WEBVTT - Classic TechStuff: Tesla - the Man, the Myth 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:11.600 Get in test with technology with text Stuff from dot Com. 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:15.360 Be there and welcome to text Stuff. Today we're going 0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:18.680 to listen to a classic episode of tech Stuff. I'm 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:23.680 recording this just before Labor Day weekend, and on Labor 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:26.120 Day weekend here in Atlanta, we have dragon Con. Now, 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:28.840 by the time you listen to this, dragon Con will 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:32.680 already be over and will know the outcome of something 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:37.840 of enormous proportions. I'm talking about a major debate, the 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:42.760 Tesla versus Edison debate. Nicey, that's gonna go on at 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.280 dragon Con, and I have been picked to represent Nicola 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:50.559 Tesla in that debate. Now, fortunately, Lauren and I recorded 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:54.760 an episode back in two thousand and thirteen about Nicola Tesla, 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.560 and we also talked about the truth versus the myth 0:00:57.760 --> 0:00:59.960 of his life. So let's listen to that right now. 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:07.600 We are focusing finally, after many, many, many people have 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:12.560 asked us to do a full episode about Nicola Tesla, 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:19.560 the Internet legend, the the man placed on a virtual 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:23.039 pedestal on the Internet that is gleaming and beauteous and 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:26.440 will zap you if you ever dare say anything against him. 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:28.760 He's staring at us from the walls of the podcast 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.399 room right now. Yes he is. Yes. Now, the question 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:33.039 of whether or not he'll be staring at us in 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:38.360 our news studio remains to be answered. Uh, we'll probably 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.000 end up propping him up on a mic stand or something, 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:44.200 so he's still judging us constantly. But yeah, we want 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:46.440 to talk about Tesla, kind of talk about his his 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:52.040 contributions to technology and also maybe take a critical look 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:55.920 at some of the some of the claims about Tesla 0:01:56.080 --> 0:02:00.960 and some of the misconceptions people have about his contributions 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.720 because he's he's a mythological figure, really a mythological nerd figure, 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:07.000 which is which is fabulous. I mean, it's really terrific, 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.400 and it's it's it's understandable why because he he by 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:12.560 the end of his life, was so downtrodden. And there's 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:16.040 nothing that people and geeks especially love more than than 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:20.600 an anti hero. Yeah. Here, here's a guy who has 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:25.520 been beaten down. He's he's uh seen his fortunes dwindle away. 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:29.560 He's he's made some bad choices. Uh, he has all 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:33.800 the earmarks of a classic geek. Geeks love this underdog 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:35.800 kind of story. And and when you get into things 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:41.120 like sort of the the demonification of other people, Edison 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:45.400 in particular, Yeah, but even people like JP Morgan and Lustinghouse. 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:48.840 Then it seems like the whole world had turned against him. 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:50.919 And and depending on how you look at his story, 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.400 it can definitely come across that way. But that's doing 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:56.840 a little bit of a disservice to the entire tale. 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:59.680 And Uh, the reason why I'm talking about in this 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:02.919 way because there is what we thought some people referred 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:06.040 to as the cult of Tesla, right, this idea of 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:10.320 elevating him beyond what his contributions were. Uh, there was 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:13.440 a cartoon that I think a lot of you guys 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:15.520 out there saw because you posted about it on our 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:19.480 Facebook page that The Oatmeal did all about Tesla and 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:23.800 his contributions and his rivalry with Edison and kind of 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:28.520 comparing him favorably against Edison in every single category and 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:31.840 saying that there should be a Tesla museum. And so 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:35.000 we want to talk about what Tesla actually did and 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.280 what he did not do, and uh, and whether or 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.680 not he deserves all those acoomis yeah. Yeah. And and and 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:45.080 just just before anyone who is a rabid fan of 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:47.440 the Oatmeal gets honest, because I don't. I do not 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.320 want to incite your anger. Uh, it's we realize that 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:54.760 it's a comic and that that although uh many of 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:57.640 the statements are factual, the writer whose name I'm completely 0:03:57.640 --> 0:03:59.880 forgetting right now, has come out and said that, hey, 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:02.800 this is a comic. I'm I'm a comic artist. And 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:06.520 some of this was hyper Bowl. So yeah, no, I 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:10.440 like its hyper Bowl. It's way better than that Super One. 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:14.080 I like the hyper Bowl a lot more. I am 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:15.880 never gonna let you live that down, and we are 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:19.240 not re recording it. Let's move on. So yeah. Tesla 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:24.240 born on July tenth, eighteen fifty six, in what is 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:28.560 now Croatia now eighteen fifty six by the Gregorian calendar. 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:31.320 If you have looked up at Tesla's birth and you 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.880 saw that it was actually in June June, that's because 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.160 at the time they were keeping time with the Julian calendar. 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:41.520 And it's only when you account for that, when you 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:43.320 match those up, that you realize that. Okay, well, if 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:47.080 you're using a real calendar like I do, the one 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:48.800 that's on my smartphone, and that's the only way I 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:51.640 know what day it is, it was July t so 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:56.560 eight fifty six and born in in Uh part of Austrio, 0:04:56.640 --> 0:05:01.400 Hungary which is now Croatia UM And as a boy, 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:03.960 he went to what we would think of in the 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:07.680 United States is elementary school or primary school and studied 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:12.600 German arithmetic and religion because his dad was a pastor 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.520 and his mom's father was a pastor, both both in 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:18.560 the Orthodox Church. Actually, so yeah, so he definitely had 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:21.920 a religious upbringing and his father really wanted him to 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:23.839 be a priest. By the way, Yes, he did a lot. 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:26.920 In fact, he was not so thrilled about Tesla going 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:32.039 into engineering. UM. When he was a young boy, Tesla's 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:35.960 Tesla's older brother named Dane, died in a tragic accident. 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.960 He actually fell off a horse and died. There were 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:44.040 some stories that Tesla or Nicola Tesla was playing around 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:48.359 and spooked the horse that caused. Yes, and so actually 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:49.680 I've heard I'm sorry, I meant to I meant to 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:52.560 insert this earlier. But but the very first terrific tall 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:54.039 tale that I heard about Tesla was that he was 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.160 born on a dark and stormy night to lightning. Right right, 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:59.520 he was born on the stroke of midnight, as lightning 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:03.000 crap in the sky. And that one person said he 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:05.280 would be a boy of storms, and his mother said, no, 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:08.120 he shall be a man of the light. I might 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:11.560 be inserting some of my hyper bowl in there. Goodness 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:14.680 make gracious. So yeah, and as a child they moved 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:17.960 around quite a bit as his father was finding a 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:21.800 church to be pastor in and in eighteen seventy, so 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:23.960 I remember he's born in eighteen fifty six. By eighteen 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:27.159 seventy he moves in with his aunt and starts to 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:32.000 attend a school that we're a teacher named Martin skul Chick, 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:37.640 sorry Skolich, Sokolich. Uh So, Martin so Coolich is teaching there, 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:42.440 and he's teaching math and physics, and Tesla finds both 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:46.440 the professor and the subject matter fascinating, and he becomes 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:50.640 really focused on math and physics. And in fact, he's 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:55.240 so focused he graduates a year early. So he was 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:59.120 certainly a man of genius. He possessed a genius and 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:03.240 an affinity for physics, for math, for engineering that far 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:07.440 outstripped most of his contemporaries. Oh yeah, definitely. But then again, 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:11.080 this is also the era where we start seeing these 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:14.560 technologies form and uh and so it was an exciting 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:17.080 time if you were interested in physics, because this is 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:21.320 when we're making lots of big discoveries, things that some 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:26.880 people say are low hanging fruit, you know, in retrospect, 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:29.240 the idea that there were all these discoveries to make. 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:32.200 But it's hard to see how we're going to advance 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:35.680 from this point forward because all the quote unquote easy 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.280 things have been discovered. Not that any of these things 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:41.240 were easy, it's just that now you are have to 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.920 become increasingly specialized in whatever scientific fields you're in to 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:48.360 really understand it. Sure, but while doing this research, it 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:49.680 kind of blew my mind. I actually don't have a 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:54.120 strong history in in electronic background, and and it blew 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:57.120 my mind that it wasn't until eighteen seventy three that 0:07:57.120 --> 0:08:02.320 that James Clerk Maxwell proved that light is is electromagnetic energy. Yeah, yes, 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:06.240 this is He's he's growing up at a time when uh, 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:09.600 these discoveries are being made and that would impact his 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:14.679 own work and in fact drive him to achieve great things. Also, 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:19.040 eighteen seventy three, that was the year he contracted cholera. Yeah, 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:20.920 and it was due to the cholera that he kind 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:23.040 of shaped the rest of his life. Yeah, well, yeah, 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:25.280 quite a few things. Yeah, because if you if you've 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:28.440 heard about Tesla, you know that he uh, he reportedly 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:32.920 had a bit of obsessive compulsive disorder, that he was 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:37.160 a germophobe, that he was a clean he was obsessed 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.800 with being clean and having clean things around him. He 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.600 reported in his own biography that he had a severe 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.680 aversion to touching other people's hair, that he had to 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:49.400 do things if if they required repetition, in the repetition 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:51.520 of threes, and if he did not, then he had 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:54.760 to stop and restart. Yeah, so he he may have 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:58.040 developed some of these peculiarities at this time. He was 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:01.680 in bed for about nine months, nearly died a few times. 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:04.320 So I would imagine that was definitely something that would 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.200 shape you whether or not that. I'm sure there were 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:11.280 other issues that are beyond just getting sick. There were 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:15.600 probably some things that were psychologically part of his being 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:18.400 from the point where he was born, but we don't 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:21.640 know to what extent obviously, and um, and you know 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:23.680 what's odd to me, I might as well talk about 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:27.760 this for right now. So neat freak, if you want 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:31.200 to put it that way. Germophobe doesn't like touching people. 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:38.920 Loved pigeons. Them rats with wings, that's what they are. Well, 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:40.640 that that was that was also towards the end of 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:44.640 his life that he became obsessed with him became incredibly 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:46.360 obsessed with pigeons. Yeah, it just makes me think of 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:53.040 that great scene in the documentary The Producers, Boydes filthy rotten, Boydes. 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:58.199 I appreciate that that your your Yiddish accent there is 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:00.240 is better than mine. That's excellent. I should also now 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:03.400 that that that's the nineteen sixty eight version of the 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:07.520 documentary The Producers, not the musical version starring Nathan Lane 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:11.080 Matthew Broderick, actually has zero Mustell and Gene Wilder. I'm 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:15.040 getting off track anyway. Um so yeah, so he's he's 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:20.160 definitely got some interesting personality quirks eighteen seventy four. He 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:23.960 starts to move around a little bit, mostly hiding out 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:27.640 from the army because in that part of the world, 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.400 in Austro Austria, Austro Hungary. Look, I can't say that. 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:36.400 Uh yes we do, thank thank goodness. We don't speak 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:40.040 into a microphone for a living right. Uh, But back 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:42.800 in that time, in that part of the world, Army 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:45.240 service was required of all young men. There was three 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:49.920 years mandatory service, and Tesla was not too keen on 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:54.560 doing that right. He kind of um, he was dodging, 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:57.560 that's the best way of putting it. Uh. The next year, 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:01.960 eighteen five, he starts to attend the Austrian Polytechnic School 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:06.559 and he starts off really strong. He's doing really well 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.920 in his classes. He understands the concepts and unlike some 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:12.240 other some other visionaries like say Stephen Hawking, he was 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:15.200 very good in school. Yep, yep. Also, you know, not 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:18.360 not like Einstein or some of the other famous folks 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:22.360 who seemed to have trouble in class. Now that that 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:25.000 was true for about a year, and then about that 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:27.480 second year things began to take a little bit of 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:32.000 a dip because he began to point out shortcomings or 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:35.560 what he thought of as shortcomings and his professor's understanding 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:39.280 of things like electrical engineering and saying things like, you know, 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:42.600 you could build a device that does the same thing 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:46.319 without this one component that you are claiming is absolutely 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:49.199 necessary for it to work. That furthermore puts off gigantic 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:52.360 electrical shocks that are actually pretty dangerous, like you could 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:55.240 do it this way and then, uh, if you mouth 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.840 off to your professors often enough, you might find yourself 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:02.640 in some academic trouble. And that's kind of what Tesla did. 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:08.400 He he began to get disillusioned about pursuing studies in 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:11.160 an academic setting, and after about a little over three 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:15.920 years he actually dropped out of the polytechnic school. So 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:19.880 he moved to Slovenia in eight to work as a 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:23.920 draftsman for an engineering firm. But by eighteen seventy nine, 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:28.720 the next year, some some police officials show up and 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:32.920 asked to see his residents papers, which he did not have. 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:36.040 So then he was escorted back to his family's home 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:40.240 because he didn't have a residence permit Fort Slovenia. And 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:46.679 that same year his father passes away. Uh and Tesla 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:49.840 starts to a new career as a teacher in the 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:54.000 same school that he attended as a boy, but realizes 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:56.720 very quickly that's not not for him. Yeah, he doesn't 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:59.920 want to do that. Um. So then the next year eighteen, 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:04.480 he moved to Prague. He tries to attend Carl Ferdinand University, 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:08.280 but he's unable to understand Greek or check, both of 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:12.319 which were prerequisites to attend as a student, so instead 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:15.720 he audits classes uh, and he begins to work for 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:20.360 the Budapest Telephone Exchange and also the Central Telegraph Office. 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:22.080 Eighteen eighty by the way, it was the year that 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:25.800 the Thomas Edison unveiled his electric in kendescent lamp to 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:27.920 the public for the first time. Yep, so that's a 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:30.160 good thing to to keep in mind. There are some 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:33.200 big things happening at the same time that Tesla's kind 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.079 of uh. You know, he hasn't really made a name 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:39.560 for himself yet. He's been a very uh enthusiastic student 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:42.000 at times of his life, and he is certainly interested 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:46.520 in electronics or really we should say electricity from electronics 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:53.280 electrons too early, but electricity and its applications. Um. So 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:55.559 he does that for a couple of years. In eighteen 0:13:55.600 --> 0:14:00.520 eighty two, he joins the Continental Edison Company and begins 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:05.920 to work on things like UH dynamos, which are well, 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:08.720 you've heard us talk about dynamos and our episodes about 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:12.760 electro magnets and motors and uh induction in the reverse 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:15.240 of that, so we I won't go into it. But anyway, 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:17.160 he starts to work on that. Now, this means that 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:22.640 he becomes an employee, although you know, indirectly and way 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:27.720 down the line of Edison. So yeah, he's sitting there 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:31.440 working for the company of the man who would one 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:37.160 day become his greatest rival. According to my nemesis, they 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:40.080 have dragon ball style fights in the sky. Yeah, they 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:44.200 also would occasionally catch Pokemon, but it was only um 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:47.880 the one that shoots the electricity. I don't I don't 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:50.480 know which one. Oh, come on, it's Peakachu. I was 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:52.360 just I was trying to bait Lauren to see if 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:57.040 I can get it. I actually know that. Dang, you 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:01.880 win this time voco baum uh. So at this time, 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.520 he also gets the idea for the a C induction motor, 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:09.920 although Asterisk not necessarily the first person to think about that. 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:14.400 Supposedly in a vision, well supposedly he had these visions. 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:18.040 Supposedly he was was very light and audio sensitive, and occasionally, 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:21.320 upon looking at one object or having a certain idea, 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:26.440 would would get an extremely strong visual perception of something 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:30.200 that he had already seen, or or of nothing nothing 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:34.000 imaginary unless it was a new invention. But yeah, occasionally 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.440 he would get these flashes that that kind of disturbed 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.320 him a lot, according to his autobiography. Yeah, so essentially 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.640 what would happen is he would be walking through a 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:45.480 park and look at a beautiful scene, and then suddenly 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:48.920 an idea would form, fully formed in his head, like 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.720 not not something he had been puzzling about necessarily. It 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.640 might just be hey, boom, here are all the pieces 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:56.640 and the puzzle is completely put together. You know, we 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.840 opened up the box and the puzzles there, as opposed 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:02.600 to you've been trying to fix this problem for years, 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.360 and oh, here's the inspiration. And so Yeah. Supposedly he 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:07.200 was walking through the city park in Budapest with a 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:10.560 friend and saw a beautiful sunset and quoted some poetry 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:14.160 and then had an idea for for the induction motor, Yeah, 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.040 and just drew it in the sand and then kept walking. Yeah. 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:20.320 Whether or not that's true, it's hard to say, because Tesla, 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:22.320 as it turns out, was something of a showman, a 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.960 little bit of an unreliable narrator. Narrator I would say, 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:27.400 unreliable narrator is a very kind way of putting it. 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:29.520 The same sort of thing is true of all the 0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:32.880 big names at this time, because they were the rock 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:36.200 stars of that of that era. So Edison, same sort 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:41.240 of thing. Edison was a master at at PR. You know, 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:44.720 beyond beyond being the head of a very successful research 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:48.760 and development firm, he was very good at presenting his 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:51.680 ideas to a public and explaining why they were the 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:55.560 best ideas, even if they weren't the best ideas. Tesla was. 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:57.880 He was no slouch in that department either. There are 0:16:57.880 --> 0:16:59.640 a lot of people who will paint Tesla as being 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:04.119 the the dedicated genius who is working for the betterment 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:07.920 of all mankind but doesn't ever look to get gain 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:11.960 glory in the process. That's not entirely accurate. Now, that's 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:13.760 that's not If you've ever seen any of the photographs 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:16.160 that that he took around his equipment, I would say 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:17.760 that those are not the mark of someone who is 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:19.720 not a showman. I saw this one photograph. He looked 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:23.080 just like David Bowie. Um. I might be mixing that 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:27.720 up with a documentary though. So then the the in 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:30.440 in uh In two. This whole time where he's making 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:32.679 he's working for Edison. He's got this idea for the 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:37.119 a C induction motor. He also is reportedly not paid 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:40.560 some money for the work he's doing for Edison company, 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:42.600 at least not not all of it. Like there's money 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:46.000 due to him that's not being paid. And this this 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.959 is partly what lays the groundwork for this whole idea 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:53.680 of the heated rivalry between Edison and Tesla. A lot 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:56.879 of it is money that's withheld from Tesla that was 0:17:56.960 --> 0:17:59.080 promised to him. I mean, and yeah, and this this 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:00.800 is when he was very he was twenty six at 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:03.000 the time, and and in Paris, and so he was 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:05.840 he was really distantly connected from to Edison at the time, 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:10.639 but apparently started right you use this, If you use 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:12.960 this and just say like, this is indicative of how 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:16.600 Edison treats people. Uh, it would apparently become company policy 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:19.200 not to pay people for their work. That's what That's 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.080 what suggested of this. It also becomes you know, a 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:27.040 common thread in Tesla's life of getting getting cheated out 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:29.240 of things that were owed him, which makes you wonder, 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:33.320 if it happens so frequently, why is that? Is it 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:37.040 all due to Was it just that he only worked 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:39.840 with corrupt individuals and companies, or was it that there 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:43.040 was something else going on here? Besides that part of 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:45.879 the story. I have no doubt that Tesla was really 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:49.520 cheated out of many of the things he deserved. I'm 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:51.960 not sure that he was cheated out of everything that 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:56.840 is attributed as being something he deserved. Um, but then 0:18:56.880 --> 0:19:00.639 we'll get into that again. Yeah. Four, he makes the 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:05.520 big move from Europe to America. He he had basically 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:07.399 no money at the time. From what I understand, well, 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.560 he definitely had no money by the time he got there. Um. Yeah, 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:12.159 it took a little longer for him to get there 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:15.440 than he had anticipated. According to one timeline I read 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:18.480 the ship he was on. This is just Tesla's luck, right. 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:22.199 The ship he was on had a mutiny aboard the 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:25.680 ship Goodness, I did not read about this, and supposedly 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:30.760 Tesla himself was nearly thrown overboard, probably for being a witch. 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:34.399 That that last part is just me guessing. I didn't 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:36.399 have any reason. I didn't have. There was no reason 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:39.320 given as to why Tesla would have been thrown overboard, 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:42.919 so I'm just inventing one. But no, Apparently the shipp 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:45.840 he was on had a mutiny aboard it. He ended 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:49.520 up getting to New York way later than when he expected, and, 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:54.560 according to some reports, had four cents in his pocket. Now, also, 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:58.119 depending upon whom you ask, he either immediately went to 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:01.159 work for Edison, as in got off the out filed 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:05.080 and went into the office, or he started the next day. 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:08.159 That seems to be the two stories. Either way, I 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:12.560 think that's pretty remarkable. Um and uh. And he works 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:15.240 for Edison and he's helping them with their systems. Uh. 0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:19.640 Supposedly again, he started to suggest to Edison that they 0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:22.760 switched to an alternating current model as opposed to direct current, 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:26.000 and Ederson was very much against that idea. So then 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:30.560 in eighteen five, Tesla forms the Tesla Electric Light Company. 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:34.520 An investor group actually asks him if he will work 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:37.199 on an ARC lighting system, and he agrees to do 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:39.600 it and then is later forced out of his own 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:42.320 company with nothing to show for it. Was was that all? 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:44.400 I mean? Because he started the company because he had 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:47.280 been he had quit Edison's correct. Yeah, Essentially, that same 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:51.120 year he resigns from the Edison company, And some say 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:54.040 the reason he did that was because again here's another 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:57.560 story of Tesla getting cheated. That Edison had promised Tesla 0:20:58.119 --> 0:21:03.080 a princely saw a fifty thou dollars for a particular project, 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:07.679 and when Tesla completed the project again supposedly with flying 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:11.199 colors and beyond all expectations. Edison then said, ha, ha, 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:14.760 you don't understand American humor. I'm not giving you any money, 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:17.600 and then Tesla resigns, even though Edison supposedly at that 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:21.640 point offered an enormous raise to keep Tesla there. This 0:21:21.800 --> 0:21:25.080 makes Edison look like the biggest jerk on the face 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:26.760 of the planet. I mean, I can't imagine my boss 0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:28.479 coming up to me and saying, hey, you know when 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:30.560 I told you were going to make fifty dollars if 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:32.000 you did this thing, and then you did that thing, 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:33.600 you did it really well, Well you're not gonna get 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:35.880 any money. Oh you want to leave, I'll raise your salary. 0:21:36.520 --> 0:21:40.359 That just like what kind of crazy person does that? Yeah, 0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:42.399 it doesn't it doesn't sound I mean, you know it 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:44.639 could I start. I never met Edison, didn't did you 0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:48.760 mean him? You're very old? Uh. Tesla then claimed that 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:51.640 he spent the next year making money by digging ditches. 0:21:52.000 --> 0:21:55.600 So again, a great, great story. If you're looking at 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:59.080 his life in the terms of like a tragic tale, 0:21:59.200 --> 0:22:02.120 you know where you have this genius, incredible super genius. 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:05.399 The man who will one day light up the United 0:22:05.440 --> 0:22:09.920 States with his alternating current power grid, making money scraping 0:22:09.960 --> 0:22:14.480 by by digging ditches. Yeah. Again, a lot of this 0:22:14.560 --> 0:22:17.280 comes from Tesla himself, and whether or not all of 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:22.040 it is true, it remains part of myth. You know, 0:22:23.040 --> 0:22:25.000 I don't doubt that. I don't doubt there were some 0:22:25.040 --> 0:22:27.840 bad business dealings. I'm sure that was the case, and 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:29.760 I don't doubt he had some hard times and maybe 0:22:29.800 --> 0:22:32.440 he did make his living for a full year being 0:22:32.960 --> 0:22:34.600 you know, digging ditches and that was the only thing 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:39.120 he could do. But it sounds more it sounds like melodrama. 0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:42.960 But sometimes like works like that, sometimes that's sometimes that's 0:22:42.960 --> 0:22:47.960 the truth stranger things. But anyway, Uh, then by by 0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:51.600 eighty seven, so you know, A six digging ditches, we 0:22:51.640 --> 0:22:55.000 don't need to go into. That's well. I mean, meanwhile, 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:58.040 in eighteen eighties six actually it's interesting Westinghouse Electric had 0:22:58.040 --> 0:23:01.840 developed a transformer for commercially. Yeah, so that's another thing 0:23:01.880 --> 0:23:04.520 we should mention is that, Uh, one of the reasons 0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:07.159 Tesla was really pushing for this alternating current thing with 0:23:07.280 --> 0:23:10.560 Edison is that back in Europe that's what they were using. 0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:13.840