2285409 nikola tesla the forgotten genius

8/8/2019 2285409 Nikola Tesla the Forgotten Genius

1/9

http://www.mondovista.com/tesla.html

Nikola Tesla - The Forgotten Genius

When I was asked to write about Nikola Tesla, I hardly knew the name. As a child, I

remember visiting a local science museum and of being fascinated by something called a

"tesla coil," a large mushroom shaped apparatus that made sparks and lightening. Iassumed that Tesla was some kind of inventor but I wasn't sure how the machine that

made lightening and sparks was important to anyone outside of the science museum.

When I learned that Nikola Tesla invented the radio, and not Marconi, I was shocked. Tesla

also invented the electric generator, the electric motor, fluorescent lighting, alternatingcurrent (AC) and devised the technologies that generate and deliver our electrical power

for our homes, schools and factories. So why didn't I ever learn about Tesla in school -- thesame way I learned about Thomas Edison, Marconi and Einstein?

The story about Nikola Tesla is the story of a genius who was largely disrespected and abused by otherscientists and inventors -- many of whom stole his ideas and took credit for his discoveries. But how did

this happen?

Tesla had a vision of electromagnetic fields that was real and tangible...

Born to a Serbian family on July 9th, 1856 in Smiljan, Croatia (former Yugoslavia), Nikola

Tesla was a dreamer with a poetic touch. His first "invention" consisted of a rotary engine,powered by insects that the young Tesla had glued to a paper wheel. This boyhood

fascination with motors developed a unique mental ability where Tesla could visualizeinventions in his mind, complete to the most minute detail, and execute these plans

without the need for a blueprint or meticulous calculations.

As an adult, Tesla attended the Technical University at Graz, Austria, and the University of

Prague. At Graz he first saw the Gramme dynamo, which operated as a generator and,when reversed, became an electric motor, and from this observation he conceived a way to

use alternating current to advantage. Tesla had a vision of electromagnetic fields that was real andtangible, at a time when most engineers considered electrical current as an intangible and ethereal

mystery. Later, at Budapest, he visualized the principle of the rotating magnetic field and developed plansfor an induction motor that would become his first step toward the successful utilization of alternating

current.

An eccentric genius, Tesla had few friends and remained reclusive. He never had a home in America,

choosing instead to live in hotels. During the final few decades of his life he withdrew in a New York hotel,only granting interviews and making annual public appearances on his birthdays. At these press

conferences Tesla proposed future inventions, but his accounts were frequently distorted by the popularpress. After Tesla's death the Federal Bureau of Investigation took note of Tesla's proposals for advanced

weapons systems and searched his papers for information about reports of his death ray machine as worldconflict was impending. (see also Weapon of Total Destruction, Viewzone back issue.)

Tesla's discovery of the rotating magnetic field produced by the interactions of two and three phase

alternating currents in a motor winding was one of his most significant achievements of the century, and

formed the basis of his induction motor and polyphase system for the generation and distribution ofelectricity.

In 1882, before his arrival in America, Tesla went to work in Paris for the Continental EdisonCompany, and, while on assignment to Strassburg in 1883, he constructed, in after-work

hours, his first induction motor. Tesla sailed for America in 1884, arriving in New York, withfour cents in his pocket, a few of his own poems, and calculations for a flying machine. He
http://www.mondovista.com/tesla.htmlhttp://www.mondovista.com/tesla.ray.htmlhttp://www.mondovista.com/haarp00.htmlhttp://www.mondovista.com/tesla.htmlhttp://www.mondovista.com/tesla.ray.htmlhttp://www.mondovista.com/haarp00.html


2/9

first found employment with Thomas Edison, who had been his first employer in Paris, but the twoinventors were far apart in background and methods, and their separation was inevitable.

Tesla continued to work on his inventions, and seizing a momentous opportunity, George Westinghousepurchased some of Tesla's patents in 1888. For a mere $60,000($5,000 in cash and 150 shares of stock),

Westinghouse acquired the patent for Tesla's polyphase alternating current technology. Tesla's reputationspread when Westinghouse won the contract to supply the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 with electricity. In

1895, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company and General Electric Company joined forces toharness the power of Niagara Falls with electricity, using Tesla's technology.

Tesla's generation of electricity resulted in what is known as alternating current, or AC. In alternatingcurrent the polarity and strength of the energy is continuously changing or alternating. Prior to Tesla's

innovation, the Edison company was promoting direct current, or DC, as a safer way to power both homesand factories. In fact, Edison, despite knowing that Tesla's AC was superior, mounted an ugly publicity

stunts designed to discredit Tesla and to save Edison's own financial investment in DC.

Animals were brutally electrocuted with AC, including an elephant, which were

recorded by Edison and shown at public gatherings.

Edison embarked on a number of propaganda campaigns

which attempted to persuade the general public that AC wasdangerous. Nicknamed the "death current" by Edison, public

demonstrations were staged in which animals were brutallyelectrocuted with AC, including an elephant, which were

recorded by Edison and shown at public gatherings.

Despite the public's fear of AC, Tesla had the upper hand.

Direct current was good only for short distances. Theaccumulated

resistance in metallic

wires and cables greatly reduced the electrical power as it traveledthrough the transmission lines. AC, on the other hand, did not

suffer the same loss and was able to travel great distances with

little loss of potential.

Also, because alternating current could react with coils of wire

(transformers) to increase or decrease the voltage, electricitycould be produced at high power levels at the generation stations

and then reduced just prior to being distributed locally. Eventually,Edison lost his battle and alternating current became the electric

industry standard. To this day, the three-phase form of Tesla'spolyphase system is still used for the generation and transmission

of most electricity. Moreover, the conversion of electricity intomechanical power is made possible by updated versions of Tesla's

three-phase and split phase motors.

Tesla's experiments with high frequency and high potential alternating currents resulted in

the development of the "Tesla coil." This device is a transformer with an air core that hasboth its primary and secondary tuned in resonance. As part of other experiments Tesla also

developed the precursors of modern neon and florescent lights. He constructed these

lights, elongated glass tubes filled with gas and coated with phosphor, excited in his highvoltage experiments. He also discovered that high voltage current could be made harmless

by using an alternating current scheme at very large frequencies.

Returning to New York in 1900, Tesla began construction on Long Island of a wireless worldbroadcasting tower, with $150,000 capital from the American financier J. Pierpont Morgan.

Tesla claimed he secured the loan by assigning 51 percent of his patent rights of telephony and telegraphy


3/9

to Morgan. He expected to provide worldwide communication and to furnish facilities for sending pictures,messages, weather warnings, and stock reports. The project was abandoned because of a financial panic,

labor troubles, and Morgan's withdrawal of support. It was Tesla's greatest defeat.

The Supreme Court granted full rights to Tesla for the invention of radio,nullifying the claims of Marchese Gugliemo Marconi

In 1943, the Supreme Court granted full rights to Tesla for the invention of radio, nullifying the claims of

Marchese Gugliemo Marconi who had patented a two-tuned-circuit design and a more practical four-tuned-circuit modeled after Tesla's. Marconi's patent on the invention of radio was overturned by the U.S.

Supreme Court because Tesla's work predated it (Case #369, 6/21/43). Marconi did succeed in beatingTesla as the first person to send a wireless telegraph across the Atlantic, which prompted Tesla to remark,

"Let him continue. He is using seventeen of my patents." In addition, Tesla's 1903 patents 723,188 and

725,605 contain the basic principles of the logical AND circuit element basic to all computers.

Tesla also envisioned a way to send electricity through the air andthrough the Earth so that electrical power would be available

everywhere, even in remote corners of the planet. This technology,which was only understood by Tesla himself, was incorporated in

another famous experiment in 1908, where Tesla attempted toremotely light up the sky over the North Pole as a way of

demonstrating this wireless power transmission technology to theworld. At the time, Admiral Peary was leading an expedition to the

Arctic and Tesla hoped that Peary would report on the phenomenonwhen he returned.

Many believe that Tesla's experiment that evening caused the world's largest man made explosion in theremote Siberian village of Tungusta. Read more about that HERE.

If Tesla's power beam really did accidentally cause the Tungusta explosion, then we witnessed the first

experimental use of the same weapon system has been developed by the US Department of Defense inAlaska's remote Poker Flats area, just North of Fairbanks. (See HAARP: A weapon of Total Destruction.)

Although the capacity for destruction in Tesla's primitive prototype (some estimate equal to a large

hydrogen bomb) was huge, this new military system is almost surely many magnitudes greater. Also,many similar systems have been deployed in a dozen specific locations around the globe -- presumably to

be operated together for some undisclosed purpose. One can only hope that this new technology will beused for a peaceful purpose and that it will bring the respect for Tesla that has so far eluded him.

Alternating Current vs. Direct Current

All the principles of generating electricity had been worked out in the 19th Century, but by its endthese had only just begun to produce electricity on a large scale. The 20th Century has witnessed acolossal expansion of electrical power generation and distribution. The general pattern has beentoward ever-larger units of production, using steam from coal- or oil-fired boilers. Economies of scale

and the greater physical efficiency achieved as higher steam temperatures and pressures wereattained both reinforced this tendency. U.S. experience indicates the trend: in the first decade of thecentury a generating unit with a capacity of 25,000 kilowatts with pressures up to 200-300 pounds persquare inch at 400-500 F (about 200-265 C) was considered large, but by 1930 the largest unitwas 208,000 kilowatts, with pressures of 1,200 pounds per square inch at a temperature of 725 F,while the amount of fuel necessary to produce a kilowatt-hour of electricity and the price to theconsumer had fallen dramatically.

As the market for electricity increased, so did the distance over which it was transmitted, and theefficiency of transmission required higher and higher voltages. The small direct-current generators of
http://www.mondovista.com/tesla.free.htmlhttp://www.mondovista.com/tesla.tunguska.htmlhttp://www.mondovista.com/haarp00.htmlhttp://www.mondovista.com/tesla.free.htmlhttp://www.mondovista.com/tesla.tunguska.htmlhttp://www.mondovista.com/haarp00.html


4/9

early urban power systems were abandoned in favor of alternating-current systems, which could beadapted more readily to high voltages. Transmission over a line of 155 miles (250 kilometers) wasestablished in California in 1908 at 110,000 volts; Hoover Dam in the 1930s used a line of 300 miles(480 kilometers) at 287,000 volts. The latter case may serve as a reminder that hydroelectric power,using a fall of water to drive water turbines, has been developed to generate electricity where theclimate and topography make it possible to combine production with convenient transmission to a

market. Remarkable levels of efficiency have been achieved in modern plants.

One important consequence of the ever-expanding consumption of electricity in the industrializedcountries has been the linking of local systems to provide vast power grids, or pools, within whichpower can be shifted easily to meet changing local needs for current.

AC has other advantages:

AC generators are simple, cheaper and more reliable than DC generators

AC can readily be switched by circuit breakers at any voltage, whereas DC can only be

switched at low voltages

AC motors and other electrical appliances are cheaper, simpler, and more reliable than thosedesigned to work with DC The frequency can be very precisely controlled and so AC is useful in motors that require

accurate speed eg. Clocks, tape recorders, VHS machines.

So, while Thomas Edison receives the greater part of credit, it is clear that we owe respect andgratitude for Nikola Tesla's creative and intelligent mind.

At a local radio shop Tesla bought 12 vacuum tubes, some wires and assorted resistors, andassembled them in a circuit box 24 inches long, 12 inches wide and 6 inches high, with a pair of 3-inch rods sticking out. Getting into the car with the circuit box in the front seat beside him, he pushed

the rods in, announced, "We now have power," and proceeded to test drive the car for a week, often aspeeds of up to 90 mph. As it was an alternating-current motor and there were no batteries involved,where did the power come from?

The Forgotten Art of Electric - Powered Automobiles

by Arthur Abrom

Electric powered automobiles were one of the earliest considerations and this mode of propulsionenjoyed a brief but short reign. The development of electricity as a workable source of power formankind has been studded with great controversy.

Thomas A. Edison was the first to start to market systems (i.e. electric generators) of any commercialvalue. His research and developmental skills were utilized to market a "direct current" system ofelectricity. Ships were equipped with D.C. systems and municipalities began lighting their streets withthis revolutionary D.C. electric system. (At that time) Edison was the sole source of electricity!

While in the process of commercializing electricity, Thomas Edison hired men who knew of the newscientific gift to the world and were capable of new applications for electricity. One such man was aforeigner named Nikola Tesla. This man, although not known to many of us today, was without a doubtthe greatest scientific mind that has ever lived. His accomplishments dwarfed even Thomas Edison's!


5/9

Whereas Mr. Edison was a great experimenter, Mr. Tesla was a great theoretician. Nikola Teslabecame frustrated and very much annoyed at the procedures Edison followed.

Tesla would rather calculate the possibility of something working (i.e. mathematical investigation) thanthe hit and miss technique of constant experimentation. So in the heat of an argument, he quit oneday and stormed out of Edison's laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey.

Working on his own, Tesla conceived and built the first working alternating current generator. He, andhe alone, is responsible for all of the advantages we enjoy today because of A.C. electric power.

Angered by Edison, Tesla sold his new patents to George Westinghouse for 15 million dollars in thevery early 1900's. Tesla became totally independent and proceeded to carry on his investigativeresearch in his laboratory on 5th Avenue in New York City.

George Westinghouse began to market this new system of electric generators and was in competitionwith Edison. Westinghouse prevailed because of the greater superiority of the A.C. generators overthe less efficient D.C. power supplies of Thomas Edison. Today, A.C. power is the only source of

electricity the world uses. And, please remember, Nikola Tesla is the man who developed it.

Now specifically dealing with automobiles in the infant days of their development, electric propulsionwas considered and used. An electric powered automobile possessed many advantages that thenoisy, cantankerous, smoke-belching gasoline cars could not offer.

First and foremost is the absolute silence one experiences when riding in an electrically poweredvehicle. There is not even a hint of noise. One simply turns a key and steps on the accelerator - thevehicle moves instantly! No cranking from the start, no crank to turn (this was before electric starters),no pumping of the accelerator, no spark control to advance and no throttle linkage to pre-set beforestarting. One simply turned the ignition switch to on!

Second, is a sense of power. If one wants to increase speed, you simply depress the acceleratorfurther - there is never any hesitation. Releasing the accelerator causes the vehicle to slow downimmediately - you are always in complete control. It is not difficult to understand why these vehicleswere so very popular around the turn of the century and until 1912 or so.

The big disadvantage to these cars was their range and need for re-charging every single night. All ofthese electric vehicles used a series of batteries and a D.C. motor to move itself about. The batteriesrequire recharging every night and the range of travel was restricted to about 100 miles. Understandthat this restriction was not a serious one in the early part of this century. Doctors began makinghouse calls with electric cars (do you remember doctors making house calls?) because he no longerneeded to tend to the horse at night time - just plug the car into an electric socket! No feeding, no rub-down and no mess to clean up!

Many of the large department stores in metropolitan areas began purchasing delivery trucks that wereelectrically powered. They were silent and emitted no pollutants. And, maintenance was a minimum onelectrically powered vehicles. There were few mechanics and garages in operation in the early 1900'sSo city life and travel appeared to be willing to embrace the electric automobile. Remember, thesemasterfully built vehicles all ran on D.C. current.

Two things happened to dampen the popularity of the electric automobile. One was the subconscious


6/9

craving for speed that gripped all auto enthusisasts of this era. Each manufacturer was eager to showhow far his car could travel (i.e. the transcontinental races) and what was its top speed!

Col. Vanderbilt constructed the first all concrete race track in Long Island and racing became thepassion for the well-to-do. Newspapers constantly record new records of speed achieved by so-in-so.And, of course, the automobile manufacturers were quick to capitalize on the advertising effect of

these new peaks of speed. Both of these events made the electrically powered vehicles appear toonly belong to the "little old lady" down the street or the old retired gentleman who talked about the"good old days".

Electric vehicles could not reach speeds of 45 or 50 m.p.h. for this would have destroyed the batteriesin moments. Bursts of speeds of 25 to 35 m.p.h. could be maintained for a moment or so. Normaldriving speed-depending upon traffic conditions, was 15 to 20 m.p.h. by 1900 to 1910 standards, thiswas an acceptable speed limit to obtain from your electric vehicle.

Please note that none of the manufacturers of electric cars ever installed a D.C. generator. This wouldhave put a small charge back into the batteries as the car moved about and would have thereby

increased its operating range. This was considered by some to be approaching perpetual motion - andthat, of course, was utterly impossible! Actually, D.C. generators would have worked and helped theelectric car cause.

As mentioned earlier, Mr. Westinghouse's A.C. current generating equipment was being sold andinstalled about the country. The earlier D.C. equipment was being retired and disregarded. As a sidenote, Consolidated Edison Power Company of New York City still has one of Thomas Edison's D.C.generators installed in its 14th St. powerhouse - it still works! About this time, another giantcorporation was formed and entered the A.C. generating equipment field - General Electric. Thisspelled the absolute end for Edison's D.C. power supply systems as a commercial means ofgenerating and distributing electric power.

The electric automobile could not be adapted to accomodate and utilize a polyphase motor (i.e. A.C.power). Since they used batteries as a source of power, their extinction was sealed. No battery canput out an A.C. signal. True, a converter could be utilized (i.e. convert the D.C. signal from the batteryto an A.C. signal), but the size of the equipment at this time was too large to fit in an automobile - evenone with the generous dimensions of this era.

So, somewhere around 1915 or so, the electric automobile became a memory. True, United ParcelService still utilizes several electric trucks in New York City today but the bulk of their fleet of vehiclesutilizes gasoline or diesel fuel. For all intensive purposes, the electrically powered automobile is dead- they are considered dinosaurs of the past.

But, let us stop a moment and consider the advantages of utilizing electric power as a means ofpropelling vehicles. Maintenance is absolutely minimal for the only oil required is for the two bearingsin the motor and the necessary grease fittings. There is no oil to change, no radiator to clean and fill,no transmission to foul up, no fuel pump, no water pump, no carburetion problems, no muffler to rotout or replace and no pollutants emitted into the atmosphere. It appears as though it might be theanswer we have been searching for!

Therefore, the two problems facing us become top speed and range of driving - providing, of course,the A.C. and D.C. problems could be worked out. With today's technology this does not seem to be


7/9

insurmountable. In fact, the entire problem has already been solved - in the past, the distant past andthe not so distant! Stop! Re-read the last sentence again. Ponder it for a few moments before goingon.

Several times earlier in this article, I mentioned the man, Nikola Tesla and stated that he was thegreatest mind that ever lived. The U.S. Patent Office has 1,200 patents registered in the name of

Nikola Tesla and it is estimated that he could have patented an additional 1,000 or so from memory!

But, back to our electric automobiles - in 1931, under the financing of Pierce-Arrow and GeorgeWestinghouse, a 1931 Pierce-Arrow was selected to be tested at the factory grounds in Buffalo, N.Y.The standard internal combustion engine was removed and an 80-H.P. 1800 r.p.m electric motorinstalled to the clutch and transmission. The A.C. motor measured 40 inches long and 30 inches indiameter and the power leads were left standing in the air - no external power source!

At the appointed time, Nikola Tesla arrived from New York City and inspected the Pierce-Arrowautomobile. He then went to a local radio store and purchased a handful of tubes (12), wires andassorted resistors. A box measuring 24 inches long, 12 inches wide and 6 inches high was assembled

housing the circuit. The box was placed on the front seat and had its wires connected to the air-cooled, brushless motor. Two rods 1/4" in diameter stuck out of the box about 3" in length.

Mr. Tesla got into the driver's seat, pushed the two rods in and stated, "We now have power". He putthe car into gear and it moved forward! This vehicle, powered by an A.C. motor, was driven to speedsof 90 m.p.h. and performed better than any internal combustion engine of its day! One week wasspent testing the vehicle. Several newspapers in Buffalo reported this test. When asked where thepower came from, Tesla replied, "From the ethers all around us". Several people suggested that Teslawas mad and somehow in league with sinister forces of the universe. He became incensed, removedhis mysterious box from the vehicle and returned to his laboratory in New York City. His secret diedwith him!

It is speculated that Nikola Tesla was able to somehow harness the earth's magnetic field thatencompasses our planet. And, he somehow was able to draw tremendous amounts of power bycutting these lines of force or causing them to be multiplied together. The exact nature of his deviceremains a mystery but it did actually function by powering the 80 h.p. A.C. motor in the Pierce-Arrow atspeeds up to 90 m.p.h. and no recharging was ever necessary!

http://www.mondovista.com/tesla.ray.html
http://www.mondovista.com/tesla.ray.htmlhttp://www.mondovista.com/tesla.ray.html


8/9

Tesla's Wardenclyffe laboratory, where he tested his death ray.

Tesla's Death Ray

Given that Tesla's inventions generally possessed an element of social conscience, of doing good for

humanity, it may seem surprising that he created a number of devices with military applications. Andthe notion of the Tesla harnessing his mind for purposes of war may seem immensely frightening.After all, this is the man who boasted that with his resonance generator he could split the earth intwo... and no one was ever quite sure whether he was joking.

The first Tesla invention with a proposed military use was his automaton technology, with which thelabor of human beings could be performed by machines. Specifically, Tesla produced remote-controlled boats and submarines. He demonstrated the wireless ship at an exposition in MadisonSquare Garden in 1898. The automaton apparatus was so advanced, it used a form of voicerecognition to respond to the verbal commands of Tesla and volunteers from the audience.

In public, Tesla spoke only of the humanitarian virtues of the invention: it would lessen the toils anddrudgery of mankind and keep human lives out of harm's way. But Tesla actually had his hopes on acontract with the U.S. military. In a presentation before the War Department, Tesla argued that hisunmanned torpedo craft could obliterate the Spanish Armada and end the war with Spain in anafternoon. The government never took Tesla up on his offer.

Tesla then decided to pitch the automated submarine to private industry, and submitted it for theapproval of J. P. Morgan. According to some accounts, Morgan offered to manufacture Tesla'svessels, but only if Tesla would agree to marry Morgan's daughter. Such a deal was of courseanathema to Tesla, and he and Morgan would not work together until Wardenclyffe, a couple of yearslater.

Tesla eventually landed a successful military contract -- with the German Marine High Command. Theproduct here was not unmanned sea craft, but sophisticated turbines which Admiral von Tirpitz usedto great success in his fleet of warships. After J. P. Morgan cut off his support of Wardenclyffe, thisforeign contract was Tesla's only substantial source of income. Upon the outbreak of World War I,Tesla chose to forfeit his German royalties, lest he be charged with treason.

Nearly broke, and finding the United States on the brink of war, Tesla dreamed up a new inventionthat might interest the military: the death ray.


9/9

The mechanism behind Tesla's death ray is not well understood. It was apparently some sort ofparticle accelerator. Tesla said it was an outgrowth of his magnifying transformer, which focused itsenergy output into a thin beam so concentrated it would not scatter, even over huge distances. Hepromoted the device as a purely defensive weapon, intended to knock down incoming attacks --making the death ray the great-great grandfather of the Strategic Defense Initiative.

It is not certain if Tesla ever used the death ray, or indeed if he even succeeded in building one. Butthe following is the often-related story of what happened one night in 1908 when Tesla tested the

foreboding weapon.

At the time, Robert Peary was making his second attempt to reach the North Pole. Cryptically, Teslahad notified the expedition that he would be trying to contact them somehow. They were to report tohim the details of anything unusual they might witness on the open tundra. On the evening of June30, accompanied by his associate George Scherff atop Wardenclyffe tower, Tesla aimed his death rayacross the Atlantic towards the arctic, to a spot which he calculated was west of the Peary expedition.

Tesla switched on the device. At first, it was hard to tell if it was even working. Its extremity emitted adim light that was barely visible. Then an owl flew from its perch on the tower's pinnacle, soaring intothe path of the beam. The bird disintegrated instantly.

That concluded the test. Tesla watched the newspapers and sent telegrams to Peary in hopes ofconfirming the death ray's effectiveness. Nothing turned up. Tesla was ready to admit failure whennews came of a strange event in Siberia.

On June 30, a massive explosion had devastated Tunguska, a remote area in the Siberianwilderness. Five hundred thousand square acres of land had been instantly destroyed. Equivalent toten to fifteen megatons of TNT, the Tunguska incident is the most powerful explosion to haveoccurred in human history -- not even subsequent thermonuclear detonations have surpassed it. Theexplosion was audible from 620 miles away. Scientists believe it was caused by either a meteorite ora fragment of a comet, although no obvious impact site or mineral remnants of such an object were

ever found.

Nikola Tesla had a different explanation. It was plain that his death ray had overshot its intendedtarget and destroyed Tunguska. He was thankful beyond measure that the explosion had --miraculously -- killed no one. Tesla dismantled the death ray at once, deeming it too dangerous toremain in existence.

Six years later, the onset of the First World War caused Tesla to reconsider. He wrote to PresidentWilson, revealing his secret death ray test. He offered to rebuild the weapon for the War Department,to be used purely as a deterrent. The mere threat of such destructive force, he claimed, would causethe warring nations to agree at once to establish lasting peace.

The only response to Tesla's proposal was a form letter of appreciation from the president's secretary.The death ray was never reconstructed, and for that we should probably all be thankful.

Tesla made one one further attempt to aid in his country's war effort. In 1917, he conceived of asending station that would emit exploratory waves of energy, enabling its operators to determine theprecise location of distant enemy craft. The War Department rejected Tesla's "exploring ray" as alaughing stock.

A generation later, a new invention exactly like this helped the Allies win World War II. It was calledradar.

2285409 nikola tesla the forgotten genius

Documents