Why Nikola Tesla is SO Famous (and Westinghouse is not)
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Date: 2022-12-27
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Comments and reviews: 19
Erik
I have seen the documentary mentioned at the end of this video and also read some books on this topic. I never hyped that much about Tesla, even back when I read the comics by theoatmeal, because it was clear to me that while Tesla certainly and without doubt created many electrical gadgets and contributed to the popularity of electricity, he was also a dreamer, a visionary, with his visions being far beyound what he could ever hope to achieve. I was very skeptical about many claims that he made, or what others say he made. It is true that Tesla made many claims and promises, but I think he is being misinterpreted by many of his modern fanclub. If somebody is equally uncritical, it is the current fanclub of Elon Musk. Tesla described possible applications of his ideas. Some of them turned out to be sound and were realized. But only because he was a visionary and also because he made that many statements and also because he was, as you mentioned, an artist. For me Tesla is the biggest artist in the field of electricity. I knew that Tesla did not invent the trhee phase system (as well as many other things attributed to him by his fanclub) and I knew that credit for many things that various soruces give to Tesla were not true. The other reason why I respect Tesla, besides his electric art, is that he was a humanist. He certainly did not want to cause any harm to anybody, he was always polite and respectful, even of his competitors. And for me this is even more valuable than his contributions in the scientific field of electricity. His performing art and humanistic approach should be the main reasons why we should honor him. His inventions are only second nature, even though being so important. It almost seems as if Tesla was not concerned with applicating his ideas once they worked and he was happy that somebody is using his ideas to make the world a better place. He was not interested in making money and went right into inventing something new. Sadly, he lost his mind. Tesla never achieved anything after the failed wireless transmission of power. He lost his mind. His story is a reminder for all of us that even the most brilliant minds can wander astray and get lost in a dark forest of their own mind. Tesla could be relatable to John Nash. If you have seen the movie A Beautiful Mind, you know what I mean.
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I have seen the documentary mentioned at the end of this video and also read some books on this topic. I never hyped that much about Tesla, even back when I read the comics by theoatmeal, because it was clear to me that while Tesla certainly and without doubt created many electrical gadgets and contributed to the popularity of electricity, he was also a dreamer, a visionary, with his visions being far beyound what he could ever hope to achieve. I was very skeptical about many claims that he made, or what others say he made. It is true that Tesla made many claims and promises, but I think he is being misinterpreted by many of his modern fanclub. If somebody is equally uncritical, it is the current fanclub of Elon Musk. Tesla described possible applications of his ideas. Some of them turned out to be sound and were realized. But only because he was a visionary and also because he made that many statements and also because he was, as you mentioned, an artist. For me Tesla is the biggest artist in the field of electricity. I knew that Tesla did not invent the trhee phase system (as well as many other things attributed to him by his fanclub) and I knew that credit for many things that various soruces give to Tesla were not true. The other reason why I respect Tesla, besides his electric art, is that he was a humanist. He certainly did not want to cause any harm to anybody, he was always polite and respectful, even of his competitors. And for me this is even more valuable than his contributions in the scientific field of electricity. His performing art and humanistic approach should be the main reasons why we should honor him. His inventions are only second nature, even though being so important. It almost seems as if Tesla was not concerned with applicating his ideas once they worked and he was happy that somebody is using his ideas to make the world a better place. He was not interested in making money and went right into inventing something new. Sadly, he lost his mind. Tesla never achieved anything after the failed wireless transmission of power. He lost his mind. His story is a reminder for all of us that even the most brilliant minds can wander astray and get lost in a dark forest of their own mind. Tesla could be relatable to John Nash. If you have seen the movie A Beautiful Mind, you know what I mean.
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Little
I love all of your videos but I think that this is the best one yet. It explains succinctly the sources all of the misinformation associated with Tesla. I am a retired electrical engineer and high voltage hobbyist. The more that I learn about Tesla the less respect I have for him. As a moderator for a FB Tesla coil and high voltage group I constantly have to debunk nonsense that people post about Tesla. I will start referencing your excellent video now.
Personally I think that the source of most of this hero worship is his invention of the Tesla coil. While very entertaining and awe-inspiring they have absolutely no practical use. Even today they still inspire awe and wonder from spectators. I have built several myself. My largest one can generate 9-foot streamers and I always bring it out on Halloween for spectators. They are like fireworks; awesome to watch but they have no practical value. You are also correct about them being the source of inspiration for many future engineers. I was one after I built my first small Tesla coil in 1969 after reading an article from the July 1964 edition of Popular Electronics. I still have it and it still operates.
Thanks again for your hard work researching these original source documents and weaving it all into a coherent thought-provoking video.
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I love all of your videos but I think that this is the best one yet. It explains succinctly the sources all of the misinformation associated with Tesla. I am a retired electrical engineer and high voltage hobbyist. The more that I learn about Tesla the less respect I have for him. As a moderator for a FB Tesla coil and high voltage group I constantly have to debunk nonsense that people post about Tesla. I will start referencing your excellent video now.
Personally I think that the source of most of this hero worship is his invention of the Tesla coil. While very entertaining and awe-inspiring they have absolutely no practical use. Even today they still inspire awe and wonder from spectators. I have built several myself. My largest one can generate 9-foot streamers and I always bring it out on Halloween for spectators. They are like fireworks; awesome to watch but they have no practical value. You are also correct about them being the source of inspiration for many future engineers. I was one after I built my first small Tesla coil in 1969 after reading an article from the July 1964 edition of Popular Electronics. I still have it and it still operates.
Thanks again for your hard work researching these original source documents and weaving it all into a coherent thought-provoking video.
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Susil
Kathy's videos maintained the high professional transparency & genuineness to the maximum that we don't have to think twice about the authenticity.
Infact with the arrival of internet in 2000 making of TESLA videos become almost an industry.
I tried my best to debunk them whenever I found them.
Tesla's life story is a gold mine for making long stories, with full of sad & happy events, heroic elements, rival activities, success & failures, sabotages. from beginning to the end. People who haven't heard him before duped to believe those exaggerate one side claims & he became the Father of the Electricity, Maker of the 20th century. most of the viewers haven't heard at least of Michael Faraday, let alone other pioneering work that had happened before the Tesla's birth.
Now that misinformed public gradually comeing to understand the reality. Kathy's videos has helped much in this direction.
Thank you Kathy.
reply
Kathy's videos maintained the high professional transparency & genuineness to the maximum that we don't have to think twice about the authenticity.
Infact with the arrival of internet in 2000 making of TESLA videos become almost an industry.
I tried my best to debunk them whenever I found them.
Tesla's life story is a gold mine for making long stories, with full of sad & happy events, heroic elements, rival activities, success & failures, sabotages. from beginning to the end. People who haven't heard him before duped to believe those exaggerate one side claims & he became the Father of the Electricity, Maker of the 20th century. most of the viewers haven't heard at least of Michael Faraday, let alone other pioneering work that had happened before the Tesla's birth.
Now that misinformed public gradually comeing to understand the reality. Kathy's videos has helped much in this direction.
Thank you Kathy.
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Alexander
I would like to note this section of the video:
In addition, the isolation of Tesla requires you to think of innovation as isolated incidences of brilliance instead of a community of people sharing a river of ideas that are debated and argued over time.
I could not agree more, and this is perhaps the most harmful aspect of the Tesla hagiography which is so popular. The idea of the lone genius working in a basement or barn wont go away. That era of invention, if it ever existed, has been gone for centuries.
Interestingly, the same kind of argument is used to deride Edisonthat he wasnt such a great inventor because he had a large staff. In many ways Edisons greatest invention was the research and development department (which, of course, was not entirely new either.
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I would like to note this section of the video:
In addition, the isolation of Tesla requires you to think of innovation as isolated incidences of brilliance instead of a community of people sharing a river of ideas that are debated and argued over time.
I could not agree more, and this is perhaps the most harmful aspect of the Tesla hagiography which is so popular. The idea of the lone genius working in a basement or barn wont go away. That era of invention, if it ever existed, has been gone for centuries.
Interestingly, the same kind of argument is used to deride Edisonthat he wasnt such a great inventor because he had a large staff. In many ways Edisons greatest invention was the research and development department (which, of course, was not entirely new either.
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Doug
My father graduated from Columbia University in Dentistry. I believe that the Pupin Lab at Columbia is properly pronounced Pew-pin, versus Pooh-peen. Hopefully it is named for the same Michael Pupin you mentioned. (Also Elihu is slightly mis-pronounced. Not to not-pick though, the history and de-bunking of popular mis-conceptions is great. I had no idea that my persistent questioning if the AGFA toxic dumping at the Wardenclyffe site has been remediated was pitting me against funding provided by Elon Musk. To this date, the Tesla Museum has not opened and they have not responded publicly regarding cleanup of AGFAs toxic waste dumping.
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My father graduated from Columbia University in Dentistry. I believe that the Pupin Lab at Columbia is properly pronounced Pew-pin, versus Pooh-peen. Hopefully it is named for the same Michael Pupin you mentioned. (Also Elihu is slightly mis-pronounced. Not to not-pick though, the history and de-bunking of popular mis-conceptions is great. I had no idea that my persistent questioning if the AGFA toxic dumping at the Wardenclyffe site has been remediated was pitting me against funding provided by Elon Musk. To this date, the Tesla Museum has not opened and they have not responded publicly regarding cleanup of AGFAs toxic waste dumping.
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Jakov
There are still countless details about Tesla that will shock the world! My research totally exposes Tesla! The myth of Tesla is the biggest fraud in the history of technology and far beyond. Tesla was a pathological liar, more precisely a compulsive one! The statement on the plaque William Stanley: his genius made Great Barrington the first community to be lighted by alternating current is TRUE. It was indeed the first COMMUNITY ) to be lit by AC power (1886. It is true that Gaulard was the first to patent (1882) the idea and implement it at the Turin Exhibition (1884! But it was experimental and did not light any community!
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There are still countless details about Tesla that will shock the world! My research totally exposes Tesla! The myth of Tesla is the biggest fraud in the history of technology and far beyond. Tesla was a pathological liar, more precisely a compulsive one! The statement on the plaque William Stanley: his genius made Great Barrington the first community to be lighted by alternating current is TRUE. It was indeed the first COMMUNITY ) to be lit by AC power (1886. It is true that Gaulard was the first to patent (1882) the idea and implement it at the Turin Exhibition (1884! But it was experimental and did not light any community!
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Andr
You definitely deserve all the praise for doing such a meticulous work of unveiling what we can actually know with some degree of certainty about this fascinating story. I always have been skeptical about Tesla's fans and their stories. Although I need to keep my cognitive biases in check, I cannot second guess things so easily when primary sources are cited on the spot for every single claim. This is the work of scholarship that I expected every scientist and enthusiast should strive to achieve and praise.
Sorry. The words fail me now. I do have a lot of respect and appreciation for your work.
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You definitely deserve all the praise for doing such a meticulous work of unveiling what we can actually know with some degree of certainty about this fascinating story. I always have been skeptical about Tesla's fans and their stories. Although I need to keep my cognitive biases in check, I cannot second guess things so easily when primary sources are cited on the spot for every single claim. This is the work of scholarship that I expected every scientist and enthusiast should strive to achieve and praise.
Sorry. The words fail me now. I do have a lot of respect and appreciation for your work.
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barry
Tesla Fanboys for all intensive purposes are Marx's socialist anti-capitalist. They see Tesla is a great savior and victim of the capitalistic system. I've always seen Tesla as a big dreamer who never applied the effort like a Westinghouse to create a profitable company. Tesla said it himself about Edison and how he felt like he squandered his time in the pursuit of Education versus practical application and industrialism
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Tesla Fanboys for all intensive purposes are Marx's socialist anti-capitalist. They see Tesla is a great savior and victim of the capitalistic system. I've always seen Tesla as a big dreamer who never applied the effort like a Westinghouse to create a profitable company. Tesla said it himself about Edison and how he felt like he squandered his time in the pursuit of Education versus practical application and industrialism
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Ken
One of the things that this sort of honest debunking impresses on people is that science and technology very rarely advances much through the efforts of one man, or even one team of men. Whatever the case in war or literature, science rarely has single heroes - ALL progress has to build on the work of many. People who idolise Tesla (or Edison for that matter) simply do not understand how we got all our modern technology.
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One of the things that this sort of honest debunking impresses on people is that science and technology very rarely advances much through the efforts of one man, or even one team of men. Whatever the case in war or literature, science rarely has single heroes - ALL progress has to build on the work of many. People who idolise Tesla (or Edison for that matter) simply do not understand how we got all our modern technology.
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Robert
Your the best Kathy. I've read a number of books on these fellows. However, I haven't had the time to look into source documents. I really enjoy you getting the facts straight. I do believe Tesla was a prime mover in motivating the electrical industry. Although I'm sure the world would have arrived at the same conclusion, Tesla may have help speed up the process. Again, GREAT work. Thank you.
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Your the best Kathy. I've read a number of books on these fellows. However, I haven't had the time to look into source documents. I really enjoy you getting the facts straight. I do believe Tesla was a prime mover in motivating the electrical industry. Although I'm sure the world would have arrived at the same conclusion, Tesla may have help speed up the process. Again, GREAT work. Thank you.
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Martin
29: 18 I think tesla was familiar enough with electromagnetic waves to state that they vibrate the earth. From what I have read I think he meant that the current used to generate radio waves could instead be dumped into the earth via the ground connection and could pass around the earth as a receivable signal. Otherwise the video was informative on how inaccurate info could askew history.
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29: 18 I think tesla was familiar enough with electromagnetic waves to state that they vibrate the earth. From what I have read I think he meant that the current used to generate radio waves could instead be dumped into the earth via the ground connection and could pass around the earth as a receivable signal. Otherwise the video was informative on how inaccurate info could askew history.
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Bob
I enjoyed your video of the business and money side of electricity. But it would be interesting to go through the thought processes of the the patent creators themselves and the physics (ie Maxwell equations) behind them. For instance Tesla's power transmission tower sounds ridiculous, but he must have had some theoretical basis, however flawed, for it.
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I enjoyed your video of the business and money side of electricity. But it would be interesting to go through the thought processes of the the patent creators themselves and the physics (ie Maxwell equations) behind them. For instance Tesla's power transmission tower sounds ridiculous, but he must have had some theoretical basis, however flawed, for it.
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Макс
You're actually CAN make a nitric acid from the air using an electric arc. There're quite enough YT videos demonstrating this process and its results. Electric arc provides enough energy to rip N2 molecule apart and make it reactive to oxygen that becames energized too, being in its atomic state.
(Excuse mee for my possibly strange English: )
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You're actually CAN make a nitric acid from the air using an electric arc. There're quite enough YT videos demonstrating this process and its results. Electric arc provides enough energy to rip N2 molecule apart and make it reactive to oxygen that becames energized too, being in its atomic state.
(Excuse mee for my possibly strange English: )
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Bill
Thank you SO much. I have been trying to debunk to Tesla-worshipers for four or five years now. Some of them, I think, actually DO worship him. Tesla an early follower and experimenter who did make some progress, but on the whole he was really just a very highly advanced tinkerer. In his later years he showed some characteristics of a narcissist.
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Thank you SO much. I have been trying to debunk to Tesla-worshipers for four or five years now. Some of them, I think, actually DO worship him. Tesla an early follower and experimenter who did make some progress, but on the whole he was really just a very highly advanced tinkerer. In his later years he showed some characteristics of a narcissist.
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Okaro
Funny how I did not get it before. The electrocution of the elephant is a movie and there were no movies during the war of currents. They became only in 1895. Often when people view past events they do time compression. Looking from 2022 1890 and 1903 may look almost the same but back then the difference was same as 2022 and 2009.
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Funny how I did not get it before. The electrocution of the elephant is a movie and there were no movies during the war of currents. They became only in 1895. Often when people view past events they do time compression. Looking from 2022 1890 and 1903 may look almost the same but back then the difference was same as 2022 and 2009.
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centexrails
I did not scroll through all comments to see if this was mentioned. Your photo of a railroad frog shows how the frog is used in the crossing of one rail of track through another. This is used where one track branches into 2 tracks. There is also a rerailing device called a frog but it is different than the picture shown.
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I did not scroll through all comments to see if this was mentioned. Your photo of a railroad frog shows how the frog is used in the crossing of one rail of track through another. This is used where one track branches into 2 tracks. There is also a rerailing device called a frog but it is different than the picture shown.
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Wes
Too bad you cannot believe anything in print.
Or social media, or books, or literally anything unless you witness it yourself.
Even then all your senses are flawed.
We cannot ever know anything with any degree of certainty.
Funny how easily and often you can prove wrong
what is considered 'common knowledge'.
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Too bad you cannot believe anything in print.
Or social media, or books, or literally anything unless you witness it yourself.
Even then all your senses are flawed.
We cannot ever know anything with any degree of certainty.
Funny how easily and often you can prove wrong
what is considered 'common knowledge'.
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peter
Really enjoyed this video. I confess I viewed over a few days as it was L O N G! Destroyed some of my Tesla myths (the pigeon love story was one. Extreemy well produced. I have purchased your book and enjoyed and will read again. Keep up the good work. PS I still think our 230 Volt system used in europe and my UK is better!
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Really enjoyed this video. I confess I viewed over a few days as it was L O N G! Destroyed some of my Tesla myths (the pigeon love story was one. Extreemy well produced. I have purchased your book and enjoyed and will read again. Keep up the good work. PS I still think our 230 Volt system used in europe and my UK is better!
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Bruce
This video is a remarkable accomplishment. Thank you so much, Kathy. I think you're right that historians often have to push against the general public's desire to ascribe technological change to a lone genius, rather than the combined efforts of many people, some who are often apparently in conflict with each other.
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This video is a remarkable accomplishment. Thank you so much, Kathy. I think you're right that historians often have to push against the general public's desire to ascribe technological change to a lone genius, rather than the combined efforts of many people, some who are often apparently in conflict with each other.
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