 |
~
Mr.
Tesla Speaks Out
New York World, November 9, 1929
To
the Editor of The World:
Permit me a few words of comment relative to The World editorial of
Oct. 21 in which I am directly concerned.
Edison's work on the incandescent lamp and direct-current system of
distribution was more like the performance of an extraordinarily energetic
and horse-sensed pioneer than that of an inventor; it was prodigious
in amount, but not creative. The lamp itself, consisting of a carbon
filament in an exhausted globe, was well known and even patented years
before. Crookes had employed incandescent conductors with leading-in
platinum wires sealed in the glass and obtained extremely high vacua;
the multiple arc arrangement was frequently shown at institutions of
learning, display windows and exhibitions with Geissler tubes; electric
generators had been constructed, means for regulating current and voltage
described, and canalization of electricity was as obvious as that of
water, gas, compressed air or other commodity.
Irrespective of this, however, his primitive scheme of lighting was
subject to fatal limitations and could never have proved a commercial
success in competition.
Indeed, during the past thirty-five years it has been almost wholly
displaced by a more practical and efficient system based on my rotating
magnetic field, a discovery which even hardheaded engineers and patent
lawyers have declared to be "one of the greatest triumphs of the
human mind." To convey an idea of the extent of its use I only
need to quote Dr. B. A. Behrend, one of the foremost electrical experts,
who in his book on the induction motor says: "Were we to eliminate
from our industrial world the results of Mr. Tesla's work the wheels
of industry would cease to turn, our electric trains and cars would
stop, our towns would be dark, our mills dead and idle. So far-reaching
is this work that it has become the warp and woof of industry."
Edison and his associates bitterly opposed the introduction of my system,
raising a clamor against the "deadliness" of the alternating
current, which proved very effective and led to the adoption of a commercial
type of machine in the electrocution of criminals, an apparatus monstrously
unsuitable, for the poor wretches are not dispatched in a merciful manner
but literally roasted alive. To the observer their sufferings seem to
be of short duration; it must be borne in mind, though, that an individual
under such conditions, while wholly bereft of the consciousness of the
lapse of time, retains a keen sense of pain, and a minute of agony is
equivalent to that through all eternity.
Had the Edison companies not finally adopted my invention they would
have been wiped out of existence, and yet not the slightest acknowledgment
of my labors has ever been made by any of them, a most remarkable instance
of the proverbial unfairness and ingratitude off corporations. But the
reason is not far to seek. One of their prominent men told me that they
are spending $10,000,000 every year to keep Edison's name before the
public.
Of course, in all that unceasing and deafening shouting from the housetops
any voice raised to apprise people to the real state of things is like
the chirp of a little sparrow in the roar of Niagara. So it comes that
very few have a clear idea of the situation.
In truth, my system has not only provided energy for all purposes throughout
the world but also revolutionized electric lighting and made it a great
commercial success by reducing the cost of power and and increasing
enormously the distance of transmission. The greater part of the $60,000,000,000
which, according to President Hoover's statement, represented the value
of electric business, can be traced to my system and its effect on the
lighting and other industries. In view of this I feel that I also have
done much to dispel darkness. Surely, my system is more important than
the incandescent lamp, which is but one of the known electric illuminating
devices and admittedly not the best. Although greatly improved through
chemical and metallurgical advances and skill of artisans, it is still
inefficient, and the glaring filament emits hurtful rays responsible
for millions of bald heads and spoiled eyes. In my opinion, it will
soon be suspended by the electrodeless vacuum tube which I brought out
thirty-eight years ago, a lamp much more economical and yielding a light
of indescribable beauty and softness. The technical resources of that
time were inadequate to make it a practical success, but most of the
difficulties will be overcome when cheap quartz glass becomes available.
No amount of praise is too much to bestow upon Edison for his vigorous
pioneer work, but all he did was wrought in known and passing forms.
What I contributed constitutes a new and lasting addition to human knowledge.
Like his lamp, my induction motor may be discarded and forgotten in
the continuous evolution of the arts but my rotating field with its
marvelous phenomena and manifestations of force will live as long as
science itself.
Nikola
Tesla
New York, Nov. 5
~ ~ ~ ~
~
|
