Granny says he was a man ahead of his time... Nikola Tesla: The patron saint of geeks? 10 September 2012 - Fans have rallied to buy the lab of inventor and electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla to turn it into a museum. But why do so few people appreciate the importance of Tesla's work?
Um... Have you actually seen the American education system? Now if Tesla was a character in a video game, kids would be wearing his T-shirt. Actually there has been a huge interest in Tesla lately as your article shows.
I never found out who he was until 1987 when a fellow on a course I was on gave a talk about him. I have no idea, beyond my own ignorance, as to why he has been kept in the dark, the man was a genius.
I think I'd ask the question of quite why Edison has become the relative 'superstar' name that he has, compared with all of the other equally important pioneers in working similar kinds of areas at various times. It's not just Tesla - Faraday, Davy and Swan are all much lower in the public conciousness than Edison, but all at least as worthy of note in terms of what they did. Alot of that is down to good patenting, good lawyers, good business and good commercialisation and branding - I would say that has much more to do with why people remember him over all of those others. It's business and marketing related, and proof that the domination of publicity in the public mind is nothing new at all. The same applies, of course, in other areas. Why do people commonly remember James Watt as the 'inventor' of the steam engine, and forget about Thomas Newcomen (or even Papin, Savery and Leibniz)? Why do people commonly think of George Stephenson as the 'inventor' of the steam locamotive, and forget about Richard Trevithick (and several others) that came before him? Ask people about the World's First passenger railway service, and how many (even educated people) will say 'Stockton and Darlington', or even 'Liverpool and Manchester' - neither of them were, though (it was the Swansea to Mumbles railway, which started carrying fare-paying passengers in 1807, 18 years before the Stockton and Darlington line opened). Why do people remember Darwin, and forget about Wallace? Public 'knowledge' of such things is all about publicity and business, not about the worth of the work of the individual. Tesla has suffered at the hands of that, but he's by no means the only one. 'Celebrities' who are actually no more worthy, or in some cases much less worthy, than much less well known individuals is by no means a new phenomenon!
Nikola Tesla was by far more intelligent than some of the greater known people. Anyone who knows anything about electricity knows the genius of Tesla.
i hate edison. I went to an edison elementary in one town, then an edison high in another. Each had the big displays on edison but then i learned of a few of the greats mentioned above and then did my own homework on some of the patents and news of the time and realized, Thomas Edison used the power of business (invisible hand) as his guide in most all pursuits. he stymede the flourescent technology to sell more incondescent and electricity as a business model. GE, Westinhouse, Edison should have their names ripped off the earth for using business, laws and the sole pursuit of gain as their reason for supplying 'mankind' with technology. (eating from the tree of knowledge) Thomas Edison is a perfect example of what is bad with capitalism and the progression of knowledge. i have a fix: create a law, that renders that no patent, process or technology can be held exclusive, if proven to benefit mankind Big oil is the second best example of the TE did
Read this: http://theoatmeal.com/blog/tesla_museum Then read this: http://theoatmeal.com/blog/tesla_museum_1m I gave $10. Anyone that thinks highly of tesla should consider doing the same.
He also had a thing about multiples of three...and he invented the electric motor....along with other things.
Was this the Tesla dude who overseen the manufacturing of the Tesla electronic vacum tubes used in guitar amps during the 1950 through 1970s?
