SIXTH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM NIKOLA TESLA

October 18 – 20, 2006, Belgrade, SASA, Serbia

 Nikola Tesla’s LegacyD. Mita Postich

1

 Abstract – The author brings us the image of Nikola Tesla as

a philosopher, humanist, ecologist, an inventor and engineer...

Through Tesla’s own words we follow his deep thoughts, the

Grand Plan of his Life Work and we see his Genius and his

Legacy. 

 Keywords – Philosopher, Humanist, Ecologist, Inventor 

I.  I NTRODUCTION 

After more than 47 years, my whole working life spent inthe New World called America, my thoughts turn back to theyears I spent at the Museum of Nikola Tesla in Belgrade,former Yugoslavia. In the early 50’s my friend Aleksandar 

Marincic and I were docents in the Tesla Museum where weacquainted groups of the high school students and visitorswith the accomplishments of Nikola Tesla. We were soyoung then… We were going to remake the World. We musthave dreamt some of the dreams our countryman Nikola Teslahad when he left the Old World and came to America. Teslawitnessed the world progress from Stage Coach to airplanes,

and he played a large part in its development. Hundreds of  patents are proof of that. To list some: In 1880’s: thealternating currents machines that power and light the world today, in 1890’s: Wireless Radio, Remote Guidance and Control, the X-ray machines, in 1900’s: Ultrasound, and Wireless... All this led to the development of airplanes,

television, computers, space satellites, the space flights to theMoon, Mars and beyond the Solar System. 

Fig. 1. Niagara Falls

-----------1D. Mita Postich, PE Portola Valley, Calif., USA

Let us now examine Tesla’s life, work and legacy byquoting the master himself through his published articles. Let

us visualize the vast space of human activity, science and technology that his mind was exploring. We will find Teslamastering Nature in a civilized way (his childhood dream wasto tame the Niagara Falls) while maintaining Nature’s ever sosensitive balances. His profession was engineering and hisaim was to create machines that would release clean energy

for human use. Tesla describes an important event in his life path (Scientific American, June 5, 1915):

“From my childhood I had been intended for the clergy.

This prospect hung like a dark cloud on my head. After 

 passing eleven years at a public school and a higher 

institution, I obtained my certificate of maturity and found 

myself at the critical point of my carrier. Should I disobey

my father, ignore the fondest wishes of my mother, or 

should I resign myself to fate? The thought oppressed me,

and I looked to the future with dread.”

When young Nikola was stricken as a boy with choleraduring a terrible epidemic, his father in desperation panic said that he will fulfill Nikola’s wishes (to study engineering) justfor him to get better. Nikola got better, his father kept his

word, and the youth followed his path to the World Stardom…

II.  WORK  

In his work Tesla realized the value of  the Energy, thatwhich moves everything, especially in it’s purest form - the

electrical power. He observed that when energy changed form it generated heat and other wasteful forms such as sound (thunder), or the light (lightning). He found that by reducingthe density of conducting currents, those wasteful losses werereduced and by achieving lower losses and high efficiency inhis devices, he produced voltages in millions of Volts, and 

electrical discharges that were breaking the air and other matter into minute components.

Tesla knew that in order to harness various forms of energy, he had to venture into the “Unknown”. To venturewere no-one has dared. He had to device and expose hisapparatus to the verges of breakdowns, destruction and subjectthem to the limits far beyond those known to science. And he

did! He achieved it with such success that some peopleconsider him a magician, a wizard of electrical currents. 

 

Tesla’s work was not limited only to the ElectricalCurrents of Low and High Frequencies. He ventured into thefield of Ultra-Sound where he discovered the extreme values

of  Resonances (response of various materials to the excitation by the sound and electrical energy). He proposed the Method of High Frequency Heating in the Metallurgical Industry(Today’s Microwave Ovens). To improve the ruggedness and efficiency of the hydro and steam turbines he designed a“Tesla Turbine”. Applying the principle of flute playing (that

he played as a boy) and aero-dynamics, he designed the Aero-Fluidic Computer. He utilized electrical high-tension currentsto produce ozone gas to be used in bacterial sterilization and sewage processing. He even ventured into aeronautics bydesigning a Flying Machine with Vertical Takeoff (a presentday Helicopter), and he created the first Robot.

In a letter to a friend in England Tesla addresses histhoughts on ‘limitless’ giro-kinetic energy of the spinningEarth and the Moon:

“Just imagine all this energy locked in the rotation of the

 planetary bodies. If we could be able to use just a

miniscule fraction of it …” 

Fig. 2. Tesla in his Lab

On a subject of very long distance transmission of 

energy let us consider his thoughts: Energy propagated intodistant space in the form of Electro-Magnetic Waves loosesit’s flux density (potential strength) at distance by spreadingwhile energy in the particle form (plasma) does not. Scientistsare of the opinion that this “Pure Energy” propagates throughspace (vacuum) with the Electro-Magnetic Waves (heat, light,

radio) and can be transmitted without the matter as media.Tesla was of the opinion that “there is something - an “Ether”

filling that space that enables the energy to transmit”. Becauseof that view he was ridiculed by the main ScientificCommunity. Recently, scientists are coming back to the‘Ether Theory’ trying to explain phenomena such as related to

the “  Zero Point Energy”  (ZPE), an energy still existing atAbsolute Zero Temperature (Moray B. King, J. M. Manley, H.

E. Rowe, T. H. Boyer, M. Ruderfer and many others). Teslawas making “ Fire Balls” (a locked energy related to ZPE) inhis labs at will. Scientific Community is still searching to

explain this phenomena and many of the experiments he performed more than a century ago…

III.  PHILOSOPHY 

Reviewing Tesla’s life work we see him as Humanitarian,Scientist, Energy Researcher, Inventor, Philosopher and Writer. In his lifetime goals we find a zest for helping the

Humanity pointing the way to a healthier and better future, by providing economical energy where it is needed and opening

doors to new technologies. Tesla outlined this in his lecture“The Problem Of Increasing Human Energy”  published inthe 1900 June issue of the Century Illustrated Monthly. In ithe outlines his views on how to improve ourselves and thewhole human race. Tesla writes:

“The Century (magazine) began to press me very hard for 

completing the article which I have promised to them, and 

the text of this article required all my energies. I knew that 

the article would pass into history as I brought, for the first 

time, results before the world which were far beyond 

anything that was attempted before, either by myself or 

others”.

In this article Tesla reviewed his thoughts outlining his philosophy on life and human activities, his work on Energyand how it could best be utilized for the good of humanity.There, in his deep wisdom he tells us:

“… I cut myself in the finger, and it pains me: this finger is

 part of me. I see a friend hurt, and it hurts me, too: my

 friend and I are one. And now I see stricken down enemy…

 I care least for, and still it grieves me. Does this not prove

that each of us is only a part of a whole?”

“For ages this idea has been proclaimed in the

consummately wise teachings of religion, probably not 

alone as a means of insuring peace and harmony among

men, but as a deeply founded truth. The Buddhist expresses

in one way, the Christian in another, but both say the same:

We are all one.”

In his outlined humanitarianism, he applies his “Science” toa “Man” allegorically applying natural Laws of Physics to aHuman Society telling us that Humanity could be represented  by a “Mass in movement ”.

“As Mass we increase our numbers through reproduction in

greater numbers, and as a Movement we should all strive to

move in a direction of progress rather than working against 

each other.”

“Man, however, is not an ordinary mass, consisting of 

spinning atoms and molecules, and containing merely heat-

energy. He is a mass possessed of certain higher qualities

by reason of the creative principle of life with which he is

endowed...”

Tesla proceeds in elaborating the problem by examiningthree possible cases:  Increasing the Human Mass, Reducing

 

the Forces retarding the Human Mass, and Increasing the

Force accelerating the Human Mass. He writes:

“First, we should pay “careful attention to health,

substantiating food, by moderation, by regularity of habits,

by the promotion of marriage, by conscientious attention to

the children, and generally stated, by observance of all the

many precepts and laws of religion and hygiene”… “Our 

‘offspring’s need to be educated to an increased 

knowledge…”

Water... “this precious fluid, which daily infuses new life

into us, is likely to be the chief vehicle through which

disease and death enter our bodies... By systematic

 purification and sterilization of drinking-water the human

mass will be very considerably increased...” And he

suggests the way to do it: “By improved electrical

appliances we are now enabled to produce ozone cheaply

and in large amounts, and this ideal disinfectant seems to

offer a happy solution of this important question.”

He addresses weaknesses of character and ills of the mind too:

“Everyone should consider his body as a priceless gift from

one whom he loves above all, as a marvelous work of art, of 

indescribable beauty and mastery beyond human

conception, and so delicate and frail that a word, a breath,

a look, nay, a thought, may injure it... Laxity of morals is

a terrible evil, which poisons both mind and body, ... A

thousand other evils might be mentioned, but all put 

together, …would not equal a single one, the want of food,

brought on by poverty, destitution, and famine... ”

Tesla the “Environmentalist” says:“…and the cheap production of these (foods) is, therefore,

the key of the solution of the all-important problem. Our 

atmosphere contains an inexhaustible amounts of nitrogen,

and could we but oxidize it and produce these compounds,

an incalculable benefit for the mankind would follow… But 

here electricity comes to our aid: the dormant affinities of 

the element are awakened by an electric current of the

 proper quality…

Fig. 3. Lightning in Colorado Springs

Tesla goes into details of his work on trying to produce the

artificial fertilizer . In his experiments in this direction he tried increasing the frequency of the currents, the presence of the

water, increased pressure and temperature. And,

“little by little” he said, “ I advanced. The flame grew

larger and larger, and the oxidizing action more and more

intense. From an insignificant brush-discharge a few inches

long it developed into a marvelous electrical phenomenon,

a roaring blaze, devouring the nitrogen of the atmosphere

and measuring sixty or seventy feet across.” 

He further says:

“The result illustrated makes it practicable to oxidize the

atmospheric nitrogen in unlimited quantities, merely by the

use of cheap mechanical power and simple electrical

apparatus... Abundance of cheap and healthful food, not 

artificial, but such as we are accustomed to, may thus be

obtained. This new and inexhaustible source of food-supply

will be of incalculable benefit to mankind...”

As far as human relations, war and peace Tesla was a verydetermined optimist:

“A change for the better is imminent, and I shall now

endeavor to show what, according to my ideas, will be the

 first advance toward the establishment of peaceful relations

between nations, and by what means it will eventually be

accomplished… So long as men meet in battle, there will be

bloodshed... in war men must be dispensed with: machine

must fight machine…”

Then, coming back to his tremendous imagination and high

intelligence he continues:

“Long ago, I conceived the idea of constructing an

automation which will mechanically represent me, and 

which will respond, as I do myself, but, of course, in a much

more primitive manner, to extended influences. Such an

automation evidently had to have motive power, organs for 

locomotion, directive organs, and one or more sensitive

organs so adapted as to be excited by external stimuli… To

do so it had to have an element corresponding to the mind,

which would effect the control of all its movements and ,

and cause it to act…”

And the first Robot (the “Ultimate Machine”) was created. …

Today, we are witnessing guided missiles, with and without weapons, moon and mars landers, Voyager space probes leaving the solar system and still sending back its radio

signals from outside of our solar system, a basic logic advancethrough today’s computers that employ artificial intelligence,

and wars where all battlefield action aimed at very specifictargets is controlled from the command and control center, or  by the pre-arranged software designated to follow the wishesof the Commander in Chief.

 

Finally, the problem: How to Increase the Force Accelerating

the Human Mass - the Harnessing of the Sun’s Energy!Tesla weighs this by far, the most important thought to

consider:

“When we rise (in the morning), we can not fail but to note

that all the objects about us are manufactured by

machinery... and when we return to our machine made

dwelling at night, lest we should forget it, all the material

comfort of our home, our cheering stove and lamp, remind 

us how much we depend on power.. And when there is an

accidental stoppage of machinery, when the city is snow-

bound, or the life-sustaining movement otherwise

temporarily arrested, we are affrighted to realize how

impossible it would be for us to live the life without motive

 power. Motive power means work. To increase the force

accelerating human movement means, therefore, to perform

more work.”

“So we find that the three possible solutions of the great 

 problem of increasing human energy are answered by  the 

 three words: food, peace, work.” Those words “have one object, one end, namely, to increase human energy... Thus

we are inspired both by Christianity and Science to do our 

outmost toward increasing the performance of mankind...” 

And here Tesla goes into details , one by one, on how to

achieve this increase of human energy. Let us follow his path:

 Drawing Energy from the Sun:

“Whence comes all the motive power? What is the spring

that drives all? We see the ocean rise and fall, the rivers

 flow, the wind, rain, hail and snow beat on our windows,

the train and steamers come and go; we hear the rattling

noise of carriages, the voices from the street; we feel, smell,

and taste; and we think of all of this. And all this movement 

 from the surging of the mighty ocean to that subtle

movement concerned in our thought, has but one common

cause. All this energy emanates from one single center, one

single source - the sun. The sun is the spring that drives all.

The sun maintains all human life and supplies all human

energy.”

In this paper Tesla points to the following three steps inusing the sun’s energy: First, realizing the stored energy in

the wood that man collected and brought to his cave for hisfire pit, second, by utilizing the force of wind in Sailing Shipsand windmills, the power of steam engine in Steamships and Trains for travel, and finally by transporting this power through Long Distance Power Lines and using the sun’senergy by the use of electricity.

Tesla spells his views on how to improve the  processes

involving iron, and he suggests the method using electrical

heating and magnetic separation.

He also points to the future of  Aluminum:

“But its greatest civilizing potency will be, I believe, in

aerial travel…By rendering travel ideally easy it will be the

best means for unifying the heterogeneous elements of 

humanity. As a first step toward this realization we should 

 produce a lighter storage-battery or get more energy from

coal.”

How true! We are witnessing this now, a century later,aircraft made out of aluminum flying us to distant placesmaking the world smaller, and development of fuel cell totake over the burden of powering our motor vehicles, and at

the same time producing less air pollution.

Tesla also talks of “ More Energy from Coal:

“The advent of the alternating-current system of electric

 power-transmission marks and epoch in the economy of 

energy available to man… Still more energy is now being

obtained from coal by the latest improved gas engine,

… Deriving energy from coal is evidently to manufacture

gas close to the coal store, and to utilize it, either on the

spot or elsewhere, to generate electricity for industrial uses

in dynamos driven by gas-engines.”

 Natural gas was and still is a powerful source of energy, and as we know now 100 years later, it is a very clean-burningenergy source.

Tesla’s efforts resulted in a series of his US Patents, notably#1,061,142, and #1,061,206, both issued May 6, 1913 titled “Fluid Propulsion” and “Turbine”. They are Tesla’scontribution to the field of fluid-dynamics.

He points to yet another source of energy:

“An immense amount of energy is locked up in limestone,

 for instance, and machines can be driven by liberating the

carbonic acid through sulfuric acid or otherwise. I once

constructed such an engine and it operated 

satisfactorily…”

The Windmill and the Tide Power:

“Since the time immemorial man has had at his disposal a

 fairly good machine which has enabled him to utilize the

energy of the ambient medium. This machine is the

Windmill.”

Today, great advances in technology have been made inharnessing the power form the sun (solar panels convertingsun radiation directly into electrical power) and the wind generators.

Tesla suggests also the utilization of the Earth’s ThermalPower:

“The change in temperature with depth is approximately 1degree C for every 100 feet (30 meters). Some extremelyvolatile substances (now available)…we might use in our 

 boilers instead of water.” 

 

IV.  LEGACY 

Finally, Tesla wraps it up:

“It is possible, and even probable, that there will be, in

time, other resources of energy opened up, of which we

have no knowledge now. We may even find ways of 

applying forces such as magnetism or gravity for driving

machinery without using any other means. Such

realizations, though highly improbable, are not 

impossible.”

It is interesting to note that Tesla was intrigued by “Locked 

Energy” in the form of matter. Today scientists relate energyand matter. Atomic Physics achieved ways to break matter releasing the energy in the process. How to lock energy intomatter still eludes us. Fusion is one form of that. Yet, Teslaused to create Fire Balls (a form of Locked Energy) at will.He experimented with Plasma and even proposed a “Tesla

Death Ray Gun” as an ultimate weapon. According to some of his sketches in this “Gun” Tesla would accelerate the plasmamatter, focus it and send it to a distant target. This could beyet another way to transport the energy to a distant placewithout loosing the flux density.

Reviewing his work we see the Grand Plan that he

followed in his life. We see his Genius and his love of humanity.

We see how his thought with the sence of purpose guided him in his lifetime work: His Polyphase System tamed themighty Niagara and brought the power to the city. His “TeslaCoil” produced the ozone for the food preservation. His HighFrequency Heating helped Metal Industry. His gas turbine

simplified the power generation. His high-frequencytransmission started the wireless communication. His robot boat started the automation and computing. And, as one of the key founders of IRE (now the IEEE) he left us his wordsin the Charter that say: “… the Society’s main goal is to provide technology for the good of the mankind…”

Fig. 4. He gave us not only his inventions and a pointer into

the future, but he left us also his thoughts and wisdom…

According to Tesla, we - humans as intelligent beings areall “Part of One”, we accomplished our work first by usingour hands, then we used tools, later we utilized powered toolsand intelligent machines to amplify the effects of our work.

For these machines we need Power . Therefore, after food and knowledge, the need for  Energy and  Power  is of outmostimportance.

We should help each other, and work against weaknessesof character, hate and wars, and in favor of education,understanding, and tolerance.

All of Tesla’s work was in this direction. His inventions,his patents and his writings are the proof. He showed us the path. He gave us the way to harness the Natural Energy and transfer it into a form suitable for the use in our humanendeavor.

He gave us the use of Polyphase Electricity, the Wireless,

he pointed the way to releasing the Power of the Sun, as wellas Automation and New Technology… He lighted the world for us…

In 1958, the International Committee assigned the ‘Tesla’for the Energy Flux International Unit, placing Tesla’s name permanently into the annals of science and technology

together with Andre-Marie Ampere (1775-1836) and the‘Amp’, Alessandro Giusepe Antonio Anastasio Volta (1745-1827) and the ‘Volt’, James Watt (1736-1819) and the ‘Watt’,Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) and the ‘Newton’ and additional truly great men of science for whom measurementsunits have been named.

4.1 recognition on us stamps

Tesla’s name was very well known in his time and he has

 been honored all over the world. In 1915 (New York Times, Nov. 6-th) the word came that Tesla and Edison werenominated for the Nobel Price. To no-one’s surprise neither wanted to share it. In 1975 Tesla was induced into Inventor’sHall of Fame. A Giant among Giants…

Fig. 5. This year we commemorate 150 years of Tesla’s birth.

He died January 7-th, 1943… But his inventions and hisLegacy – are still with us…

SOURCE R EFERENCES 

[1] “The Problem on Increasing Human Energy”, by NikolaTesla, the Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, June1900,

[2] “Some Personal Recollections”, by Nikola Tesla,Scientific American, June 5, 1915