Nikola Tesla was an electrical engineer, inventor and one of the most outstanding physicists in the history of science. But beyond his brilliant work, some aspects of his life remain hidden in the pages of history.
Recently a new statue in honor of Tesla was unveiled in Long Island of New York, which, according to historical data, was the final resting place of the brilliant scientist.
Tesla won more than 700 patents and became famous for developing AC (alternating current), while his work became the basis of developments in wireless communications, radar, laser X rays, lighting, robotics, and many other areas.
Beyond the scientific heritage that made him famous worldwide, his life had some aspects of it remain unknown to most people.
Read the secrets of Tesla’s life as presented by Jane Alcorn, president of the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe.
In May, the Wardenclyffe was purchased by the Tesla Science Center for $ 1,370,000 donated by the website IndieGoGo. The campaign was started by Matthew Inman, creator of the popular comic Oatmeal.
In 1943, when Tesla died, the Office of Alien Property took his stuff. Most of these things were given to his family, and many were taken to the Tesla Museum in Belgrade. However, some documents still remain classified by the U.S. Government.
As Alcorn said, Tesla was “worried about the fact that people consume the Earth’s resources too fast, so he wanted to make sure that these resources were renewable“. Thus he studied the ways to gather the natural energy from the ground and air. He created artificial lightning in his lab and detected differences in electrical potential on Earth and on high objects.
Except of being environmentalist, the famous inventor was also a humanist. According to Alcorn, “he did what he did for the sake of the betterment of mankind and wanted to give people an opportunity to have a better quality of life. Thus, he never seemed to care about monetary gain and never had enough money for his research.” Although he had famous friends such as Mark Twain and French actress Sarah Bernhardt, he was never a wealthy man, unlike Edison and Westinghouse who proved much more successful entrepreneurs.
He claimed that he needed only two hours of sleep a night, although he occasionally took an afternoon nap. Tesla hated round objects and jewelry and could not bear to touch hair. Also he was obsessed with the number three and had a habit of polishing each point of the dining room before dining, using precisely 18 napkins.
