed in the award section, and only one is mentioned at all; the Edison medal.
During a meeting with Edison, after working for him for some time, Tesla outlined many improvements for efficiency and power in Edison's dynamos. Edison was so skeptically impressed, he said jokingly, he'd pay 50 thousand dollars to someone who would do as Tesla had outlined. But Tesla didn't realize the joke and took Edison's words seriously, designing a series of dynamos over several months in fulfillment of his offer. Only when he came to collect the $50k, did Edison let him know he had made the offer in jest.
Thomas Edison was forefront, at the top of the fledgling American electronics industry. And Tesla, some tall spindly eccentric character who seemingly just stepped off a boat, broke, from Europe was offering to make major redesigns to his devices which were years beyond the work of his best engineers. It is easy to see how Edison could joke about Tesla's offers. And it's easy to see how a non-English native speaker could misinterpret the jovial conversation: "I can redesign such, such and such." "Ha! No way, if you can do that I'll give you 50 grand!" "I can do it." "Ha, ha, OK, you can try (but it'll never happen)."
If Edison were more morally inclined, he would have given Tesla the $50k, despite his offer being originally in jest, but it is rewriting history or promulgation of existing mythology to say that Edison "reneged on his agreement" or "promise" since agreement was made only by Tesla, one-half of the two parties. Later in life, Tesla remarked that it was a stupid mistake on his own part not to have realized that Edison was only joking during that meeting. I don't think the article does a good job of revealing the facts of this story. -- D. Estenson II 10:25, July 10, 2005 (UTC)
My problem is that the article implies, incorrectly, that Edison originally considered the $50k offer a real deal. About a year ago, I read an article published in the late 1930's or early 1940's where Tesla in his own words wrote it was naive or simple-minded of himself to think the "agreement" with Edison was a verbal contract, when Edison was never serious. Though it is true that Tesla felt insulted not to have been paid what he thought was owed. I should try to find this article again to verify his comments. -- D. Estenson II 00:33, July 11, 2005 (UTC)
I personally think the U.S. government has created the deathray, it was identified to me as a low-class terrorist defense weapon for crowd control at first. It does exist though, it can be stronger. I heard about this device on CNN last year or so. Besides that, does anyone know if the time and place Tesla lived enabled him to learn multiple languages at once, or did he simply take interesting into linguistics? -- Cyberman 10:32, 10 July 2005 (UTC)
Is there a reference for the following: "In the same year, Tesla devised an electric igniter ( spark plug) for gasoline engines which was nearly identical to ideas about the same process used by modern internal combustion engines." in particular the "which was nearly identical ...." clause ? Salsb 21:54, 11 July 2005 (UTC)
The article should mention that Tesla's expertise was not limited to electricity. While not a pioneer in the field, he knew a great deal about fluid dynamics, and had several patents based on the mechanical properties of fluids. His knowledge of fluid mechanics proved essential when he famously built the hydroelectric turbines at Niagra Falls. I think some of his knowledge of fluids also assisted his understanding of electrical currents. It is important not to neglect this subject, since it contributed to his success. -- D. Estenson II 19:53, July 14, 2005 (UTC)
There was some text introducted by an anon on the generation of magnetic fields, which I removed. I did keep the conversion between Tesla and Gauss and corrected the size of the earth's magnetic field in Tesla {~50microT, not ~1microT}, although I am not sure this belongs here. Salsb 16:06, 24 July 2005 (UTC)
Shouldn't some of these details be in an article about the plants themselves? Salsb 16:06, 24 July 2005 (UTC)
After looking at the reference, I noticed that the text was incorrect (47% of Serbia's power}, so I corrected it. Salsb 23:18, 25 July 2005 (UTC)
Nikola Tesla is also a hardcore band in Calgary AB
"Tesla was born around midnight with lightning striking all around during a summer storm"? Is this certain? Do we have a reference? Kel- nage 15:37, 6 August 2005 (UTC)
The patent office clasiifies inventions by Class/Subclass. The 1st 3 digits are the class. The second digits after the backslash is the subclass. This is from thier site:
Heron, a primary class of patent US685012 is 178/43 (it is bolded), but other equally applicable classes include 505/825; To look up the up what the classes mean, go to the classification search.
Sincerely, JDR 14:29, 9 August 2005 (UTC)
There used to be a Wikibook at b:Biography of Nikola Tesla, which got VFD'd. This decision has now been reversed, and it's back. A couple of things:
Thankyou. - Aya 42 T C 01:46, 10 August 2005 (UTC)
Tesla was noted for his obsession with pigeons in his later years. His obsession with pigeons can be lumped together with his other eccentricities. Simfish 01:26, 19 August 2005 (UTC)
During the later years of his life, Tesla became fascinated with T'ai Chi, and I have read & heard that he witnessed in real life, some extraordinary thing sthat inspired many of his more esoteric inventions / concepts.
I believe it is all related, and if you have any more information since you started looking, I would really like to know about it.
Do you know if Tesla ever worked on a Time machine? I read somewhere once he was working on such a thing and made something disapear.. Tesla said it was possible to travel in time
Is this true????
Ivo
Hi Aleks
I heard that he made something disapear but he didnt know where it went...Tesla said it was in time travel... He was said to be working on it with some other scientist..name escapes me now... RE movie Philledlphia Experement with actor Michael Pare had a documentury on how the movie was based on some facts ... they mentioned that Nikola Tesla was working on time travel ...im 90% sure its where i heard that story.......or a program on Time Machine... Nikola was a very smart man...im sure he would have tested anything and everything given the money, which for most of his life he didnt have enough of.....I also heard he got ripped of with inventions..others taking his inventions...which is sad for Serbs. We Croats have many inventions among them , Parachute, Cravat, Torpedo, finger printing machine, maglite, pen etc...and we have the Dalmatian dog....so we have our pride but you Serbs did have one great man in Tesla...shame the world doesnt pay him the respect he deserves....bit like our Croat Jew David Schwarz.....
Ivo..........
Other views on origin over this have no merit...just propaganda from both sides..
The above people lived in a time when that sort of thing wasnt important nor should it be today. Life was much better when they were all called Yugoslav. EVERGREEN
WE ALL NEED SOME RAKIJA TO COOL DOWN
Let's end the edit wars here and now! I'm tired of everyone arguing about this point and constantly changing and reverting edits. Let's settle the issue once and for all and be done with it. This childish bickering is completely unacceptable and very unprofessional! Erzahler 17:39, 20 April 2006 (UTC)
If this ethnic war keeps up, I'll recommend to the Wikipedia adminstrators to delete this entire article!! Erzahler 19:56, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
Well said Erzahler
Its all stupid.... Someone is editing to say Tesla is Serb only while keep changing Andric into Serb and Croat. People should leave things alone. Tesla is Serb of possible Vlah origin. OK Andric is Croat only but did write in Serbian and had a liking of its people...Thats all... Boscovich is Croat and Italian...saying he has serb blood is silly. Someone should go in and change to the above as I think this is correct. Most will agree from both sides. PS If we are Slavs and if we have same or simular last names...Croats and Serbs could well be the same or mixed with one another...so pointless if we are the same people hahahah get my drift
Evergreen
I have requested a block of the user using IP address 88.111.97.240 due to his/her continued vandalism of the page. Erzahler 18:00, 25 April 2006 (UTC)
Could someone summerize the facts about J. P. Morgan and Telsa and add it to the J. P. Morgan page? There is nothing about Telsa there. I know that Morgan financed Telsa but I don't really understand why and for which project so I am unable to write about it and I think it would make an important addition to the Morgan page. cda 18:03, 18 September 2005 (UTC)
To do this properly would be to write a book. Morgan and Tesla were friends, and Morgan payed Tesla to play in his lab, giving him first dibs on any marketable ideas. Basically, anything after 1900 or 1904 or whenever the two got together would be a project Morgan financed (with the exception of electricity while in Colorado Springs, that he got free from someone else)
Simfish, good idea. Tesla, in his later years, was obsessed with pigeons ... this should be mentioned (and his other obsessive compulsive fixations).
Anon, I have not heard that Tesla became specifically fascinated with T'ai Chi. I do know that he became interested in Vedic philosophy (which has many similarities with quantum theory today). He was well read and, later in life, did research various worldviews in developing his inventions. I'll look into it. JDR (PS., NT later became concerned with germs and his health, so this may fit in with that.)
The article was nominated for featuring twice. The first nomination is at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Archived nominations/July 2004#Nikola Tesla and the second at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Nikola Tesla. I will copy-paste here a list of objections to see if we could resolve them. Nikola 14:31, 25 September 2005 (UTC)
The first try:
The second try:
Firstly: Tomingaj is a Serbian village in Lika. Secondly: Nikola wasn't born in Croatia, but the Military Frontier. Thirdly: What is this about his "Romanian" origin? HolyRomanEmperor 17:08, 15 November 2005 (UTC)
But his second name's (Tesla) has origing strictly from the Serbian language: tesla means adze in Serbian. HolyRomanEmperor 21:52, 16 November 2005 (UTC)
Then what were you trying to say on the talk page of Nikola Tesla? HolyRomanEmperor 21:55, 16 November 2005 (UTC)
Now, I can explain that perfectly. I am a Vlach ( Serb). The Serbs of Krajina (Frontier in Serbian) (in present-day Croatia) were called Vlachs. 147.91.8.10 18:28, 17 November 2005 (UTC)
The Habsburg Emperors have issued several edicts called Statuta Valachorum, translated as Serbian statute(s) in which the Serbs of the Military Frontier gained more and more power (independently from the Emperor of the Croatian Ban) 147.91.8.10 18:32, 17 November 2005 (UTC)
The Habsburgs issued many edicts by the name Statuta Valachorum, translated as Serbian statutes which the Krajina Serbs used to draft more and more power independant from the Emperor or the Croatian Ban. 147.91.8.10 18:35, 17 November 2005 (UTC)
Vlach was a name generally used in the Habsburg Empire for Orthodox Christians, and since the only church was the Serbian Orthodox Church, so did many indeed Vlachs assimilate into Serbs but the number was minimal and unimportant, and long ago. 18:37, 17 November 2005 (UTC)
My mother comes from Upper Dalmatia, she is a Vlach (by descendency and tradition), but she is no nationality or ethnicity other than Serb. Do you understand what I am trying to say? 147.91.8.10 18:40, 17 November 2005 (UTC)
[COMPIED FROM MY TALK JDR 20:52, 17 November 2005 (UTC) ]
Several Croatian nationalists have cherished the Serbian migrations in hopes of proving that no one should regret for all the Serbs that were killed or exiled in the Seconds World War (700,000-1,000,000) and in the Yugoslav Civil Wars (700) in Croatia. HolyRomanEmperor 10:39, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
but now they are trying to prove that all those Serbs that came (tens of thousands) were not Serbs, but Vlachs - which is ironic, since Vlachs are a native population of the region and they had no greater migration whatsoever. The largest population of Vlachs lived in Dalmatia, both Catholic and Orthodox - Morlovlachs (a sub-group of Istro-Romainians). They were majorily assimilated into Croats. The last of them live on Istra. HolyRomanEmperor 10:44, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
In short notice, there is no controversial notice on Tesla's ethnicity, only notifications that have arisen as a result of Greater Croatian propaganda (try to make him Croat, if can't, at least make him not Serb) HolyRomanEmperor 12:21, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
Final solution => Name: Nikola Tesla; Date of birth: Jully 10 1856; Place of birth: Smiljan (village), Gospić (county), Military Frontier, Habsburg Monarchy/ Austrian Empire; Religion: Serbian Orthodox Christian; Ethnicity: Serb; Nationality: Croat, Serb, American; Date of death: January 7 1943; Place of death: New York City, New York (state), United States of America HolyRomanEmperor 12:31, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
Final solution => Name: Nikola Tesla; Date of birth: Jully 10 1856; Place of birth: Smiljan (village), Gospić (county), Military Frontier, Habsburg Monarchy/ Austrian Empire; Religion: Serbian Orthodox Christian; Ethnicity: Serb; Nationality: Croat, Serb, American; Date of death: January 7 1943; Place of death: New York City, New York (state), United States of America HolyRomanEmperor 12:31, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
we could also add Yugoslav in nationality. I must also point out that my ancestors in the XVII century wereforced to declare themselves Vlachs at times, because the name of the edict was Statuta Valachorum, so the Croatian Ban and the Catholic Church in Croatia and Slavonia forged a master plan - to turn all Serbs into uniates (Orthodox, but for the Pope) and all muslims to convert to Catholics. It wasn't easy being Orthodox and other than Vlach in those times... HolyRomanEmperor 12:36, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
The article as it stands reads as follows: "A year later, he demonstrated a radio controlled boat to the US military, believing that the military would want things such as radio controlled torpedoes." This is incorrect. Here is Tesla's own quote, outraged at the suggestion from a reporter that his invention might be used for this purpose: "You do not see there a wireless torpedo, you see there the first of a race of robots, mechanical men which will do the laborious work of the human race."
In " The True Wireless" Tesla explaines that after the publication of Dr. Heinrich Hertz's results investigating Maxwell's electro-magnetic theory (at the time, Tesla was developing a commercial system of power transmission), Tesla constructed several forms of apparatus with the object of exploring the avenues investigated by Dr. Hertz. Tesla removed several limitations of the devices Hertz had employed and concentrated his attention on the production of a powerful induction coil (his " oscillation transformer"). After extensive experimentation and documating the test, Tesla went to Bonn, Germany, in 1892. There he confered with Dr. Hertz in regard to his observations. Hertz seemed disappointed to such a degree that Tesla regretted his trip and parted from him sorrowfully.
Before 1900, two innovations were made. One of these was my individualized system with transmitters emitting a wave-complex and receivers comprising separate tuned elements cooperatively associated. The other a peculiar oscillator enabling the transmission of energy without wires in any quantity that may ever be required for industrial use, to any distance, and with very high economy. In 1900, Tesla constructed a wireless transmitter which enabled Tesla to obtain electro-magnetic activities of many millions of horse-power, he attempted to prove that the disturbances emanating from the oscillator were "aether vibrations" akin to those of light, but was met again with utter failure. For more than eighteen years Tesla was reading treatises, reports of scientific transactions, and articles on " Hertz-wave" telegraphy, to keep informed on the topic, but the information have always imprest upon Tesla like works of fiction. He arrived at the conclusion that "Hertz waves have little to do with the results obtained even at small distances". His experimention with own transmitters plainly shown radiating space waves of considerable frequency. He demonstrated that the different forms of aerials that the signals picked up by the instruments must actually be conducted and induced by earth currents and air currents and were not " aetheric space waves" (as Hertz believed).
Sincerely, J. D. Redding
Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan. Back then it was a Military Frontier ruled by Austrian Empire and present day it is Croatia. He himself said of being proud of being Serbian and of his "Croatian homeland".
Few things to note:
Inventors can be characterized:
As for the regions and their names it is possible that we go and list all possible scales, the city, the municipalities, districts and other divisions over the history since he was born but I don't think this is necessary. All the facts above are easily verifiable.
-- Aleksandar Šušnjar 19:16, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
A later NT image.
J. D. Redding 03:55, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
Is it just me or does this article seem overly wikified? Dark Nexus 22:27, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
User:Reddi appearently doesn't agree with my suggestion (to the up). HolyRomanEmperor 16:24, 24 December 2005 (UTC)
I never said I didn't agree ... just don't have strong feelings on it one way or another and didn't comment .... personally, i'd think that some verison of it should go into the article. J. D. Redding 05:03, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
I removed the 'quote' attributed to Nikola about his 'pride'.
As far as I know - it was invented by Bogdan Radica who claimed that Nikola said: 'Iam a Serb, but my homeland is Croatia' (see Margaret Chenney book - Tesla - Man out of Time).
There is no other resource that comes from the people who maintained contacts to Tesla.
Why putting "Austrian Empire" in infobox? Yes, Tesla was born in Austrian Empire, I'm not trying to start a flame far on whether the article should say he was born in Croatia, I'm saying that in infoboxes, we put current geographical location. In infobox of George Washington it doesn't say Virginia but Virginia. Moreover, article about Pope Adrian VI says "He was born under very modest circumstances in the city of Utrecht, which at that time was capital of the bishopric of Utrecht and a Low German-speaking part (whose inhabitants considered themselves to be part of the German nation) of the Holy Roman Empire (more specifically, Burgundy), and is now in the Netherlands. His ancestors were from present-day Germany." His infobox says "birthplace= Utrecht, Netherlands".
I don't want to begin an edit war, that's why I ask now, before I edit the infobox: can anyone show me a Wikipedia article about a person which has name of former country in it's infobox? If not, I'll remove reference to Austrian Empire from infobox and adjust the infobox to style of two previously quoted. -- Dijxtra 19:00, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
-- 69.199.95.31 23:55, 10 January 2006 (UTC) Nikola Tesla was not croatian! My father went to a high school named after him called "Nikola Tesla." This high school is located in Belgrade! During the time that he lived: Serbia and Croatia were becoming one country: YUGOSLAVIA! Therefore Nikola Tesla was Yugoslavian.
In the wikipedia article, it said "Nikola Tesla was of Serbian descent and a citizen of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, after 1918, Yugoslavia and nowdays Croatia." The "Croatia" part is incorrect because today, what is left of former Yugoslavia is called "Serbia and Montenegro." 'Serbia and Montengro' has the same flag as former Yugoslavia had, different from the lone serbian flag. The flag of former Yugoslavia is blue, white, and red. The Serbian and Montenegrian flag is blue, white, red. The Serbian flag (Serbia on its own) is red, blue, and white. The croatian flag is red, blue, and white with a symbol on it. Therefore former Yugoslavia, today, is Serbia and Montenegro. NIKOLA TESLA WAS YUGOSLAVIAN!
-Mina (tri prsta!)
It's becoming obvious why you guys in that region can't stop having your little wars and genocides.
Based on this PBS article: http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_wendwar.html, there was no report to the media of Tesla's death ray and the article implies that he didn't 'market' his invention to various nations until that time, so the date should be changed from the 20's to the 30's. Of course, there might have been rumors swirling around an earlier prototype, in which case this should read 'it was rumored that' rather than 'reportedly'.
Also interesting to add from the article: his belief that his 'death ray' weapon would 'end all wars'
I replaced "Tesla's fame rivaled that of any other inventor or scientist" for "Tesla's fame exceeded that of any other inventor or scientist." It is surely false that Tesla was more famous among inventors than Edison or more famous than Einstein among scientists.
Also, just out of curiousity. How is stating the following: "After his demonstration of wireless communication in 1893 and after being the victor in the " War of Currents", he was widely respected as America's greatest electrical engineer. " puffing up Tesla into a superhero? These are more facts than praise.
Who owns Tesla's patents today? I think I read somewhere that his wife sold his patents to GE, his enemy, to make ends meet. Or this could be a different inventor I'm thinking about. I'm not sure.
First of all, Edison's only great invention was the light bulb, Tesla invented the method by which we have electricity in out homes today. -- serbiana - talk 23:55, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
Much better version Aleksandar! The old maps will also show you that Croatia formed part of the Austian-Hungarian Empire and if we want to be correct, so that people will know where he was really born, this should be mentioned (yugoslavia was created much later and is now already history - how time goes by swiftly...). Anyway it's Nikola Tesla year in both countries - Serbia as well as Croatia. Nothing mentioned about that so far... ;) -- Neoneo13 21:57, 17 January 2006 (UTC)
I am a student and am fascinated with one of the great geniuses of our time - Nikolas Tesla. I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me where I could read correspondence between Tesla and Katherine Johnson. They were friends and I would like to know more about their relationship and the letters they wrote to one another. Many thanks! studentpam2000 at msmath@prodigy.net
Tesla was born "on the stroke of midnight" between July 9 and 10 1856. This is definetely something that needs to be put in the article but which of the two dates should be taken as official?
Well, which time zone are we talking about? Usually the one used at location of birth. In 1856 there was no such a thing as Daylight Savings Time or summer time. But now there is. During summer time people's clocks show the time as one hour ahead of what would have been usual, "winter" time.
What does this mean? Well, if Austrian Empire observed those rules in 1856, then the "stroke of midnight" would reallu have been 01:00 (am) of July 10. You can wrap this backward as well - if one would now like to celebrate exact "birthday instants" of Nikola Tesla they would have to do it at 01:00 (am) on July 10.
We can take this purely mathematically as well. Let's suppose that he was born exactly at midnight (without any error whatsoever). By that fact alone we can conclude that Tesla lived on this world for no time at all in July 9th, 1856 but did the entire July 10th. If we define "birthday" as the first day in which the person lived after birth for more than 0 time (not at all) then we still get July 10th as Tesla's birthday.
Now let's introduce some small, at the time immesurable, error. If it was slightly on the July 10th side then we're still fine with July 10th. If it was on the July 9th side then we still have slight dilemma - whether to use the summer time "excuse" (covers up to 1 hour error - just fine) or not (then we still may have a dilemma) ...
-- Aleksandar Šušnjar 18:38, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
Correct? ... I agree with you ... but it's like the 2000 / 2001 millennium thing ... does the day start @ 12:00 or 12:01? I believe it is 12:00 (AM, of course) ... I'll look around though ... Sincerely, J. D. Redding 06:06, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
Tesla said that his birthday was celebrated on the 10th. I do not remeber where I read this, but I will try to find the book. I own many books about Tesla, so this may take a while. In the meantime, if you remeber you can post, it too.-CK
Tesla technology is recurring in alternate history works like steampunk, or stories concerning secret pre WWII technology
[Moved because of WMC removal (he like to remove alot of information that is relevant to articles) ... J. D. Redding]
I've noticed that too. He removed important information on Tesla's claimed inventions and the teleforce because he claimed they were "fairy stories". Though there is no evidence for either side, even if they were fairy stories, they deserve inclusion in an article about Tesla. People think Nostradamus' predictions were "fairy stories" yet they still get notice here on wikipedia: Nostradamus.
This section was removed from the article because it was claimed as "fairy stories." Though it may be true that some of these inventions are a little whacky and may make the article appear to have pseudo-scientific tendencies, how does that lead to their complete exclusion from the article or a sub-article? They are as crucial a point in Tesla's biographical information as Isaac Newton's alchemy and religious fanatacism is in his biographies. 72.144.147.32 23:05, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
There is little or no evidence to support the inventions working or NOT working. It is not up to you to decide whether they do or not. The information is nonetheless attached to Tesla's biographical information, and is as encyclopedic as, for example, existentialism or the bible code. It at least merits another smaller article for the category. 72.144.147.32 04:45, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
As unfair and unfortunate as it is/was, Tesla encapselates the mad scientist better than most people the term refers to. Sadly, if he hadn't been viewed that way, and had possessed better marketing and social skills, we would likely have a far more futuristic, modern world than we have today, technologically speaking. In any case, he was viewed that way, and his life was arather tragic example of how unmeritocratic our society is, much to its own detriment. Sam Spade 12:57, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
I don't think it was calling him a mad scientist, and I don't know of any serious historian who would describe him as insane. Also, I don't know that he experimented on himself, one of the basics for calling someone a mad scientist. That said he was widely viewed that way in the years leading up to his death, and we would be remiss to ignore that fact. Sam Spade 15:57, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
Calling him a mad scientist is in no way unfair, as in all definable terms, he was the quintessential. What is unfair, is categorizing some of his less understood innovations "pseudoscience" - which is ten fold as POV as saying he was "among the greatest innovators of his time."
72.144.147.32
Not sure how I could make the sentence any more clear :-[??? The evidence of the growing interest in Tesla's work (ie: engineering techniques derived from his notebooks and his numerous unpatented material etc) can be easily viewed in the numerous Tesla-related TV specials that have arisen, as well as the emergence of the so-called "Teslaphiles". In addition, the biographical books on Tesla often conclude on the note that some of his works are still being understood today. Good example of reanalysis etc [20]
It does not surprise me you pry on this article and not the countless other scientist pages that make farfetched and way more "gush" praises, because there have been some pretty radical claims made about Tesla's inventions. Nonetheless, too much prying just destroys the potential of the article and obfuscates any true statements about his work. 72.144.147.32
I have reverted continual controversial removal of "gush" and other sentences (unexplained deletions) by some editors. Regardless of attempted compromise with the editors, showing and explaining how the prude "gush" associated with saying Tesla was one of the most practically-accomplished scientists in the timeframe of late 19th to early 20th century is paralleled much more forcefully on numerous other articles like Carl Gauss, Michael Faraday, Isaac Newton, Leonardo da Vinci, and an innumerable other amount of "pioneers", I simply got the response of "Tesla does not compare to them" - which is irrelevant to the case at matter, for the main point seems to be "let their accomplishments speak for themselves and do not innumerate their success". This main point is not followed on wikipedia, and thus should fairly not be followed on this article. If the vast majority of articles followed this trend, the editors edits would be acceptable. 72.144.114.155 04:56, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
I really cannot understand all this fights on Tesla's origin. Why cannot we say just the truth : that Tesla was a Yugoslawian with Romanian ethnic ancestry?
I think that most of this stuff should be briefly summarized, with the note that Teslas mention is significant in pop-culture, and should be linked to the disamiguation page 'Tesla (disamguation)' where they can have separate links. This article is about Tesla and not about all other stuff. Lakinekaki
Dr. Nikola Tesla described the propagation of some of the electric waves from his "Tesla Coils" as being "many" times the speed of light. [A Tesla Coil built as described by Tesla generates both transverse waves and longitudinal waves.] [21] Lakinekaki
Tesla was a Serb! His father was an Orthodox priest, his mother a daughter of an orthodox priest, and he himself said that he is a Serb and not only that but also said that his greatest satisfaction is the fact that all his accomplishments were a work of an Serb. Croatia didn't exist since the 11th century and at the time it was Austro-Hungary. In World War II 500 Serbs from his village Smiljani were killed by the Croats, while in the latest war his statue in Gospic was blown up by Croats and his museum destroyed.
Tesla is definately a serbian-american inventor and not a croatian-american because he was a serb. Also because the croatians destroyed all evidence that serbs lived in the area tesla grew up in, in the 1990s. I think its shameful that wikipedia is calling him a croatian-american inventor when even the house he grew up in, was destroyed in the 1990s. Gospic was especialy hard hit in the slaughter called "operation storm". Wikipedia should be ashamed of itself!!!!! - Lazar
Don't listen to this lies, his house wasn't destoryed in operation storm which was legimited operation blessed by US goverment in which there was absolutly no destroying or killing civilians. His house is being renovated and will be a part of soon to be built Tesla theme park. : - Tomy108
Tesla was Croat, because he was born in Croatia. So he is croatian inventor, not serbian. He once said that he was proud of his serbian nationality and croatian citizenship. And Lazar stop spreading lies. - EIM
About Tesla croatian homeland in article of newspaper "Jutarnji list" - his relative lives today in Zagreb, Croatia. Damirux 13:51, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
There are a lot of information regarding about this, so I will spare you the details. Personally, I find this fascinating and it's worth a mention in this article.
PS. Sorry about not loggin on, for some reason, I can only log on in wikiquote, but not here.
Tesla's Means for Increasing the Intensity of Electrical Oscillations ... U.S. patent 685,012. The The patent office classifies the patent as superconductivity technolgy, specifically "Dynamoelectric; liquid coolant" ( 310/54) and "Specific Identifiable Device, Circuit, or System; Superconductive (e.g., cryogenic, etc.) device" ( 327/527). 172.137.217.68 05:07, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
It should be noted in the article that superconductivity was part of his inventions. As to Tesla's Means for Increasing the Intensity of Electrical Oscillations references ...
Sincerely, J. D. Redding 02:16, 17 March 2006 (UTC) (PS., please read the "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy - Through Use of the Sun's Energy")
This is from the Edison article, under "Improvements of Edison's work":
Nikola Tesla developed alternating current distribution, which could be used to transmit electricity over longer distance than Edison's direct current due to the ability to transform the voltage. It could be said that alternating current was not derivative of Edison's work, but it was related as were the two men. Tesla was a former employee of Edison, and left to follow his path with alternating current - which Edison did not support.
It doesn't seem quite right. It seems to imply that Tesla did his work in this area only after being exposed to Edison's.
Why not only Serbian inventor? If we talk about country of living , he is Croatian-American inventor. If we talk about nationality, he is Serbian inventor. Serbo-American is nonsense.
And one more thing. He lived in Croatia. Croatian Duchy was part of Austro-Hungary, and later part of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians. Croatians Duchy was legal part of both countries.
The article mentions that only one photograph of Tesla was ever taken, and that the picture was lost. How then is there a picture of Tesla on the page?
I think this war about Tesla is comedy because we all know he is Serb from Croatia. Some Croatian nationalist claims he is Vlach and not Serb but that is false because he said that he is Serb and there is no evidence of his Vlach origin. On the other hand, Serbian nationalists claims he is not from Croatia witch is also false becouse he was from Military Frontier and Military Frontier was part of Croatia but under direct command of Austro-Hungarian emperor because of Turks invasion.
Serbian-American inventor doesn't make any sense. If we talk about nationality, he is Serbian inventor but than he has nothing to do with America. On the other hand, if we talk about his place of living he is not Serbian inventor.
So, I changed article to "inventor, physicst,... of Serbian origin". I am Croat from Croatia so I know that I have Croatian POV even if I want to have NPOV. For that reason, I have not mention "Tesla is from Croatia" or "Tesla is Croatian inventor" in article. Please read that few lines. I hope we can live with that until we solve this conflict on talk page.
Sorry for bad English knowledge.
Jakiša Tomić 22:31, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
This really is getting to be a drag. I think it's fine as it stands. He isn't "of Serbian origin", that would imply that his parents/grandparents were Serbs, not him. He was born a Serb and became a naturalized US citizen i.e. he was a Serbian-American. It's clearly mentioned that he's from the territory of today's Croatia, so I don't see what the problem is... If you don't have any other arguments Jakisa, I propose we take off the npov tag in 2 or 3 days. Can we just finish with this once and for all, come to a clear decison we can refer everyone to in the future. -- estavisti 18:36, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
How about Croatian-born Serbian- American? User:Zoe| (talk) 22:16, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
That won't solve anything. We've so far avoided the issue of whether the Military Frontier was part of Croatia at the time or not. A bunch of people saying it wasn't will just come out of the woodwork. Jakiša, can I put it to you this way. In my last version, his birth within today's Croatia is mentioned in the first sentence of the second paragraph and in the box on the right. Do you really care what someone who doesn't get that far thinks? Could that version be acceptable. If not please suggest something else, as your last version sounds slightly clumsy in English (and leaves out the American part). Looking forward to resolving this farce soon. :) -- estavisti 22:27, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Can you put that version with endnote near "Serbian-American" term and then at endnote describe what that term means (like you did on talk page)? Jakiša Tomić 22:57, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Correction: (like you did on talk page) -> (like J. D. Redding described it on talk page). Jakiša Tomić 23:06, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Correction again: Like J. D. Redding and you described it on talk page. :) Jakiša Tomić 23:07, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
I took out the serbian thing in the 1st sentence since it is repeated in the following paragraph. 21:59, 12 April 2006 (UTC)
An additional complication in the minds of some people who perpetuate this edit war may be that "Serbian" is often perceived to mean "of Serbia", not "of Serbs". This might be the result of the common use of "Croatian Serb", "Bosnian Serb", "Bosnian Croat", etc. in media. He was definitely a Serb, but if one follows that interpretation, he wasn't Serbian. Is there any way we could work that into the first sentence without making it sound stupid? Zocky | picture popups 15:21, 28 April 2006 (UTC)
You must distinguish between Serb/Croat in national/regional sense. Serb in national sense means that his parents, grandparents etc. were Serbs - as they were.
To be a Croat, you must either be born Croat or have a Croatian passport - which he *didn't*!
He only had Austrian and Austrian-Hungary passport - never Croatian.
Oh, yeah, later he got an American passport. So, calling Tesla a Croat, or linking him with Croatia in any sense would be a stupidity.
Calling him a Yugoslawian is another mistake, he never said he was one, but Tito's socialist agenda alluded he was Yugoslavian because of a telegram he sent to Machek's government that supported the new Serbo-Croatian state but which never said a word about Tesla being a Yugoslavian. So, bottom line: Tesla was Serb, Wernher von Braun was German, but both lived in USA and had US passport - but does that make them Americans? I don't think so.
His father was a Serbian ortodox priest, and his mother was a Croat, but the important thing is that he was an inventor who didn't invent stuff for profit, but for the good of everyone... hh
"His mother was herself a daughter of a Serbian Orthodox priest". Did you miss that line in the article? C-c-c-c 22:49, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
I think that a lot of people coming here will be looking for the SI unit. Is there any good way to make it more prominent? I considered adding it to the TOC, but adding everything under "Recognition and honors" would make the TOC really long, and I could hardly make only some of them headers. Maybe there just isn't a solution better than the disambiguation page now in use... Ealex292 22:09, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
Yep, the disambig note is the best, IMHO. Most people coming here are looking for the person, the disambig will lead them to the unit. 18:05, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
Hmm, my other post disappeared. Sorry If it ends up being a double post.
I wandered in here and read a great article on Nikola Tesla. I'm left with a question: Did the FBI ever release the rest of Tesla's papers or are they still considered Top Secret??
Tanru 12:08, 17 April 2006 (UTC)
The "known" papers have been release under FOIA. Someone must have removed the link, look through the history of the article for in the external articles/sites.
204.56.7.1 The link is @ the external reference sites in the article: "Hoover, John Edgar, et al., FOIA FBI files, 1943." 18:10, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
Is it true that Tesla said to be in contact with aliens?
Yes. When Tesla was performing his experiments in Colorado Springs, he claimed to be receiving messages from Mars. I believe he wrote a paper to that effect. Erzahler 19:16, 26 April 2006 (UTC)
http://www.mentalfloss.com/archives/archive2003-04-22.htm
The "Alien messages" (which Marconi also believed in) where cosmic signals NOW known radio astronomy. 134.193.168.107
Nikola Tesla is a serbian inventor and please corect that croatin because hi is not ustasa.
Ustasa was a Croat minority hahaha RELAX MATE... -- Tesla is Serbian and is listed as that on wikipedia. Fair enough, no problem. We should all agree and those who do not must be stupid. ON THE OTHER HAND Why do Serbs keep changing origin of Croats Andric and Boscovich into Serbian???
Andric and Boscovich have no link to Serbia and have no Serbian blood or origin. All Serbs have to agree that if Croats have left Tesla as Serb ...Serbs have to leave Andric and Boscovich as Croats.
Ciao Polska
Wrong. Ruđer Bošković's mother was Serb. Andrić lived in Belgrade for most of his life, all his books are writen in Štokavian dialect, ekavian variant - mostly used in Serbs in Serbia. so, Anrić lived in Serbia, spoken Serbian - he was a Serb.
Vlado
OK, now that I have your attention, I'd like for everyone who's contributing to this article to watch this 40-minute documentary about his life. I hope you like it as much as I did:
Nikola Tesla - The Genius Who Lit the World
Well, we use Tesla's polyphase AC to light the world today, and not Edison's DC... I think I can guess who's better. -- serbiana - talk 00:09, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
What value is there in adding the interest of the Aum group in his work? http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1995_rpt/aum/part06.htm to quote According to an official of the International Tea Society in the United States, a representative of the Aum in New York City, Yumiko Hiraoka, inquired into the Aum becoming a member of the Society. etc
I don't get why Tesla is being almost invariably described as "physicist" and/or "scientist" ? He didn't make any contribution to the physics whatsoever & he hasn't done reasearch in any field of physics. He didn't author a single equation, didn't perform a single scientific experiment. Zero, nothing, zippo, zilch. He's enormously influential as an inventor (IMO, grossly underrated in comparison to the very successsful self-promoter Edison)-but, he simply was not a scientist. Mir Harven 13:08, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
Electrotechnics is not a part of physics, which is a science. Electrotechnics is a field of engineering (electrical engineering). Any division of science & technology is clear on that matter. Mir Harven 17:35, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
This may be a bizarre & interesting info, but, it doesn't entail that he was a physicist. Any person, for instance a nutty perpetuum mobile addict can dabble with some experiments for a time, but this does not qualify them as physicist. Scientific work is more than just a dabbling. Mir Harven 21:46, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
Electotechnics is nothing more than a part of electrical engineering. See, for instance [30] Mir Harven 21:46, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
Many textbooks consider him a "physicist". A unit in physics is named after him (unless you don't consider electromagnetism a significant part of physics). It is utterly farcical to debate this. 72.144.103.135 22:10, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
I've reverted an anon (in fact the one just above... well you see the problem) who insists that T was a physicist. I have a degree in maths; I'm not a mathematician. Tesla was primarily an inventor.
On a slightly wider note: this article has for a very long time suffered from bloat from the Teslaphiles who insist on absurd puffing-up of Tesla, to his ultimate detraction: too much praise just makes him look silly. We may, finally, have enough editors here who could be more neutral and perhaps have some hope of knocking the article into shape, and maybe looking at some of the more outlandish claims (VTOL? etc etc). William M. Connolley 22:16, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
Oh, and I just did the same with '"Nikola Tesla" physicist' and '"Nikola Tesla" inventor' ..the results:
inventor: 478,000 physicist: 468,000
[33] Remember, Wikipedia:NOR. We are not here to debate whether Tesla was or was not by definition a physicist, we are here to accurately reflect what his biographies say about him. Also, VTOL is a Tesla patent, not sure how that's an outlandish claim. Although WMC is an admin, I don't see how he has the right to waltz into an article that has reached a nice equilibrium with outside contributions and completely change it around - usually deleting information by random (or so it seems). 72.144.103.135 22:25, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
Right here: User:William_M._Connolley/Whats-wrong-with-wikipedia. Plus your frequented "name-calling" of people as "Teslaphiles" because they disagree with your massive changes to this article. Waltzing into the article - you do it periodically as anyone can see from the page history. 72.144.103.135 22:32, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
By the way, even the VTOL article itself has no problem mentioning the Tesla patent: In 1928, Nikola Tesla received patents for an apparatus for aerial transportation. Tesla called it the "Flivver". It is one of the earliest examples of VTOL aircraft.
Yes, there should be changes made to this article - but in no way with the overpowering method you're going by. 72.144.103.135 22:39, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
Though it will likely make no difference, as a physicist, after reading this article, I do not believe Tesla was a physicist. An inventor and engineer, certainly, but not a physicist. -- Philosophus T 04:48, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
www.tesla-museum.org: Nikola Tesla, electrical engineer and inventor ... American scientist ... No word 'physicist' is on the website. 'Only' engineer, inventor, and scientist. Lakinekaki 22:59, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
Interesting discussion. So of which science was Tesla a scientist (let's skip his engineering side)? Scientists go beyond the boundaries of what known in specific field of engineering. They advance. Tesla did so. While "Electrotechnics" and "Electric engineering" are engineering fields, Tesla covered more than those. For example, he made motors. Not just their electrical parts - the whole thing. He was "toying" with fields and particles. I can't really recall to which science these terms belong - maybe Biology or Sociology?
Look up another thing - for example a definition of Physicist. What does it say? No... can't be... they must be wrong somewhere. Let's look up Yahoo. Can't be - right? Everyone knows electro/magnetic fields, electrons, etc. have absolutely nothing to do with Physics. Even that pesky unit of measure is likely a mistake.
Well... You do know what my opinion is... But, then again, I believe that Physics is a "super science" of all "sub-sciences" that Tesla was a scientist of, even Chemistry (why not, laws of Physics drive laws of Chemistry, Physics deals with both greater and lesser particles than Chemistry, so Chemistry is just a detail-oriented part of Physics)...
Well, go on.. doesn't really matter. Tesla was a scientist and that is a good definition. Better than just "Physicist". He was, after all not limited to Physics...
-- Aleksandar Šušnjar 02:42, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
Baccalaureate of Physics: Austrian Polytechnic Institute (Graz) and the Graduate studies Physics at Charles University in Prague ( A physicist is a scientist trained in physics) ... also contributed the rotating magnetic field theory and much other electromagnetic research.
Other great physicists stated, "Tesla has contributed more to electrical science than any man up to his time.", Lord Kelvin ... "[Tesla is] an eminent pioneer in the realm of high frequency currents... I congratulate [him] on the great successes of [his] life's work", Albert Einstein ... "... all scientific men will be delighted to extend their warmest congratulations to Tesla and to express their appreciation of his great contributions to science", Ernest Rutherford ... "Tesla is entitled to the enduring gratitude of mankind", Arthur Compton ... nuff said ... 134.193.168.107 14:11, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
Philosophus: what is your definition of "Physicist"? According to every otherwise available defition Tesla is one. As can be seen from sources already mentioned:
-- Aleksandar Šušnjar 14:22, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
The tags are inapproprioate. Philosophus, Tesla was a physicist (as noted above by 134.193.168.107's points). The information in the article is referenced. It is also congruent with information in "Man out of Time" and "Prodigal Genius". Please read those 2 books before you POV the article. J. D. Redding 17:05, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
Regarding Reddi, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Reddi_2#Reddi_placed_on_revert_parole: Reddi shall for one year be limited to one revert per article per week, excepting obvious vandalism. Further, he is required to discuss any content reversions on the article's talk page. He has, obviously, broken this William M. Connolley 19:00, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
Aleksandar proved his point, Tesla was a Physicist. -- serbiana - talk 03:58, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
Revert any further changes to this article from the original on site unless each change is explained an noted in here. Thanks. 68.215.52.35 21:32, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
H
Why do we have so much detail on Wardenclyffe Tower here when the article on the tower says no one knows how it was supposed to work? From PBS story on Tesla it appears that he was trying to transmit power through the ground not the air. But they claim no one knows as does the Wardenclyffe article. Rmhermen 15:52, 5 Aug 2003 (UTC)
It'd really be nice to have a section that lists just his inventions. It'd make this article a lot more useful. :-) — Frecklefoot 14:54, 7 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Reddi: are you sure about the 1912 Nobel Prize? I cannot find supporting evidence for it. The official Nobel prize site [ http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1912/] just talks about Nils Gustaf Dalen, no one else
What's a street gang, and can someone expand on that (intriguing) sentence? Graft 02:24, 12 Aug 2003 (UTC)
On a COMPELETELY different topic ... doew anyone know Tesla's middle name? I have search a long time for it (since a year ago, when it started to bother me) .... but to no success (doesn't everyone have a middle name?) ... his museum has his birth certificate, but I cannot read it (i only read / write english and bad english) ... if anyone can, please tell me and I'll find the link to it [or goto the meuseum site and look around) reddi 02:38, 12 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Follow me on instagram: @travis.terayama
Please use past tense to discuss historical facts. Alternating back and forth between past and present tense is rather disconcerting for the poor reader.
Alternatively, if you insist on writing in present tense, the for God's sake be so good as to do it consistently throughout the article. I mean really:
Mkweise 02:47, 18 Aug 2003 (UTC)
In 1884, leaving the warfare of his birthplace behind, Tesla moves to the United States of America to accept a job with the Edison Company in New York City. He arrives in America with 4 cents to his name, a book of poetry, and a letter of recommendation (from Charles Batchelor, his manager in his previous job). Tesla supports his brother-in-law's church in Gospic while in America. | In 1884, leaving the warfare of his birthplace behind, Tesla moved to the United States of America to accept a job with the Edison Company in New York City. He arrived in America with 4 cents to his name, a book of poetry, and a letter of recommendation (from Charles Batchelor, his manager in his previous job). Tesla supported his brother-in-law's church in Gospic while in America. |
— Frecklefoot 19:31, 18 Aug 2003 (UTC)
OK, this is beyond silly. History is almost always written in the past tense because it happended, in well, the past. Why the heck do you think there is a past tense at all? The only exception is the day and year pages because there is an immediacy to them. And Wikipedia general practice has been overwhelmingly to write history in the past tense. -- mav 19:38, 18 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Is this a joke??? You NEVER write professional history articles in the present tense, not for history books aimed at anyone over the age of 6!!! Never ever ever. Lightweight 'cartoon' coverage of history may do it, usually with pictures you colour in with crayons on the side. But no serious textbook, let alone an encyclopædia, does it. If they did they would make themselves an international laughing stock. As someone said above, it is "beyond silly". It is absurd in the extreme. Is this idea some sort of belate April Fools' day joke??? It is so nonsensical an idea as to be sidesplittingly funny. Why next? Writing every thing article in capitals? Bold every second word? Write backwards? FearÉIREANN 21:13, 19 Aug 2003 (UTC)
I've asked a colleague on the phone and (once he had stopped laughing) he explained that writing in the present tense was a rather naff fad a few people on the fringes of historical researches tried, and like all naff fads (roller discos, leg warmers, 1970s architecture, perms, writing 'hir', the Bay City Rollers, Fame, electing Jimmy Carter) is looked back upon with embarrassment, usually of the sort of 'what the hell were we smoking/taking/thinking of at the time?' :-) FearÉIREANN 21:25, 19 Aug 2003 (UTC)
(the following few paragraphs were moved from village pump)
Over at Talk:Nikola Tesla, a disagreement over whether history should be written in the past or present tense has resulted in an article that alternates between past and present tense in a very ugly fashion. I've started a discussion at Talk:Nikola Tesla; if there is an authoritative answer, please post there. Mkweise 16:45, 18 Aug 2003 (UTC)
A lot of the problem is that people are switching back and forth between tenses in the same article. I've also run across the future tense -- "He would go on to ..." form. I change those to "He went on to ..." whenever I see those. RickK 02:12, 19 Aug 2003 (UTC)
I've started converting the bio to past tense and have done some rearranging and rewording in the process. As of this writing, I've reached "Laboratory Construction." If you see any grammar errors or instances of present tense that I've missed, please go ahead and fix them. Changing passive voice to active would also be appreciated (<-- note: that sentence is passive-voice) :-) — Frecklefoot 14:50, 20 Aug 2003 (UTC)
some of this article comes across as rather credulous, repeating the conspiratorial Tesla stuff one comes across on the Internet but which is never properly sourced and is clearly dubious at best.
For example, most people consider Tesla's obsession with wireless power transmission to have been quixotic; the practical inefficiencies doomed it to failure on anything but a very small scale. Similarly his "death ray" (if it existed) was most likely a focussed microwave beam, which would happily fry a bunny at two feet but would have had no practical combat use.
Would be great if someone with knowledge of the relevant history and electrical engineering could update the article to show the borderlines between Tesla the scientist, Tesla the obsessive, and Tesla the part-fictional construct of latter-day conspiracy theorists.
I second the above motion that this article is unduly credulous about several of Tesla's ventures, and this leads me to think that there should be a section in the article about Teslaphiles. You know who I mean. For some reason there seems to be a Tesla fan club that attributes the man with visionary powers beyond all ken. It may have to do with sympathizing with the "crackpot genius vs. the uncaring bureaucracy" mentality. I propose this section not to discredit Tesla or make fun of his defenders, but because it seems to be an actual phenomenon. Tesla fans are about 1000 times more passionate about the subject than Edison fans. Incidentally, see Cecil Adams for a (rather undetailed and summary-like) dismissal of Tesla's broadcast power. Tempshill 22:40, 11 Dec 2003 (UTC)
First allow me to say that I am no Tesla expert and certainly not an EE. I have no expertise as to evaluate how plausible/crazy Tesla's wireless tranmission ideas and work were. My impression from this article (alone) is that the indications are that wireless ground/air power transmission as proposed by Tesla might actually work, but that it has not been tested as a full system. The informative science comments in this section seem to be asserting that pieces of his work on this were subsequently confirmed by independent research. So if his wireless transmission does not work (as one might suppose given we don't see them), perhaps a section akin to the one on the signals from space would be appropriate? Indicate what parts of the discovery have been confirmed, which parts were inaccurate, and which if any remain speculative. As a reader, that would be very helpful. Thanks. - JohnG
I was wondering .... besides being American ... what's up with the Serbian - Croatian thing going on? Is there any data to conclusively state one or both? I was under the impression that it is preferrable to referred to Tesla as a Serbian-American (IIRC, I read this on the Tesla Society (or a letter by them) that he was this) ... but a few web sites, again IIRC, cite him as a Croatian-American. A minority of other sites do both. It really matters little to me ... but I've seen a few edits back and forth and would like to get a general concensus ... and mabey stop the flip-flop ... Sincerely, JDR
Well,you know,if you would say that an american was born and grew up in germany youd still only call him american,so why would this be different?cause tesla is a serb so now he is not allowed to be a serb anymore? he was a serb and son of an orthodox priest so im more than surprised about the croatian claims on tesla.i thought they hate orthodoxy:) so why do they want an orthodox person?cause they cant make their genious?:) anyway,tesla mostly studied in austria which is totally understandable considering that croatia didnt even exist,it was a province of austro-hungary. igore,i heard about the romanian claims on tesla and i cant understand who started with this nonsense:)there are absolutelly no proof of any romanians in these areas. the only people who can say they exist in dalmatia (not like) is the italian national minority. i believe from what i understood on some page that tesla never accepted american citizenship,at least the office for aliens dealed with whats left after his death which brought me to that conclusion. - Katarina
It might be interesting to see how was Tesla referring to his origin in his patents: [4].
The article starts off saying he was born on "1856 July 10". The Biography section does not mention what year (I had to go looking), and says that birth certificate date says "June 28". Can someone clean this up? Scott McNay 09:45, 2004 Feb 16 (UTC)
Some sources suggest July 9 and some sources both July 9 and July 10
"Transmitter" should be his "transciever". JDR
Huh, easy there, Irismeister. Where's the corroboration for this huge Aromanian ethnic nationalist litany? Some quotes from the autobiography perhaps...? Google has astonishing 4 matches for "Nicu Teslea", and I know a few Serb nationalists who will take offense at this (albeit, regardless of whether it's true or not :)... -- Shallot 23:14, 16 May 2004 (UTC)
Teslea is a Vlach. Teslea is also a genius. All governments would like to see their "subjects" boost their governmental legitimacy. Serbs know Vlachs for they prevent them from having schools in their own language. They know the truth and hide it. Therefore it's not in Serb official documents that you'll find what you call my "allegation" on Teslea's ethnicity. As for taking offense, it's their privilege and character, as much as mine are discovering and unearthing the truth, for historical and informational purposes.
As a whole, in the Balkans, you must use your own judgement in lieu of Google or else you'll see how easy it is to bomb those poor Serbs only because of some Google "fact". Let me stress that everybody respects humans in the Balkans, and much as I resent ethnic lies, I also respect Serbs, complete with their governments. Also, bombing them was a war crime and a big mistake.
As for the ethnicon, in truth, you will find it in visiting Lica and Teslea's family, as I did. The corroboration is in facts, and in your own careful analysis and understanding. Or, alternatively, only in your putting together the evidence (linguistical, bibliographical, historical).
Look, if you insist in deleting the fact, I will let you delete my stuff and I will even let you take Google as your ultimate bibliographical source :O) Then, and only then, I will bring you the ISBN and jpg and certified historical files.
What I will not do is either homework for you, or letting you believe Google is the arbiter. Hope this helps :O) - Sincerely, irismeister 13:18, 2004 May 17 (UTC)
If truth were only "corroborated" as you put it, my friend, by our poor understanding, then the world would be fairly chaotic. I concede to you, Shallot, that more and more, these days, people become interested in Google far more than in the real life.
No wonder to me then, that we bomb people to liberate them, that we liberate them to rob them, and we rob them so that we can bomb them more. Talk about circular arguments :O) In the mean time, let this Wiki article NOT be a collateral damage of the "American attitude" to truth, liberty, thinking and culture.
Suggested homework:
01. see if "allegations" contain anything interesting and relevant to the subject matter;
02. do your own research
03. gather material
04. now look at what you've got so far
05. then use your judgement
06. draw your conclusions
07. temptatively put them into writing
08. communicate them to us on this page
THEN we can discuss. But then again, why bother ? It's much more simple to dismiss what you care not accept. In the mean time, remember our Nicu Teslea and all our ancestors would turn into their graves looking at what you do to truth and to their ancestral values.
Yours - irismeister 16:00, 2004 May 17 (UTC)
That's a cliché, not real thinking! Just because Americans have no roots, it doesn't mean that roots are not important. They are essential! Peoples who don't know who they are, become like the Americans, prone to impose a changing in the world before they have a chance to change (or only understand themselves, I'm afraid). There is more than Horatio in philosophy :O) - irismeister 15:26, 2004 May 19 (UTC)
Most Americans have CEASED to judge critically. For a great description of this end of the game and bitter fall, read the book called "The CLOSURE of the American mind". They just watch corporate-media-controlled (what we call CMC in Europe) tv. They are fed lies and every day more lies are rammed down their big mouths and deep throats. They want everybody to be like them. And then they genuinely ask why is it that everybody hates them. Nobody hates them, everybody just pities them! Remember? yYu can't applaude with only one (american) hand! And we don't judge people by "indication" (hence The Ugly American "I bomb you in order to liberate you" approach). But we judge people by recognizing they are human beings FIRST - just as you are, or I am.
Clearly, in all recent international activities, including the so called "international" Wiki in English, this is not the case.
The problem with most Americans thinking they hold the power, mystery and final word in this world is that the "others" get diabolized in the process and ultimately, and sadly, immediately bombed out of their "opinion" and "POV".
Americans call this process "freedom of speech" and "fair" debate.
They first set the rules, then they play by them, then they expect everybody to play the same game, then they don't play by their own rules, and finally they only recognize whatever those rules didn't bomb out in oblivion - themselves.
This is an old logical disaster called petitio principii.
Morally, the disaster is called hubris.
Technically, this is called "globalization".
Please note I did not, nor will I start an edit war.
I just said what the truth of the matter IS.
It's up to you, who cared to react, to take notice.
I have time to comply to whatever onus you invoke, being a volunteer contributor and a free person. See you soon back here, pal, with all the necessary documents - if you still care :O) - irismeister 16:45, 2004 May 17 (UTC)
PS Being a true Vlach, and a man of honor besides being the genius he is, Niţă (tender Nicu, as his beloved mother called him) Teslea suffered enormously from the Ugly American Edison, the FBI and everything and everybody who now run to grab his heritage one more and again. He never suffered from his fellow Vlachs - and fellow Serbs, and fellow Croats for this matter. Americans simply cannot grab everything and then spit on everybody - simply because that they thus only spit on their own foot :O)
Just for the record, Tesla is indeed a nickname last name, as in Serbian it means adze. Same Slavic root is visible in words relating to carpentry, such as tesar or tesati. Dr?ghici is a romanised spelling of Serbian last name "Dragić"; drag means "dear" in Serbian and is also a common Slavic root.
Negative, my friends! The Slavs took the word from the Vlachs, who had, just like the DALMATS, HUNDREDS of florishing life years, using this word in their Romance language, even for their Christianity, before the Slavs arrived. The historical records of the first Serb dynasty, the
Nemanides, show this clearly, and with utter respect for truth:
Teslea, opcina, plemena, katunar, sud, "voinuci", pronoiari, cnez, celnik, comes, primikjur are thoroughly documented as applied to Vlachs as trademark "qualifiers", even ethnicons.
Serbs have a history of taking local words and making them look like Slavic. For instance they also took ponos from Greek, hence ponosnici in the Nemanide chancellery papers starting with the early 13th century.
Yet another example of theft and re-appropriation of history: Vlastelini, the people of the place existed everywhere before the Serbs arrived, and were thus named by Southern Slavs, since they were ubiquitous for eons before the Slavs even entered the Balkans in the late 6th century, and early 7th century, with the Avars.
More such words passing from the Vlach language to Southern, Old and even Pre-Slavic are documented every day now:
Serbian kjelatori, for instance, comes DIRECTLY from Early Romanian and Vlach călători - classical (non-popular) Latin viator.
This certainly didn't look like Latin, but was popular Latin, not Serbian, just because classical Latin had viator instead. Yet another example here: fientia documented as popular Latin, which exists only in Vlachian and Daco-Romanian - but I do not want to start boring you :O).
So, my friend, your élan national is commendable, but we must together say the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
I will let you restore it, and then (if not restored), I will bring the documents to show how what you said hid the facts.
We will not go into an edit war!
We will, however, let the truth be known, and formulate it correctly, and completely, as good as we can, in common, for the record.
As I said, the Serb government, much unlike the Americans, did good to our Teslea, and the bombardment of Serbia by the Americans was a cowardly, criminal, war crime act.
Teslea will not forgive us for telling something else than the truth - and since we all admire him, let it be known. Hope this helps. - Yours, all - irismeister 08:12, 2004 May 19 (UTC)
I can't believe I am wasting my time on this, but point by point: that Lika is inhabited by Istro-Romanians isn't confirmed even by Bogdan's map. That Tesla's father's last name was Tesla could be clearly seen in Tesla's birth certificate (fourth row of the main text, second and third word). First name of Tesla's father was Milutin; this is old Serbian name, coming from word "mil" (now "mio") which mean "dear" which could be confirmed by Serbian-English dictionary. That Teslea is an Aromanian last name is dubious; as I said, Tesla in Serbian means "adze" and is related word to other carpentry-related words such as "tesar" (carpenter) or "tesati" (to hew); does Teslea means "adze" or something similar in Aromanian I don't know because the word is relatively rare and not in dictionaries; however, "carpenter" in Romanian is "tâmplar" or "dulgher", according to English-Romanian dictionary. Old last name of Tesla's family was indeed DragiŪ Draghici is Romanian variant of that name. "Drag" means "Dear" in both Serbian and Romanian but it is clearly a Slavic borrowing into Romanian because it doesn't exist in Latin languages ( English-Latin dictionary) but does exist in Russian which could be confirmed by English-Russian dictionary. Romanian phonebook does list 995 Draghici living in Bucharest, while SCG phonebook finds 200 (maximum search result) Dragić living in Belgrade. They also find one Teslea and three Tesleanu in Bucaresti
while there are 30 Tesla families living in Belgrade. Gica indeed is a Romanian name but it appears to be a male name. According to Tesla's birth certificate, name of Tesla's mother was Georgina, which is a Serbian name (female variant of "George" actually) and Djuka is nickname of that name. Names of Tesla's sisters, Anghelina, Milica and Marica, are also common Serbian female names; Anghelina is a Christian name while Milica has same root as Milutin. Nikola 07:18, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)
User:Irismeister is a currently banned user, and you now have some insight as to why -
David Gerard 17:34, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I been doing some research and his mother's maiden name is Mandic which is very common in Croatia so she's very likely a Croat. This father is most likely a Serb. He himself identified as a Serb and took after his father but is very likely he is a Serbo-Croatian (not pure Serb). He was born in a very multicultural region in Croatia then under Austrian empire and was schooled in Austria. There may some truth to the idea of Serbs "re-writing" history to turn him into a pure Serb. And also there may be some truth to the whole "vlach" background although is quite impossible to prove.
He was born close to Dalmatia which is a historical region inhabited by eastern latin speaking peoples. The actual extents of this region are unknown and were probably much larger than documented. Note that dalmatian people were not same as vlachs. There were at the time vlachs coexisting with dalmatian peoples and vlachs were different. These dalmatian didn't seem to have a very unique and different culture but only spoke a very different language. These people were "slavicized" but they didn't completely vanish. Some of the proper names of places and people were converted into slavic variants. Such as for ex Cattaro became Kotor, Jadera became Zadar names still used today but sometimes completely changed like Ragusa becomes Dubrovnik etc. Is quite likely some Croatian names from the region may be dalmatian people or names that were slavicized. All this is purely speculative but totally possible in regards to the hestory of the region.
Read the blurb above to understand the point of this final message. The name Mandic is actually most common in the Dalmatian region. See here https://actacroatica.com/en/surname/Mandi%C4%87/ Is possible this name is connected to these eastern european latin speaking peoples and the name was probably spelt differently originally. It is possible that he was Serbo-Croato-Dalmatian . His mother's side may be ethnically Dalmatian but due to history she became a Croat. Friendlyworkout ( talk)
This article is part of the Nikola Tesla series. |
Tesla, SI unit |
Duka Mandic (his mother) |
Tesla patents |
Wardenclyffe Tower |
any suggestions on a msg? JDR
Main list of articles related to Tesla
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I understand that many people who edit this page love some of the sentences that appear primarily in the biography section because they keep getting reverted to, but you have to realize that some of them are blatent gush about Tesla. I'm going to address some of them here specifically because they get changed back and forth multiple times every single day, so I think its worth talking about.
1) "In Tesla's early years in America, his fame paralleled that of any other inventor or scientist in history and in popular culture"
There is no way a person can parallel EVERY SINGLE other scientist and inventor. Its just not possible because the personalities and achievements of scientists vary so much. Why does my sentence of:
"In Tesla's early years in America, his fame paralleled that of other inventors or scientists in history and in popular culture."
keep getting reverted to a statement which cannot be true?
2) "His name became a byword for innovation and practical achievement."
Probably applies to Edison more than Tesla. While this might (I'm not convinced completely) have been true at the time, its certainly not true any more (once again, sorry Tesla fans, but Edison wins). Also, I dont think that the word "byword" is being used in a technically correct way here, but is being used colloquially. See dictionary.com.
What is wrong with:
"He was known for innovation and practical achievements."?
This sentence is undeniably true and says the same thing.
3) "He was a "magician" who conjured up technical feats"
This sentence is blatant gush and makes a joke of the entire section in my mind. Tesla was not a magician. He was a scientist. I don't care if you put quotation marks around the word. This sentence transmits no information and explicitly and implicitly compares Tesla to a sorceror. Why?
4) "Tesla was born at the stroke of midnight"
Sensationalistic writing that has no place in an encyclopedia.
Minor Issue:
Extraordinary genius vs. genius
Calling Tesla a genius is a fact. You could argue with almost complete certainty that he was a genius, which is a quasi technical term that is well defined. Calling him an extraordinary genius is an opinion, and wikipedia is not the place for opinions. In my opinion he is not of the same caliber as Einstein, Newton, Galileo etc. Thus he is an extraordinary human being, but not an extraordinary genius (I actually think of him as a good example of a genius). That makes this sentence WRONG in my mind, but I realize that some people do consider him an extraordinary genius. It should be simply "genius", which nobody can dispute really.
(Top posting above his huge list.) Securiger, just fix it. It's a wiki. Make the changes. (BTW, I agree with you point by point, but lacked the sources to cite to make the case. Well done. Just go to the main page and fix it. -- Rick Boatright 14:53, 13 May 2004 (UTC)
How do I go about disputing the factuality of this article? It is just too riddled with Tesla idolatry/crack-pot stuff. A few examples:
The category exists (categories being the MediaWiki 1.3 replacement for article boxes). All the Tesla series articles are in it now, except of course this one, because it's locked ... - David Gerard 23:48, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I am entirely unconvinced that Tesla did anything even remotely related to FEL's as stated in: "He also produced the effects that are now referred to as "free electron lasers."" under the "propagation and resonance" section. The concepts needed to understand and build a FEL are rather beyond the reach of turn of the century physics I think. If no source for this information is provided I think this line should be removed.-- Deglr6328 08:17, 14 Jul 2004 (UTC)
FELs (free electron lasers) require a " electron" beam, notice the coherent beams between the coils (don't get distracted by the corona discharge). Tesla understood the monoenergetic energy for incident electrons (as shown in his discovery of the bremsstrahlung process). This effect is much akin to the cathode rays (without the vacuum) of negatively charged "particles"; a stream of "corpuscles". Things required [which Tesla had set up] for a FEL are a resonant "cavity", not just a "optical cavity" (the resonance between the multiple coils through the natural medium (eg., air) could preform this function to "bounce" energy back and forth within an area). As to the array of static (usually permanent) magnets used today, the energized coils themselves preform this function.
The resonance between the coils sets up a high frequency monoenergetic coherent " ion" energy beam (or "stream") (today it is achieved by means of collimated light). The electron plasma density would exhibit a gain in emission when the coils are in resonance. This is the ase (amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) part of laser [specifically, the spacially periodic alternating polarity electromagnetic radiation Tesla was experimenting with]. JDR 18:11, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC) [PS. I would advise you to find the paper by T. Grotz's "Development of Particle Beam Weapons Based on Nikola Tesla's Design of 1937" for the ultimate culmination of this research. Also, here is a nice link for you].]
Everyone is right to be skeptical. It has nothing to do with FELs. Although Tesla discussed passing hundreds of horsepower through a channel far smaller than the width of a human hair, he was discussing his "Death Ray" invention which was based on atomic clusters of liquid mercury or tungsten accelerated in a vacuum, brought out into the air, and used as a weapon. The accelerating voltage was provided by a huge VandeGraaff machine with a high velocity gas as its charge-carrying belt. It's a particle beam, but one composed of charged atomic clusters rather than single subatomic particles. It's closest relative is the modern water-jet cutting machine. Tesla claimed that it could bring down aircraft at a distance of hundreds of KM, claimed that he had built fully functioning versions, and he attempted to sell this invention as a coastal defense system to several governments at the end of his life. Unfortunately he died during negotiations. The "death ray" is fully explained in the recent PBS show TESLA, MASTER OF LIGHTNING. The "hair-fine channel" discovered by Tesla is easily reproduced in desktop experiments, and currently finds application in research under the name "electrospray."-- Wjbeaty 02:10, Jan 1, 2005 (UTC)
Tesla invented a telephone repeater (or amplifier), which could act as an audio speaker (not an audio transducer).
What does this mean? If something can act as a loudspeaker then, by definition, it is a transducer. -- Heron 10:23, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)
He chose this location [Colorado] primarily because of the frequent thunderstorms and the thinness of the air (reducing its dielectric level), making it more conductive.
What is "dielectric level"? (I know we have a stub article on it, but that doesn't define the term.) Can you use a conventional physical term, please? Do you mean permittivity, conductivity, dielectric breakdown strength, resistivity, or something else? How is thinner air more conductive, and why is that a good thing? -- Heron 10:51, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Thanks. I read the PDF article you referred to. Your statement in the Wikipedia article seems to be combining two of Tesla's statements which I do not think are related. First, he talks about oxidizing atmospheric nitrogen to make fertilizer. Well, that's possible, if expensive, but he says nothing to connect the availability of atmospheric nitrogen with the location of his laboratory in Colorado or with the conductivity of the air. Second, he says that it's easier to ionize air at high altitudes where the pressure is lower. This is also a well-known fact, but has nothing to do with nitrogen. The proportions of nitrogen and oxygen in the air are constant with altitude up to about 80 km [9]. I can see no link between nitrogen and Colorado.
I suggest we replace your statement:
with this:
What do you think? -- Heron 13:44, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)
What can be done about:
Done
Other > is the "External links" section is too long?
Thanks for any input ... JDR
In the last week this article has been constatly sneaky-vandalized, and we're all pretty sick of reverting it back to serbian instead of vlach (and others). I took the liberty to list this page in WP:RFPP, thought this might not be the proper action.
What actions should we take about this? — Kieff | Talk 02:44, Oct 11, 2004 (UTC)
( William M. Connolley 20:03, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)) OK, we have an anon who would like Tesla to be a Vlach. If he was, this is fine by me, but I see no evidence that he was. The Vlach page map would appear to suggest not, but that is hardly definitive. This page [10] includes a quote attributed to Tesla: I am a Serb but my homeland is Croatia, which may or may not be reliable. This page [11] has User:GeneralPatton saying T is a Vlach, so I shall leave a note for him.
Well, i've lived close to tesla's house (5 kilometres), and i know wery well history of the area, and i'm perfectly aware which kind of people are calling Tesla Vlach. Small nationalists trying to erase any trace of cultural existance of local serbs in the area. Like making parking lot from the tesla's father church: http://www.eparhija-gornjokarlovacka.hr/Images/Eparhija/Gospic/Gospic4.jpg or or by destroying graveyard where his parents are burried http://www.eparhija-gornjokarlovacka.hr/Images/Eparhija/Gospic/Gospic11.jpg. Or dinamiting his statute in the centre in the town. More sofisticated are trying to proclame him Vlach. Well guys, why destroy the churches, statues, graveyards of the Vlachs? You were at the war with the serbs? Aren't you?
There is absolutely no doubt that Tesla was a Serb, a very proud one too. He was a huge fan of serbian literature and a writer of poems as well. In his biography I read a qoute from him and it goes something like this "I have invented many great things in that will improve the world but nothing makes more proud then when I think that it was done by a Serb". The qoute is 95% correct as its been some years since I read the book. In another qoute he says that "We Serbs are a proud people that guard the gates of Europe from the Asian hordes" I read a few books on Tesla and the one that these qoutes are from is called Wizard if I'm not wrong. It is one of the more recognized of his biographies.
Tesla unfortunately has become commonly associated with nutters these days, despite apparently being an unsung genius...
this is true. A lot of stuff has been published that speak of fantastic inventions of free energy forever, a motor that runs on gravity or whatever, which have been suppressed by the FBI or men in black. There are many claims that relativity was invented before Einstein such as by Edgar Allan Poe and others. I guess there are at least 50 Reativity inventors in each country ;) -- FrankA 01:35, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)
But the "well documented" claims that he lit lights at 25 miles... can anyone document this?
I read this as well, but under a pretty dubious bio. A lot of his experiements still can't be reproduced today. Makes you wonder how he did them. -- James 10:26, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)
The 25 mile claim is apparently erroneous. It was never directly reported in any of Tesla's lab notes or direct writings. -- Bert 05:05, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Anybody care to comment on his birthdate. 9th and 10th both seem to feature with google.
Nikola Tesla wurde exakt um Mitternacht zwischen dem 9. und 10. Juli 1856 geboren. He was born exactly at midnight:
http://www.dpg-fachgremien.de/p/informationen-dateien/plasmaphysiker/tesla.html
66.68.252.119 wrote: Smiljan, Croatia is no where near serbia and Tesla websites and encyclopedia articles consider him as a Croat not a Serb and changed "Serbian" to "Croat".
This first issue stems from a misunderstanding that the adjective "Serbian" refers to "Serbia", where in fact it refers to "Serbs". I don't know if we'll ever be able to rectify this without using the unusual adjective "Serb". The second issue is patent nonsense. -- Joy [shallot] 01:27, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Nikola Tesla called himself Croatian because he was born and lived there, he also spoke Croatian a slightly different language to Serbian. Yes his father was Serbian but his ancestry is not Serbian. Tesla family name is Romanian in origin. This concludes that Nikola Tesla is Croatian and where his family comes from and their origins are irrelevant...we are talking about him only and he is Croat without doubt...... We can trace most cultures back to Africa .so are we all African...... Nikola liked to be called Croatian and not Serbian and in the end what evidence is there that Tesla name originated in Serbia = NONE.his parents are Serbs of Romanian origin We are not talking about his parents We are talking about Nikola alone and he was born in Croatia.
I don't think that the mention of the Life magazine list deserves to be in the lead section. It's particularly ironic that Edison is number 1 and Tesla number 57 in the same list... but judging by the rest of the list, that may not have been done intentionally, but merely due to U.S.-centricity. -- Joy [shallot] 17:40, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)
i thought he died after being hit by a taxi .not of heart failure.
I would advise someone to check 137.132.3.11's edits as s/he only knows how to vandalise. Do not want to revert any later edits (unsigned comment by User:SqueakBox
An anon user, 66.17.239.99, made several edits in a short span of time that added and/or removed external links. I'm having difficulty following what the user was trying to do, (there were no edit summaries). Can someone confirm that no legitimate links were removed? Thanks. (P.S. Please make use of the "Preview" button, rather than filling up the page history with minor changes, that's what it is there for.) func (talk) 14:57, 24 May 2005 (UTC)
Please sign your edits, unless you want to be seen as deliberately impolite. Use: ~~~~ (but without the nowiki...) William M. Connolley 11:00, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC).
Those interesting in trying to rein in the tesla-philes might also look at Dynamic theory of gravity which also needs attention after a recent bout of boosting by an anon. I've used up my reverts for now :-(. Maybe it should be VFD'd.
Other than the new Wizard, the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla book, does anyone have a link to the fact that this was a Double exposure? Sources usually denote that this was a single exposure (Seifer was the first I know to say that it was a double). Any links? Books? etc? If not, then statement that the photo was a double exposure should be qualified in the article. (PS., Tesla could ingulf himself in plasma ... there are several accounts of him doing this (in america and europe), so this may be an instance that he was not afraid of the amps killing him (the plasma in the photo being just EHV and extremely low amperage)) 9 Jun 2005 by anon user 204.56.7.1
It has to be a double exposure.
Conclusion: It has to be a double exposure. On line sources which concur: [13] [14] [15] (none of these are wiki mirrors...) Rick Boatright 18:41, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)
This page is growing excessively (I've just cut it down somewhat) due to people adding stuff thats already on the sub pages. It doesn't all need to be here and it shouldn't be. Also, every semi-mythological tesla factoid (tungaska...) does *not* deserve a place.
According to Wikipedia (and general encyclopedic) convention, to biography of Nikola Tesla should be put under the lemma Nikola Tesla, not Biography of Nikola Tesla. To make a coherent, readable article, that would require, to shorten the sections on Teslas works and invention, which is no problem at all, because there exist already several separate articles for them. -- Pjacobi 17:06, 2005 Jun 15 (UTC)
I think the best thing would be for the main article to be the biog. The inventions etc can be summarised and sub-paged. That would be better than having the biog sub-paged. William M. Connolley 19:27, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC).
Also, please clarify your statement: NT is the preliminary entry. Do you mean there should be short and a long bio of Tesla? This would set a rather strange and unfortunate precedent. Or do you thing the version Nikola Tesla should be deleted and replaced with Biography of Nikola Tesla? -- Pjacobi 20:31, 2005 Jun 15 (UTC)
Pj: I admire your patience in arguing with The Unsigning One. But... it looks to be pointless. William M. Connolley 21:05, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC).
I've restored the merge notice. Just to clarify (because it is in fact a touch misleading, from my POV): I think there is text on the biog page that should be merged in here, and stuff here that should then be moved out, to keep the article size down to about 32k. If there is a tag for that instead of merge, then lets us it, but failing that I'd like to see the merge tag stay. William M. Connolley 22:04, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC).
After wandering over from RFC and reading both articles and discussions, I absolutely agree that this page should be the biography - it's an article about the man, therefore it's a biography. Biography of Nikola Tesla is just a fork for the Teslaites to rave about how wonderful he was and how we'd all be living high on the hog if all of his marvelous inventions weren't suppressed. If the article is really getting too long create additional articles about his inventions or the crackpot theories surrounding him. Soundguy99 04:13, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I wonder if someone trustworthy and knowledgeable (Joy) could clarify the ethnicity stuff. The page suffers fairly regularly from people swapping serb for croat for vlach for... well I don't know. William M. Connolley 08:41, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC).
Because of the edit wars and non-NPOV edits, should the excess information be moved to wikibooks?
I don't know who's brillian idea it was to start a Wikibook with this material, but it has created a firestorm of activity at The Wikibooks Staff Lounge. If you want to help to define in part the relationship between Wikibooks and Wikipedia, I would recommend that you get involved in the debate. Trust me, there are people at Wikibooks that are watching the content that comes over, and Wikibooks should not be considered a "dumping ground" for random content. Even so, I thought that the material that did make it to Wikibooks was well done in terms of Wikibook format.... before it was deleted by an Admin. That, for me, is what has touched off the controvercy all over again. -- Robert Horning 04:04, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
Its clear we have agreement that *this* should be the biog page. The biog can then be a redirect here. Some of the excess stuff here can probably then be cut/moved elsewhere to keep this page at a managable size. I will do this tonight I think unless someone (other than 204, of course) objects. William M. Connolley 09:10, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC).
This the view of the documentry of PBS : Tesla : Master of lightning
This is what Tesla stated on his single noded tubes. The 2 node x-ray tubes cause damage differenctly. Later, Telsa did have an assistant hurt from his x-ray experiments.
This is true. He was "forgotten", because of the political historical revisionism furthered by D. Sarnoff (who bought the marconi corporation). He was also in poverty near his death. -Anon
OK, I think we (Jnc) and I are in agreement: Tesla was important, but the article gushes. Also... if you have time, take a look at the various duplications... Colorado Springs is here and in Wardencliff tower. William M. Connolley 2005-06-29 08:49:16 (UTC).
Yeah, the article definitely gushes in places. I have edited some of the gush without changing any actual meaning except for the bit on superconductivity. The article was quite misleading in implying that Tesla had a role in the discovery of superconductivity, which is most definitely not the perception in the scientific community. Per wikipedia's NPOV policy, I clarified the issue. Krazikarl August 5, 2005
WMC stated, 20:17, 25 Jun 2005, in the edit history: stop hrowing around baseless charges of vandalism. Why do you insist on duplicating material that exists elsewhere? Reponse: I'll stop charging "vandalism" when that is not being done. The material does not exists elsewhere in the full form. The Magnifying Transmitter article (which you must be citing) covers only alittle bit about the dirary and it doesn't cover the othr aspects in the main NT article which you are removing. -Anon
is still in both. Only a true Telsa-phile could think that - gasp - keeping a diary - how extraordinary! The man *must* be a genius - could be worth mentioning, let alone in two seperate articles. And it had 500 pages! Wowie!
Actually, copies of Tesla's "Colorado Springs Notes" can be easily had via the used book market for $35-40. Bert
I truncated this sentence:
at the comma, because the rest of it doesn't make sense. If we can decide what the second clause means, I'll fix it and add it back to the article. -- Heron 11:40, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I have some pictures from the Nikola Tesla Museum from Belgrade. and i have no time for editing the Tesla page. If someone woud ike the pictures, (s)he can contact me at mulaz@email.si or on irc (www.ircnet.com -> servers and choose one from your country) nick = mulaz . I'm online weekdays usualy all the time, and some weekends.
oh yeah - 19 pics - 12MB
Might try to see if this becomes active @ some time. -Anon
Why is forgotten linked to Historical revisionism? Salsb 7 July 2005 21:20 (UTC)
If you like Tesla... you may like Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Tesla's Tributes and honors. Check it out... William M. Connolley 2005-07-07 22:18:08 (UTC).
==Tributes and honors== [[Image:Tesla Memorial NF small.jpg|thumb|right|135px|Tesla Memorial at Niagara Falls]] There have been many things named in tribute to Tesla. Below are a list of [[Tesla's Tributes and honors]]. The scientific compound derived [[SI]] unit measuring [[magnetic flux density]] or [[magnetic]] induction (commonly known as the [[magnetic field]] '''B'''), the [[tesla (unit)|tesla]], was named in his honor (at the ''Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures'', [[Paris]], [[1960]]). Nikola Tesla was: * Life Fellow IEEE (United States) * Fellow [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] (United States) * Fellow [[American Electro-Therapeutic Association]] (United States) * Member of [[New York Academy of Sciences]] (United States) * Member of [[American Philosophical Society]] (United States) * Member of [[National Electric Light Association]] (United States) * Member of [[Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts]] ([[Serbia]]) * Member of [[Societe International des Electriciens]] ([[France]]) [[Image:Serbia100Dinara.jpg|thumb|135px|Tesla on 100 [[Serbian Dinar]]s in 2004. Photo courtesy of [[National bank of Serbia]].]] ''[[Life magazine]]'', in a special double issue, listed Tesla in the "''[[Life magazine#LIFE.26apos.3Bs_100_most_important_people_of_the_second_millennium|100 Most Important People in the Last 1000 Years]]''". He occupied the 57th position, cited as "[one of] the most farsighted inventors of the electrical age". They state his work on the [[rotating magnetic field]] and alternating currents helped electrify the world. [http://www.teslasociety.com/lifemag2.jpg] Some Tesla monuments include: * Nikola Tesla Corner, 40th Street & 6th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City * Tesla monument at [[Niagara Falls]] : located on [[Goat Island (New York)|Goat Island]] in [[New York]] In addition, a number of things have been named after him or dedicated to him: * A [[Impact crater|crater]] on the far side of the [[moon]] was named after Tesla. It is 26 km in diameter at -2,0°width, -132.0°height. (The USGS [http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/moon/mooncrat.html] has the following data: 43.0 km diameter, 38.5°N 124.7°E.) * [[2244 Tesla]] is a [[minor planet]] named after him * The 100 [[Serbian Dinar]]s banknote in 2004. [http://www.nbs.org.yu/serbian/slike/73s3p.jpg See photograph], courtesy of the [[National bank of Serbia]][http://www.nbs.org.yu] * [[Nikola Tesla (power plant)|Nikola Tesla]] - the largest [[power plant]] in [[Serbia]], 2.8[[gigawatt|GW]] * [[Tesla (band)|Tesla]] - a [[rock band]] Tesla is a continuing character in a series of novels by [[Spider Robinson]] concerned with [[Callahan's Crosstime Saloon|Callahan's]]. The Tesla Coils of the PC games [[Red Alert]] and Red Alert 2 are named in his honor. The super person Nikola Tesla is a [[Japan]]ese comic ([[manga]]). The Tesla Cannon in the computer game Blood is a weapon that shoots electric projectiles. ----
The info between the horizontal rulles (and nowiki tags) needs to be put into the Tesla article if the Tesla's Tributes and honors article is deleted. It was removed becaue WMC complained about the article size, but then wants to delete the split article. If it's not going to be able to exist as it own, then it need to be in the main article. 216.185.232.203
I think some of this deserves to be in the main article. Tesla was a great engineer. However, 1) All of it? any publically known emminent scientist has these honors and more 2) the article is still around for now, so at least wait to see if it gets deleted Salsb 8 July 2005 01:18 (UTC)
Howdy, Could someone please upload the picture of the turbine generator of block A5 in Nikola Tesla power station found at http://www.ear.eu.int/publications/main/news-a1a2b3bo4.htm It's from the EU and so is in public domian.
It would be nice if we could have a articles on the two Tesla Power Stations. It's been established by VfD precident that all public electric power utilities are notable and worthy of inclusion. Together these power plants generate 47% of Serbia's electricity
For more information see http://www.eps.co.yu/about/nikola_tesla.php
Klonimus 9 July 2005 03:14 (UTC)
Could we include his awards, but not his memberships? I ask this because some of them are simply societies any scientist can join with just dues. Also, any famous scientist is named as a fellow to multiple societies, but it is not considered worthy of mention for other scientists. Yet, of Tesla's notable awards none are listed in the award section, and only one is mentioned at all; the Edison medal.
During a meeting with Edison, after working for him for some time, Tesla outlined many improvements for efficiency and power in Edison's dynamos. Edison was so skeptically impressed, he said jokingly, he'd pay 50 thousand dollars to someone who would do as Tesla had outlined. But Tesla didn't realize the joke and took Edison's words seriously, designing a series of dynamos over several months in fulfillment of his offer. Only when he came to collect the $50k, did Edison let him know he had made the offer in jest.
Thomas Edison was forefront, at the top of the fledgling American electronics industry. And Tesla, some tall spindly eccentric character who seemingly just stepped off a boat, broke, from Europe was offering to make major redesigns to his devices which were years beyond the work of his best engineers. It is easy to see how Edison could joke about Tesla's offers. And it's easy to see how a non-English native speaker could misinterpret the jovial conversation: "I can redesign such, such and such." "Ha! No way, if you can do that I'll give you 50 grand!" "I can do it." "Ha, ha, OK, you can try (but it'll never happen)."
If Edison were more morally inclined, he would have given Tesla the $50k, despite his offer being originally in jest, but it is rewriting history or promulgation of existing mythology to say that Edison "reneged on his agreement" or "promise" since agreement was made only by Tesla, one-half of the two parties. Later in life, Tesla remarked that it was a stupid mistake on his own part not to have realized that Edison was only joking during that meeting. I don't think the article does a good job of revealing the facts of this story. -- D. Estenson II 10:25, July 10, 2005 (UTC)
My problem is that the article implies, incorrectly, that Edison originally considered the $50k offer a real deal. About a year ago, I read an article published in the late 1930's or early 1940's where Tesla in his own words wrote it was naive or simple-minded of himself to think the "agreement" with Edison was a verbal contract, when Edison was never serious. Though it is true that Tesla felt insulted not to have been paid what he thought was owed. I should try to find this article again to verify his comments. -- D. Estenson II 00:33, July 11, 2005 (UTC)
I personally think the U.S. government has created the deathray, it was identified to me as a low-class terrorist defense weapon for crowd control at first. It does exist though, it can be stronger. I heard about this device on CNN last year or so. Besides that, does anyone know if the time and place Tesla lived enabled him to learn multiple languages at once, or did he simply take interesting into linguistics? -- Cyberman 10:32, 10 July 2005 (UTC)
Is there a reference for the following: "In the same year, Tesla devised an electric igniter ( spark plug) for gasoline engines which was nearly identical to ideas about the same process used by modern internal combustion engines." in particular the "which was nearly identical ...." clause ? Salsb 21:54, 11 July 2005 (UTC)
The article should mention that Tesla's expertise was not limited to electricity. While not a pioneer in the field, he knew a great deal about fluid dynamics, and had several patents based on the mechanical properties of fluids. His knowledge of fluid mechanics proved essential when he famously built the hydroelectric turbines at Niagra Falls. I think some of his knowledge of fluids also assisted his understanding of electrical currents. It is important not to neglect this subject, since it contributed to his success. -- D. Estenson II 19:53, July 14, 2005 (UTC)
There was some text introducted by an anon on the generation of magnetic fields, which I removed. I did keep the conversion between Tesla and Gauss and corrected the size of the earth's magnetic field in Tesla {~50microT, not ~1microT}, although I am not sure this belongs here. Salsb 16:06, 24 July 2005 (UTC)
Shouldn't some of these details be in an article about the plants themselves? Salsb 16:06, 24 July 2005 (UTC)
After looking at the reference, I noticed that the text was incorrect (47% of Serbia's power}, so I corrected it. Salsb 23:18, 25 July 2005 (UTC)
Nikola Tesla is also a hardcore band in Calgary AB
"Tesla was born around midnight with lightning striking all around during a summer storm"? Is this certain? Do we have a reference? Kel- nage 15:37, 6 August 2005 (UTC)
The patent office clasiifies inventions by Class/Subclass. The 1st 3 digits are the class. The second digits after the backslash is the subclass. This is from thier site:
Heron, a primary class of patent US685012 is 178/43 (it is bolded), but other equally applicable classes include 505/825; To look up the up what the classes mean, go to the classification search.
Sincerely, JDR 14:29, 9 August 2005 (UTC)
There used to be a Wikibook at b:Biography of Nikola Tesla, which got VFD'd. This decision has now been reversed, and it's back. A couple of things:
Thankyou. - Aya 42 T C 01:46, 10 August 2005 (UTC)
Tesla was noted for his obsession with pigeons in his later years. His obsession with pigeons can be lumped together with his other eccentricities. Simfish 01:26, 19 August 2005 (UTC)
During the later years of his life, Tesla became fascinated with T'ai Chi, and I have read & heard that he witnessed in real life, some extraordinary thing sthat inspired many of his more esoteric inventions / concepts.
I believe it is all related, and if you have any more information since you started looking, I would really like to know about it.
Do you know if Tesla ever worked on a Time machine? I read somewhere once he was working on such a thing and made something disapear.. Tesla said it was possible to travel in time
Is this true????
Ivo
Hi Aleks
I heard that he made something disapear but he didnt know where it went...Tesla said it was in time travel... He was said to be working on it with some other scientist..name escapes me now... RE movie Philledlphia Experement with actor Michael Pare had a documentury on how the movie was based on some facts ... they mentioned that Nikola Tesla was working on time travel ...im 90% sure its where i heard that story.......or a program on Time Machine... Nikola was a very smart man...im sure he would have tested anything and everything given the money, which for most of his life he didnt have enough of.....I also heard he got ripped of with inventions..others taking his inventions...which is sad for Serbs. We Croats have many inventions among them , Parachute, Cravat, Torpedo, finger printing machine, maglite, pen etc...and we have the Dalmatian dog....so we have our pride but you Serbs did have one great man in Tesla...shame the world doesnt pay him the respect he deserves....bit like our Croat Jew David Schwarz.....
Ivo..........
Other views on origin over this have no merit...just propaganda from both sides..
The above people lived in a time when that sort of thing wasnt important nor should it be today. Life was much better when they were all called Yugoslav. EVERGREEN
WE ALL NEED SOME RAKIJA TO COOL DOWN
Let's end the edit wars here and now! I'm tired of everyone arguing about this point and constantly changing and reverting edits. Let's settle the issue once and for all and be done with it. This childish bickering is completely unacceptable and very unprofessional! Erzahler 17:39, 20 April 2006 (UTC)
If this ethnic war keeps up, I'll recommend to the Wikipedia adminstrators to delete this entire article!! Erzahler 19:56, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
Well said Erzahler
Its all stupid.... Someone is editing to say Tesla is Serb only while keep changing Andric into Serb and Croat. People should leave things alone. Tesla is Serb of possible Vlah origin. OK Andric is Croat only but did write in Serbian and had a liking of its people...Thats all... Boscovich is Croat and Italian...saying he has serb blood is silly. Someone should go in and change to the above as I think this is correct. Most will agree from both sides. PS If we are Slavs and if we have same or simular last names...Croats and Serbs could well be the same or mixed with one another...so pointless if we are the same people hahahah get my drift
Evergreen
I have requested a block of the user using IP address 88.111.97.240 due to his/her continued vandalism of the page. Erzahler 18:00, 25 April 2006 (UTC)
Could someone summerize the facts about J. P. Morgan and Telsa and add it to the J. P. Morgan page? There is nothing about Telsa there. I know that Morgan financed Telsa but I don't really understand why and for which project so I am unable to write about it and I think it would make an important addition to the Morgan page. cda 18:03, 18 September 2005 (UTC)
To do this properly would be to write a book. Morgan and Tesla were friends, and Morgan payed Tesla to play in his lab, giving him first dibs on any marketable ideas. Basically, anything after 1900 or 1904 or whenever the two got together would be a project Morgan financed (with the exception of electricity while in Colorado Springs, that he got free from someone else)
Simfish, good idea. Tesla, in his later years, was obsessed with pigeons ... this should be mentioned (and his other obsessive compulsive fixations).
Anon, I have not heard that Tesla became specifically fascinated with T'ai Chi. I do know that he became interested in Vedic philosophy (which has many similarities with quantum theory today). He was well read and, later in life, did research various worldviews in developing his inventions. I'll look into it. JDR (PS., NT later became concerned with germs and his health, so this may fit in with that.)
The article was nominated for featuring twice. The first nomination is at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Archived nominations/July 2004#Nikola Tesla and the second at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Nikola Tesla. I will copy-paste here a list of objections to see if we could resolve them. Nikola 14:31, 25 September 2005 (UTC)
The first try:
The second try:
Firstly: Tomingaj is a Serbian village in Lika. Secondly: Nikola wasn't born in Croatia, but the Military Frontier. Thirdly: What is this about his "Romanian" origin? HolyRomanEmperor 17:08, 15 November 2005 (UTC)
But his second name's (Tesla) has origing strictly from the Serbian language: tesla means adze in Serbian. HolyRomanEmperor 21:52, 16 November 2005 (UTC)
Then what were you trying to say on the talk page of Nikola Tesla? HolyRomanEmperor 21:55, 16 November 2005 (UTC)
Now, I can explain that perfectly. I am a Vlach ( Serb). The Serbs of Krajina (Frontier in Serbian) (in present-day Croatia) were called Vlachs. 147.91.8.10 18:28, 17 November 2005 (UTC)
The Habsburg Emperors have issued several edicts called Statuta Valachorum, translated as Serbian statute(s) in which the Serbs of the Military Frontier gained more and more power (independently from the Emperor of the Croatian Ban) 147.91.8.10 18:32, 17 November 2005 (UTC)
The Habsburgs issued many edicts by the name Statuta Valachorum, translated as Serbian statutes which the Krajina Serbs used to draft more and more power independant from the Emperor or the Croatian Ban. 147.91.8.10 18:35, 17 November 2005 (UTC)
Vlach was a name generally used in the Habsburg Empire for Orthodox Christians, and since the only church was the Serbian Orthodox Church, so did many indeed Vlachs assimilate into Serbs but the number was minimal and unimportant, and long ago. 18:37, 17 November 2005 (UTC)
My mother comes from Upper Dalmatia, she is a Vlach (by descendency and tradition), but she is no nationality or ethnicity other than Serb. Do you understand what I am trying to say? 147.91.8.10 18:40, 17 November 2005 (UTC)
[COMPIED FROM MY TALK JDR 20:52, 17 November 2005 (UTC) ]
Several Croatian nationalists have cherished the Serbian migrations in hopes of proving that no one should regret for all the Serbs that were killed or exiled in the Seconds World War (700,000-1,000,000) and in the Yugoslav Civil Wars (700) in Croatia. HolyRomanEmperor 10:39, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
but now they are trying to prove that all those Serbs that came (tens of thousands) were not Serbs, but Vlachs - which is ironic, since Vlachs are a native population of the region and they had no greater migration whatsoever. The largest population of Vlachs lived in Dalmatia, both Catholic and Orthodox - Morlovlachs (a sub-group of Istro-Romainians). They were majorily assimilated into Croats. The last of them live on Istra. HolyRomanEmperor 10:44, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
In short notice, there is no controversial notice on Tesla's ethnicity, only notifications that have arisen as a result of Greater Croatian propaganda (try to make him Croat, if can't, at least make him not Serb) HolyRomanEmperor 12:21, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
Final solution => Name: Nikola Tesla; Date of birth: Jully 10 1856; Place of birth: Smiljan (village), Gospić (county), Military Frontier, Habsburg Monarchy/ Austrian Empire; Religion: Serbian Orthodox Christian; Ethnicity: Serb; Nationality: Croat, Serb, American; Date of death: January 7 1943; Place of death: New York City, New York (state), United States of America HolyRomanEmperor 12:31, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
Final solution => Name: Nikola Tesla; Date of birth: Jully 10 1856; Place of birth: Smiljan (village), Gospić (county), Military Frontier, Habsburg Monarchy/ Austrian Empire; Religion: Serbian Orthodox Christian; Ethnicity: Serb; Nationality: Croat, Serb, American; Date of death: January 7 1943; Place of death: New York City, New York (state), United States of America HolyRomanEmperor 12:31, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
we could also add Yugoslav in nationality. I must also point out that my ancestors in the XVII century wereforced to declare themselves Vlachs at times, because the name of the edict was Statuta Valachorum, so the Croatian Ban and the Catholic Church in Croatia and Slavonia forged a master plan - to turn all Serbs into uniates (Orthodox, but for the Pope) and all muslims to convert to Catholics. It wasn't easy being Orthodox and other than Vlach in those times... HolyRomanEmperor 12:36, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
The article as it stands reads as follows: "A year later, he demonstrated a radio controlled boat to the US military, believing that the military would want things such as radio controlled torpedoes." This is incorrect. Here is Tesla's own quote, outraged at the suggestion from a reporter that his invention might be used for this purpose: "You do not see there a wireless torpedo, you see there the first of a race of robots, mechanical men which will do the laborious work of the human race."
In " The True Wireless" Tesla explaines that after the publication of Dr. Heinrich Hertz's results investigating Maxwell's electro-magnetic theory (at the time, Tesla was developing a commercial system of power transmission), Tesla constructed several forms of apparatus with the object of exploring the avenues investigated by Dr. Hertz. Tesla removed several limitations of the devices Hertz had employed and concentrated his attention on the production of a powerful induction coil (his " oscillation transformer"). After extensive experimentation and documating the test, Tesla went to Bonn, Germany, in 1892. There he confered with Dr. Hertz in regard to his observations. Hertz seemed disappointed to such a degree that Tesla regretted his trip and parted from him sorrowfully.
Before 1900, two innovations were made. One of these was my individualized system with transmitters emitting a wave-complex and receivers comprising separate tuned elements cooperatively associated. The other a peculiar oscillator enabling the transmission of energy without wires in any quantity that may ever be required for industrial use, to any distance, and with very high economy. In 1900, Tesla constructed a wireless transmitter which enabled Tesla to obtain electro-magnetic activities of many millions of horse-power, he attempted to prove that the disturbances emanating from the oscillator were "aether vibrations" akin to those of light, but was met again with utter failure. For more than eighteen years Tesla was reading treatises, reports of scientific transactions, and articles on " Hertz-wave" telegraphy, to keep informed on the topic, but the information have always imprest upon Tesla like works of fiction. He arrived at the conclusion that "Hertz waves have little to do with the results obtained even at small distances". His experimention with own transmitters plainly shown radiating space waves of considerable frequency. He demonstrated that the different forms of aerials that the signals picked up by the instruments must actually be conducted and induced by earth currents and air currents and were not " aetheric space waves" (as Hertz believed).
Sincerely, J. D. Redding
Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan. Back then it was a Military Frontier ruled by Austrian Empire and present day it is Croatia. He himself said of being proud of being Serbian and of his "Croatian homeland".
Few things to note:
Inventors can be characterized:
As for the regions and their names it is possible that we go and list all possible scales, the city, the municipalities, districts and other divisions over the history since he was born but I don't think this is necessary. All the facts above are easily verifiable.
-- Aleksandar Šušnjar 19:16, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
A later NT image.
J. D. Redding 03:55, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
Is it just me or does this article seem overly wikified? Dark Nexus 22:27, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
User:Reddi appearently doesn't agree with my suggestion (to the up). HolyRomanEmperor 16:24, 24 December 2005 (UTC)
I never said I didn't agree ... just don't have strong feelings on it one way or another and didn't comment .... personally, i'd think that some verison of it should go into the article. J. D. Redding 05:03, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
I removed the 'quote' attributed to Nikola about his 'pride'.
As far as I know - it was invented by Bogdan Radica who claimed that Nikola said: 'Iam a Serb, but my homeland is Croatia' (see Margaret Chenney book - Tesla - Man out of Time).
There is no other resource that comes from the people who maintained contacts to Tesla.
Why putting "Austrian Empire" in infobox? Yes, Tesla was born in Austrian Empire, I'm not trying to start a flame far on whether the article should say he was born in Croatia, I'm saying that in infoboxes, we put current geographical location. In infobox of George Washington it doesn't say Virginia but Virginia. Moreover, article about Pope Adrian VI says "He was born under very modest circumstances in the city of Utrecht, which at that time was capital of the bishopric of Utrecht and a Low German-speaking part (whose inhabitants considered themselves to be part of the German nation) of the Holy Roman Empire (more specifically, Burgundy), and is now in the Netherlands. His ancestors were from present-day Germany." His infobox says "birthplace= Utrecht, Netherlands".
I don't want to begin an edit war, that's why I ask now, before I edit the infobox: can anyone show me a Wikipedia article about a person which has name of former country in it's infobox? If not, I'll remove reference to Austrian Empire from infobox and adjust the infobox to style of two previously quoted. -- Dijxtra 19:00, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
-- 69.199.95.31 23:55, 10 January 2006 (UTC) Nikola Tesla was not croatian! My father went to a high school named after him called "Nikola Tesla." This high school is located in Belgrade! During the time that he lived: Serbia and Croatia were becoming one country: YUGOSLAVIA! Therefore Nikola Tesla was Yugoslavian.
In the wikipedia article, it said "Nikola Tesla was of Serbian descent and a citizen of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, after 1918, Yugoslavia and nowdays Croatia." The "Croatia" part is incorrect because today, what is left of former Yugoslavia is called "Serbia and Montenegro." 'Serbia and Montengro' has the same flag as former Yugoslavia had, different from the lone serbian flag. The flag of former Yugoslavia is blue, white, and red. The Serbian and Montenegrian flag is blue, white, red. The Serbian flag (Serbia on its own) is red, blue, and white. The croatian flag is red, blue, and white with a symbol on it. Therefore former Yugoslavia, today, is Serbia and Montenegro. NIKOLA TESLA WAS YUGOSLAVIAN!
-Mina (tri prsta!)
It's becoming obvious why you guys in that region can't stop having your little wars and genocides.
Based on this PBS article: http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_wendwar.html, there was no report to the media of Tesla's death ray and the article implies that he didn't 'market' his invention to various nations until that time, so the date should be changed from the 20's to the 30's. Of course, there might have been rumors swirling around an earlier prototype, in which case this should read 'it was rumored that' rather than 'reportedly'.
Also interesting to add from the article: his belief that his 'death ray' weapon would 'end all wars'
I replaced "Tesla's fame rivaled that of any other inventor or scientist" for "Tesla's fame exceeded that of any other inventor or scientist." It is surely false that Tesla was more famous among inventors than Edison or more famous than Einstein among scientists.
Also, just out of curiousity. How is stating the following: "After his demonstration of wireless communication in 1893 and after being the victor in the " War of Currents", he was widely respected as America's greatest electrical engineer. " puffing up Tesla into a superhero? These are more facts than praise.
Who owns Tesla's patents today? I think I read somewhere that his wife sold his patents to GE, his enemy, to make ends meet. Or this could be a different inventor I'm thinking about. I'm not sure.
First of all, Edison's only great invention was the light bulb, Tesla invented the method by which we have electricity in out homes today. -- serbiana - talk 23:55, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
Much better version Aleksandar! The old maps will also show you that Croatia formed part of the Austian-Hungarian Empire and if we want to be correct, so that people will know where he was really born, this should be mentioned (yugoslavia was created much later and is now already history - how time goes by swiftly...). Anyway it's Nikola Tesla year in both countries - Serbia as well as Croatia. Nothing mentioned about that so far... ;) -- Neoneo13 21:57, 17 January 2006 (UTC)
I am a student and am fascinated with one of the great geniuses of our time - Nikolas Tesla. I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me where I could read correspondence between Tesla and Katherine Johnson. They were friends and I would like to know more about their relationship and the letters they wrote to one another. Many thanks! studentpam2000 at msmath@prodigy.net
Tesla was born "on the stroke of midnight" between July 9 and 10 1856. This is definetely something that needs to be put in the article but which of the two dates should be taken as official?
Well, which time zone are we talking about? Usually the one used at location of birth. In 1856 there was no such a thing as Daylight Savings Time or summer time. But now there is. During summer time people's clocks show the time as one hour ahead of what would have been usual, "winter" time.
What does this mean? Well, if Austrian Empire observed those rules in 1856, then the "stroke of midnight" would reallu have been 01:00 (am) of July 10. You can wrap this backward as well - if one would now like to celebrate exact "birthday instants" of Nikola Tesla they would have to do it at 01:00 (am) on July 10.
We can take this purely mathematically as well. Let's suppose that he was born exactly at midnight (without any error whatsoever). By that fact alone we can conclude that Tesla lived on this world for no time at all in July 9th, 1856 but did the entire July 10th. If we define "birthday" as the first day in which the person lived after birth for more than 0 time (not at all) then we still get July 10th as Tesla's birthday.
Now let's introduce some small, at the time immesurable, error. If it was slightly on the July 10th side then we're still fine with July 10th. If it was on the July 9th side then we still have slight dilemma - whether to use the summer time "excuse" (covers up to 1 hour error - just fine) or not (then we still may have a dilemma) ...
-- Aleksandar Šušnjar 18:38, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
Correct? ... I agree with you ... but it's like the 2000 / 2001 millennium thing ... does the day start @ 12:00 or 12:01? I believe it is 12:00 (AM, of course) ... I'll look around though ... Sincerely, J. D. Redding 06:06, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
Tesla said that his birthday was celebrated on the 10th. I do not remeber where I read this, but I will try to find the book. I own many books about Tesla, so this may take a while. In the meantime, if you remeber you can post, it too.-CK
Tesla technology is recurring in alternate history works like steampunk, or stories concerning secret pre WWII technology
[Moved because of WMC removal (he like to remove alot of information that is relevant to articles) ... J. D. Redding]
I've noticed that too. He removed important information on Tesla's claimed inventions and the teleforce because he claimed they were "fairy stories". Though there is no evidence for either side, even if they were fairy stories, they deserve inclusion in an article about Tesla. People think Nostradamus' predictions were "fairy stories" yet they still get notice here on wikipedia: Nostradamus.
This section was removed from the article because it was claimed as "fairy stories." Though it may be true that some of these inventions are a little whacky and may make the article appear to have pseudo-scientific tendencies, how does that lead to their complete exclusion from the article or a sub-article? They are as crucial a point in Tesla's biographical information as Isaac Newton's alchemy and religious fanatacism is in his biographies. 72.144.147.32 23:05, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
There is little or no evidence to support the inventions working or NOT working. It is not up to you to decide whether they do or not. The information is nonetheless attached to Tesla's biographical information, and is as encyclopedic as, for example, existentialism or the bible code. It at least merits another smaller article for the category. 72.144.147.32 04:45, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
As unfair and unfortunate as it is/was, Tesla encapselates the mad scientist better than most people the term refers to. Sadly, if he hadn't been viewed that way, and had possessed better marketing and social skills, we would likely have a far more futuristic, modern world than we have today, technologically speaking. In any case, he was viewed that way, and his life was arather tragic example of how unmeritocratic our society is, much to its own detriment. Sam Spade 12:57, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
I don't think it was calling him a mad scientist, and I don't know of any serious historian who would describe him as insane. Also, I don't know that he experimented on himself, one of the basics for calling someone a mad scientist. That said he was widely viewed that way in the years leading up to his death, and we would be remiss to ignore that fact. Sam Spade 15:57, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
Calling him a mad scientist is in no way unfair, as in all definable terms, he was the quintessential. What is unfair, is categorizing some of his less understood innovations "pseudoscience" - which is ten fold as POV as saying he was "among the greatest innovators of his time."
72.144.147.32
Not sure how I could make the sentence any more clear :-[??? The evidence of the growing interest in Tesla's work (ie: engineering techniques derived from his notebooks and his numerous unpatented material etc) can be easily viewed in the numerous Tesla-related TV specials that have arisen, as well as the emergence of the so-called "Teslaphiles". In addition, the biographical books on Tesla often conclude on the note that some of his works are still being understood today. Good example of reanalysis etc [20]
It does not surprise me you pry on this article and not the countless other scientist pages that make farfetched and way more "gush" praises, because there have been some pretty radical claims made about Tesla's inventions. Nonetheless, too much prying just destroys the potential of the article and obfuscates any true statements about his work. 72.144.147.32
I have reverted continual controversial removal of "gush" and other sentences (unexplained deletions) by some editors. Regardless of attempted compromise with the editors, showing and explaining how the prude "gush" associated with saying Tesla was one of the most practically-accomplished scientists in the timeframe of late 19th to early 20th century is paralleled much more forcefully on numerous other articles like Carl Gauss, Michael Faraday, Isaac Newton, Leonardo da Vinci, and an innumerable other amount of "pioneers", I simply got the response of "Tesla does not compare to them" - which is irrelevant to the case at matter, for the main point seems to be "let their accomplishments speak for themselves and do not innumerate their success". This main point is not followed on wikipedia, and thus should fairly not be followed on this article. If the vast majority of articles followed this trend, the editors edits would be acceptable. 72.144.114.155 04:56, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
I really cannot understand all this fights on Tesla's origin. Why cannot we say just the truth : that Tesla was a Yugoslawian with Romanian ethnic ancestry?
I think that most of this stuff should be briefly summarized, with the note that Teslas mention is significant in pop-culture, and should be linked to the disamiguation page 'Tesla (disamguation)' where they can have separate links. This article is about Tesla and not about all other stuff. Lakinekaki
Dr. Nikola Tesla described the propagation of some of the electric waves from his "Tesla Coils" as being "many" times the speed of light. [A Tesla Coil built as described by Tesla generates both transverse waves and longitudinal waves.] [21] Lakinekaki
Tesla was a Serb! His father was an Orthodox priest, his mother a daughter of an orthodox priest, and he himself said that he is a Serb and not only that but also said that his greatest satisfaction is the fact that all his accomplishments were a work of an Serb. Croatia didn't exist since the 11th century and at the time it was Austro-Hungary. In World War II 500 Serbs from his village Smiljani were killed by the Croats, while in the latest war his statue in Gospic was blown up by Croats and his museum destroyed.
Tesla is definately a serbian-american inventor and not a croatian-american because he was a serb. Also because the croatians destroyed all evidence that serbs lived in the area tesla grew up in, in the 1990s. I think its shameful that wikipedia is calling him a croatian-american inventor when even the house he grew up in, was destroyed in the 1990s. Gospic was especialy hard hit in the slaughter called "operation storm". Wikipedia should be ashamed of itself!!!!! - Lazar
Don't listen to this lies, his house wasn't destoryed in operation storm which was legimited operation blessed by US goverment in which there was absolutly no destroying or killing civilians. His house is being renovated and will be a part of soon to be built Tesla theme park. : - Tomy108
Tesla was Croat, because he was born in Croatia. So he is croatian inventor, not serbian. He once said that he was proud of his serbian nationality and croatian citizenship. And Lazar stop spreading lies. - EIM
About Tesla croatian homeland in article of newspaper "Jutarnji list" - his relative lives today in Zagreb, Croatia. Damirux 13:51, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
There are a lot of information regarding about this, so I will spare you the details. Personally, I find this fascinating and it's worth a mention in this article.
PS. Sorry about not loggin on, for some reason, I can only log on in wikiquote, but not here.
Tesla's Means for Increasing the Intensity of Electrical Oscillations ... U.S. patent 685,012. The The patent office classifies the patent as superconductivity technolgy, specifically "Dynamoelectric; liquid coolant" ( 310/54) and "Specific Identifiable Device, Circuit, or System; Superconductive (e.g., cryogenic, etc.) device" ( 327/527). 172.137.217.68 05:07, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
It should be noted in the article that superconductivity was part of his inventions. As to Tesla's Means for Increasing the Intensity of Electrical Oscillations references ...
Sincerely, J. D. Redding 02:16, 17 March 2006 (UTC) (PS., please read the "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy - Through Use of the Sun's Energy")
This is from the Edison article, under "Improvements of Edison's work":
Nikola Tesla developed alternating current distribution, which could be used to transmit electricity over longer distance than Edison's direct current due to the ability to transform the voltage. It could be said that alternating current was not derivative of Edison's work, but it was related as were the two men. Tesla was a former employee of Edison, and left to follow his path with alternating current - which Edison did not support.
It doesn't seem quite right. It seems to imply that Tesla did his work in this area only after being exposed to Edison's.
Why not only Serbian inventor? If we talk about country of living , he is Croatian-American inventor. If we talk about nationality, he is Serbian inventor. Serbo-American is nonsense.
And one more thing. He lived in Croatia. Croatian Duchy was part of Austro-Hungary, and later part of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians. Croatians Duchy was legal part of both countries.
The article mentions that only one photograph of Tesla was ever taken, and that the picture was lost. How then is there a picture of Tesla on the page?
I think this war about Tesla is comedy because we all know he is Serb from Croatia. Some Croatian nationalist claims he is Vlach and not Serb but that is false because he said that he is Serb and there is no evidence of his Vlach origin. On the other hand, Serbian nationalists claims he is not from Croatia witch is also false becouse he was from Military Frontier and Military Frontier was part of Croatia but under direct command of Austro-Hungarian emperor because of Turks invasion.
Serbian-American inventor doesn't make any sense. If we talk about nationality, he is Serbian inventor but than he has nothing to do with America. On the other hand, if we talk about his place of living he is not Serbian inventor.
So, I changed article to "inventor, physicst,... of Serbian origin". I am Croat from Croatia so I know that I have Croatian POV even if I want to have NPOV. For that reason, I have not mention "Tesla is from Croatia" or "Tesla is Croatian inventor" in article. Please read that few lines. I hope we can live with that until we solve this conflict on talk page.
Sorry for bad English knowledge.
Jakiša Tomić 22:31, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
This really is getting to be a drag. I think it's fine as it stands. He isn't "of Serbian origin", that would imply that his parents/grandparents were Serbs, not him. He was born a Serb and became a naturalized US citizen i.e. he was a Serbian-American. It's clearly mentioned that he's from the territory of today's Croatia, so I don't see what the problem is... If you don't have any other arguments Jakisa, I propose we take off the npov tag in 2 or 3 days. Can we just finish with this once and for all, come to a clear decison we can refer everyone to in the future. -- estavisti 18:36, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
How about Croatian-born Serbian- American? User:Zoe| (talk) 22:16, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
That won't solve anything. We've so far avoided the issue of whether the Military Frontier was part of Croatia at the time or not. A bunch of people saying it wasn't will just come out of the woodwork. Jakiša, can I put it to you this way. In my last version, his birth within today's Croatia is mentioned in the first sentence of the second paragraph and in the box on the right. Do you really care what someone who doesn't get that far thinks? Could that version be acceptable. If not please suggest something else, as your last version sounds slightly clumsy in English (and leaves out the American part). Looking forward to resolving this farce soon. :) -- estavisti 22:27, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Can you put that version with endnote near "Serbian-American" term and then at endnote describe what that term means (like you did on talk page)? Jakiša Tomić 22:57, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Correction: (like you did on talk page) -> (like J. D. Redding described it on talk page). Jakiša Tomić 23:06, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
Correction again: Like J. D. Redding and you described it on talk page. :) Jakiša Tomić 23:07, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
I took out the serbian thing in the 1st sentence since it is repeated in the following paragraph. 21:59, 12 April 2006 (UTC)
An additional complication in the minds of some people who perpetuate this edit war may be that "Serbian" is often perceived to mean "of Serbia", not "of Serbs". This might be the result of the common use of "Croatian Serb", "Bosnian Serb", "Bosnian Croat", etc. in media. He was definitely a Serb, but if one follows that interpretation, he wasn't Serbian. Is there any way we could work that into the first sentence without making it sound stupid? Zocky | picture popups 15:21, 28 April 2006 (UTC)
You must distinguish between Serb/Croat in national/regional sense. Serb in national sense means that his parents, grandparents etc. were Serbs - as they were.
To be a Croat, you must either be born Croat or have a Croatian passport - which he *didn't*!
He only had Austrian and Austrian-Hungary passport - never Croatian.
Oh, yeah, later he got an American passport. So, calling Tesla a Croat, or linking him with Croatia in any sense would be a stupidity.
Calling him a Yugoslawian is another mistake, he never said he was one, but Tito's socialist agenda alluded he was Yugoslavian because of a telegram he sent to Machek's government that supported the new Serbo-Croatian state but which never said a word about Tesla being a Yugoslavian. So, bottom line: Tesla was Serb, Wernher von Braun was German, but both lived in USA and had US passport - but does that make them Americans? I don't think so.
His father was a Serbian ortodox priest, and his mother was a Croat, but the important thing is that he was an inventor who didn't invent stuff for profit, but for the good of everyone... hh
"His mother was herself a daughter of a Serbian Orthodox priest". Did you miss that line in the article? C-c-c-c 22:49, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
I think that a lot of people coming here will be looking for the SI unit. Is there any good way to make it more prominent? I considered adding it to the TOC, but adding everything under "Recognition and honors" would make the TOC really long, and I could hardly make only some of them headers. Maybe there just isn't a solution better than the disambiguation page now in use... Ealex292 22:09, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
Yep, the disambig note is the best, IMHO. Most people coming here are looking for the person, the disambig will lead them to the unit. 18:05, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
Hmm, my other post disappeared. Sorry If it ends up being a double post.
I wandered in here and read a great article on Nikola Tesla. I'm left with a question: Did the FBI ever release the rest of Tesla's papers or are they still considered Top Secret??
Tanru 12:08, 17 April 2006 (UTC)
The "known" papers have been release under FOIA. Someone must have removed the link, look through the history of the article for in the external articles/sites.
204.56.7.1 The link is @ the external reference sites in the article: "Hoover, John Edgar, et al., FOIA FBI files, 1943." 18:10, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
Is it true that Tesla said to be in contact with aliens?
Yes. When Tesla was performing his experiments in Colorado Springs, he claimed to be receiving messages from Mars. I believe he wrote a paper to that effect. Erzahler 19:16, 26 April 2006 (UTC)
http://www.mentalfloss.com/archives/archive2003-04-22.htm
The "Alien messages" (which Marconi also believed in) where cosmic signals NOW known radio astronomy. 134.193.168.107
Nikola Tesla is a serbian inventor and please corect that croatin because hi is not ustasa.
Ustasa was a Croat minority hahaha RELAX MATE... -- Tesla is Serbian and is listed as that on wikipedia. Fair enough, no problem. We should all agree and those who do not must be stupid. ON THE OTHER HAND Why do Serbs keep changing origin of Croats Andric and Boscovich into Serbian???
Andric and Boscovich have no link to Serbia and have no Serbian blood or origin. All Serbs have to agree that if Croats have left Tesla as Serb ...Serbs have to leave Andric and Boscovich as Croats.
Ciao Polska
Wrong. Ruđer Bošković's mother was Serb. Andrić lived in Belgrade for most of his life, all his books are writen in Štokavian dialect, ekavian variant - mostly used in Serbs in Serbia. so, Anrić lived in Serbia, spoken Serbian - he was a Serb.
Vlado
OK, now that I have your attention, I'd like for everyone who's contributing to this article to watch this 40-minute documentary about his life. I hope you like it as much as I did:
Nikola Tesla - The Genius Who Lit the World
Well, we use Tesla's polyphase AC to light the world today, and not Edison's DC... I think I can guess who's better. -- serbiana - talk 00:09, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
What value is there in adding the interest of the Aum group in his work? http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1995_rpt/aum/part06.htm to quote According to an official of the International Tea Society in the United States, a representative of the Aum in New York City, Yumiko Hiraoka, inquired into the Aum becoming a member of the Society. etc
I don't get why Tesla is being almost invariably described as "physicist" and/or "scientist" ? He didn't make any contribution to the physics whatsoever & he hasn't done reasearch in any field of physics. He didn't author a single equation, didn't perform a single scientific experiment. Zero, nothing, zippo, zilch. He's enormously influential as an inventor (IMO, grossly underrated in comparison to the very successsful self-promoter Edison)-but, he simply was not a scientist. Mir Harven 13:08, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
Electrotechnics is not a part of physics, which is a science. Electrotechnics is a field of engineering (electrical engineering). Any division of science & technology is clear on that matter. Mir Harven 17:35, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
This may be a bizarre & interesting info, but, it doesn't entail that he was a physicist. Any person, for instance a nutty perpetuum mobile addict can dabble with some experiments for a time, but this does not qualify them as physicist. Scientific work is more than just a dabbling. Mir Harven 21:46, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
Electotechnics is nothing more than a part of electrical engineering. See, for instance [30] Mir Harven 21:46, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
Many textbooks consider him a "physicist". A unit in physics is named after him (unless you don't consider electromagnetism a significant part of physics). It is utterly farcical to debate this. 72.144.103.135 22:10, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
I've reverted an anon (in fact the one just above... well you see the problem) who insists that T was a physicist. I have a degree in maths; I'm not a mathematician. Tesla was primarily an inventor.
On a slightly wider note: this article has for a very long time suffered from bloat from the Teslaphiles who insist on absurd puffing-up of Tesla, to his ultimate detraction: too much praise just makes him look silly. We may, finally, have enough editors here who could be more neutral and perhaps have some hope of knocking the article into shape, and maybe looking at some of the more outlandish claims (VTOL? etc etc). William M. Connolley 22:16, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
Oh, and I just did the same with '"Nikola Tesla" physicist' and '"Nikola Tesla" inventor' ..the results:
inventor: 478,000 physicist: 468,000
[33] Remember, Wikipedia:NOR. We are not here to debate whether Tesla was or was not by definition a physicist, we are here to accurately reflect what his biographies say about him. Also, VTOL is a Tesla patent, not sure how that's an outlandish claim. Although WMC is an admin, I don't see how he has the right to waltz into an article that has reached a nice equilibrium with outside contributions and completely change it around - usually deleting information by random (or so it seems). 72.144.103.135 22:25, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
Right here: User:William_M._Connolley/Whats-wrong-with-wikipedia. Plus your frequented "name-calling" of people as "Teslaphiles" because they disagree with your massive changes to this article. Waltzing into the article - you do it periodically as anyone can see from the page history. 72.144.103.135 22:32, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
By the way, even the VTOL article itself has no problem mentioning the Tesla patent: In 1928, Nikola Tesla received patents for an apparatus for aerial transportation. Tesla called it the "Flivver". It is one of the earliest examples of VTOL aircraft.
Yes, there should be changes made to this article - but in no way with the overpowering method you're going by. 72.144.103.135 22:39, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
Though it will likely make no difference, as a physicist, after reading this article, I do not believe Tesla was a physicist. An inventor and engineer, certainly, but not a physicist. -- Philosophus T 04:48, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
www.tesla-museum.org: Nikola Tesla, electrical engineer and inventor ... American scientist ... No word 'physicist' is on the website. 'Only' engineer, inventor, and scientist. Lakinekaki 22:59, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
Interesting discussion. So of which science was Tesla a scientist (let's skip his engineering side)? Scientists go beyond the boundaries of what known in specific field of engineering. They advance. Tesla did so. While "Electrotechnics" and "Electric engineering" are engineering fields, Tesla covered more than those. For example, he made motors. Not just their electrical parts - the whole thing. He was "toying" with fields and particles. I can't really recall to which science these terms belong - maybe Biology or Sociology?
Look up another thing - for example a definition of Physicist. What does it say? No... can't be... they must be wrong somewhere. Let's look up Yahoo. Can't be - right? Everyone knows electro/magnetic fields, electrons, etc. have absolutely nothing to do with Physics. Even that pesky unit of measure is likely a mistake.
Well... You do know what my opinion is... But, then again, I believe that Physics is a "super science" of all "sub-sciences" that Tesla was a scientist of, even Chemistry (why not, laws of Physics drive laws of Chemistry, Physics deals with both greater and lesser particles than Chemistry, so Chemistry is just a detail-oriented part of Physics)...
Well, go on.. doesn't really matter. Tesla was a scientist and that is a good definition. Better than just "Physicist". He was, after all not limited to Physics...
-- Aleksandar Šušnjar 02:42, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
Baccalaureate of Physics: Austrian Polytechnic Institute (Graz) and the Graduate studies Physics at Charles University in Prague ( A physicist is a scientist trained in physics) ... also contributed the rotating magnetic field theory and much other electromagnetic research.
Other great physicists stated, "Tesla has contributed more to electrical science than any man up to his time.", Lord Kelvin ... "[Tesla is] an eminent pioneer in the realm of high frequency currents... I congratulate [him] on the great successes of [his] life's work", Albert Einstein ... "... all scientific men will be delighted to extend their warmest congratulations to Tesla and to express their appreciation of his great contributions to science", Ernest Rutherford ... "Tesla is entitled to the enduring gratitude of mankind", Arthur Compton ... nuff said ... 134.193.168.107 14:11, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
Philosophus: what is your definition of "Physicist"? According to every otherwise available defition Tesla is one. As can be seen from sources already mentioned:
-- Aleksandar Šušnjar 14:22, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
The tags are inapproprioate. Philosophus, Tesla was a physicist (as noted above by 134.193.168.107's points). The information in the article is referenced. It is also congruent with information in "Man out of Time" and "Prodigal Genius". Please read those 2 books before you POV the article. J. D. Redding 17:05, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
Regarding Reddi, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Reddi_2#Reddi_placed_on_revert_parole: Reddi shall for one year be limited to one revert per article per week, excepting obvious vandalism. Further, he is required to discuss any content reversions on the article's talk page. He has, obviously, broken this William M. Connolley 19:00, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
Aleksandar proved his point, Tesla was a Physicist. -- serbiana - talk 03:58, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
Revert any further changes to this article from the original on site unless each change is explained an noted in here. Thanks. 68.215.52.35 21:32, 19 May 2006 (UTC)