Photo source: Wikimedia Commons
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was a Serbian-American inventor best known for his contributions to the modern alternating current (AC) motor. Composer Ben Johnston said,
"Nikola Tesla is the true unsung propet of the electronic age; without whom our radio, auto ignition, telephone, alternating current power generation and transmission, radio and television would all have been impossible." (Quoted in My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla, 1983)The rest of this post is some quotes from Tesla.
Art
"There is an influence which is getting strong and stronger day by day, which shows itself more and more in all departments of human activity, and influence most fruitful and beneficial - the influence of the artist. It was a happy day for the mass of humanity when the artist felt the desire of becoming a physician, an electrician, an engineer or mechanician or - whatnot - a mathematician or a financier; for it was he who wrought all these wonders and grandeur we are witnessing." (Roentgen Rays of Streams, 1896)
Creativity
"The mind is sharper and keener in seclusion and uninterrupted solitude. No big laboratory is needed in which to think. Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind. Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born." (Quoted in Nikola Tesla's Life & Work by Istvan G. Kocsis)
"The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter - for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way. He lives and labors and hopes." (Radio Power Will Revolutionize the World, 1934)
"I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything." (Quoted in Marconi and Tesla by Time O'Shei)
"The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. It is the most important product of his creative brain. Its ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing of the forces of nature to human needs." (My Inventions, 1919)
Thomas Edison
"Edison was by far the most successful and, probably, the last exponent of the purely empirical method of investigation. Everything he achieved was the result of persistent trials and experiments often performed at random but always attensting extraordinary vigor and resource." (Quoted in Tesla Says Edison Was an Empiricist, 1931)
Energy
"Throughout space there is energy. Is this energy static or kinetic! If static our hopes are in vain; if kinetic - and this we know it is, for certain - then it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature." (Experiments With Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency, 1892)
"When wireless is perfectly applied, the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance." (When Woman is Boss, 1926)
