Daily funny, but also rather informative. Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived Edison and cats and dogs... sheesh.
There's a cult around Nikola Tesla, and I strongly suspect that he deserves credit for about half of what his cult following claims. He was a genius and also a crackpot. He made some discoveries that changed the world, including alternating current. He also made some claims that are just wacko. He's a fascinating man, but not the god some of his boosters would have us believe. I think it was cool and appropriate to name an electric car company after him. But the name, and the man, had nothing to do with my buying my Tesla Roadster, though I was aware of the man long before the company existed. (He was a cult figure even then.) It was the amazingness of the car itself that prompted me to buy it, made possible by the vision of the founders and the brilliance and hard work of the engineers. (And, I gather, some technology leased from AC Propulsion.)
Nikola Tesla - The Greatest Geek Who Ever Lived Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived - The Oatmeal
Pretty funny comic on Nikola Tesla http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla I don't know how accurate it is, but it is pretty funny.
Some of that stuff seems too good to be true but Tesla was an interesting guy. Also being discussed here: The Oatmeal: Nikola Tesla
The Oatmeal comic was great, but as noted not entirely accurate. Forbes posted a good article clarifying some of the claims. Nikola Tesla Wasn't God And Thomas Edison Wasn't The Devil - Forbes
I wonder who pissed in Alex Knapp's Wheaties this morning. The Oatmeal is about as factual a resource as The Onion. Say it with me, Alex... "satire." :biggrin:
I believe it is mostly true. Tesla was a very interesting character and we all owe him for his forward thinking. If you want to read a gpod book on the man get Tesla a man out of time. For an engineer it was a great read.
Good article. Too many people regard Tesla as a superman. He was not. He was a brilliant man. But as the article says, it's a great mistake to attribute all good things to Tesla alone while demonizing Edison and brushing aside the many other brilliant women and men, upon whose work Tesla built, and who improved on Tesla's work, and some few of whom were more brilliant. Tesla was remarkable for combining great brilliance with some colossal crackpottery. He was flashy. He was wonderful. He was a great choice for the name of an innovative car company. But he was not a god, and the present idolatry of him is unwarranted.
The cartoon said that Tesla died a virgin. The same is supposedly true of Isaac Newton. I'm glad that I'm not a super genius! :biggrin:
Very interesting. I still think that Tesla was a genius who did incredible things, but who does not deserve the cult worship he gets in some circles. Edison was a businessman, with all that implies. He changed the world. He was not a nice man. And "Tesla" is a great name for a company dedicated to building electric cars.