Leaving Plitvice for the beautiful drive through the Croatian countryside to Zadar, motivated by my friend Brian Layfield's dedication to renewable, sustainable energy solutions (he also drives a Tesla!) we decided to stop at the childhood home of Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), a brilliant scientist and engineer who earned more than 700 patents. He is most famous for developing alternating current, but his work also led to advances in wireless communications, lasers, x-rays, radar, lighting, robotics, and much more. The memorial to his career included a recreation of his house, a documentary of his life, and demonstrations of his work.
“Nikola Tesla was born at the stroke of midnight on June 28, 1856, in the village of Smiljian near Belgrade, in what is now Croatia, during a horrible electrical storm. The midwife said that he would be ‘a child of the storm.’ His mother replied, ‘No- of light.’ Tesla’s strange, controversial and incredible life as one of the world’s greatest inventors fulfilled both of their prophetic statements.”
When Tesla was 5, he jumped off the roof of his house holding an umbrella to see if he could fly. He was badly hurt and some people theorize that he sustained a brain injury which led to the opening of different neural pathways that explain his genius, or created a form of epilepsy through which he envisioned some of his greatest works during seizures. Certainly his older brother was a genius, and when he was killed by the family horse by accident, Nikola was devastated and it is posited that he spent the rest of his life dedicated to work honouring his brother.
Tesla was born in Croatia (then Serbia) but emigrated to the U.S. as a young man, where he eventually became a naturalized citizen. Besides Edison, who later became his bitter rival, Tesla often worked with inventor George Westinghouse. In 1893, the pair demonstrated their advances in lighting and motors in the "White City" at the Chicago World's Fair. In 1895, Tesla and Westinghouse developed the world's first hydroelectric power plant, at Niagara Falls.
Tesla did what he did for the betterment of humanity, and as a result was often too broke to finance his research. Tesla claimed to have required only two hours of sleep a night, although he occasionally napped. He loathed jewelry and round objects and wouldn't touch hair. He was obsessed with the number three and polished every dining implement he used to perfection, using 18 napkins.
Among his many inventions were: Alternating Current, flourescent and neon lights,X-rays, radio (years before Marconi!), remote control, the electric motor, robotics, the laser, and wireless communications.
My biggest thrill came when Sweet Lorraine and I stood alone in total darkness in a room containing a Tesla coil, holding flourescent light tubes in our hands. When the coil was switched on, the room was filled with lightning, and our tubes glowed as if plugged in, proving Tesla's claim that he could transmit electrical energy wirelessly. He also succeeded in frightening me half to death!
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Tesla's genius is that he never made sketches or plans of his initial ideas, but instead was able to design and test models in his head, never resulting to trial and error, or experimentation, only putting his final design down on paper. When asked why he expected these untested final designs to work, he replied, “Why shouldn't they?”
“Nikola Tesla was born at the stroke of midnight on June 28, 1856, in the village of Smiljian near Belgrade, in what is now Croatia, during a horrible electrical storm. The midwife said that he would be ‘a child of the storm.’ His mother replied, ‘No- of light.’ Tesla’s strange, controversial and incredible life as one of the world’s greatest inventors fulfilled both of their prophetic statements.”
When Tesla was 5, he jumped off the roof of his house holding an umbrella to see if he could fly. He was badly hurt and some people theorize that he sustained a brain injury which led to the opening of different neural pathways that explain his genius, or created a form of epilepsy through which he envisioned some of his greatest works during seizures. Certainly his older brother was a genius, and when he was killed by the family horse by accident, Nikola was devastated and it is posited that he spent the rest of his life dedicated to work honouring his brother.
Tesla was born in Croatia (then Serbia) but emigrated to the U.S. as a young man, where he eventually became a naturalized citizen. Besides Edison, who later became his bitter rival, Tesla often worked with inventor George Westinghouse. In 1893, the pair demonstrated their advances in lighting and motors in the "White City" at the Chicago World's Fair. In 1895, Tesla and Westinghouse developed the world's first hydroelectric power plant, at Niagara Falls.
Tesla did what he did for the betterment of humanity, and as a result was often too broke to finance his research. Tesla claimed to have required only two hours of sleep a night, although he occasionally napped. He loathed jewelry and round objects and wouldn't touch hair. He was obsessed with the number three and polished every dining implement he used to perfection, using 18 napkins.
Among his many inventions were: Alternating Current, flourescent and neon lights,X-rays, radio (years before Marconi!), remote control, the electric motor, robotics, the laser, and wireless communications.
My biggest thrill came when Sweet Lorraine and I stood alone in total darkness in a room containing a Tesla coil, holding flourescent light tubes in our hands. When the coil was switched on, the room was filled with lightning, and our tubes glowed as if plugged in, proving Tesla's claim that he could transmit electrical energy wirelessly. He also succeeded in frightening me half to death!
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Tesla's genius is that he never made sketches or plans of his initial ideas, but instead was able to design and test models in his head, never resulting to trial and error, or experimentation, only putting his final design down on paper. When asked why he expected these untested final designs to work, he replied, “Why shouldn't they?”
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| Tesla did all his calculations and test designs in his head. |
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| Tesla coil! |
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| The Croatian Countryside is Beautiful |
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| Starting Down the Mountains to Zadar! |
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