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The Real Story of Nikola Tesla | Best Nikola Tesla Documentary — Transcript

by The Life Guide · 2,478 words · 382 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00[Music]
0:13on the 7th of January 1943 a maid
0:18working at The New Yorker Hotel entered
0:20room 3327 where one of their permanent
0:23residents was staying inside she found
0:26the body of an 86 year old man who had
0:28died alone in a room he had been living
0:30in for the last nine years of his life
0:32the man was broke and had been living on
0:36a diet of milk and crackers using the
0:38little resources he had left to feed and
0:40take care of the local pigeons this man
0:43went by the name of Nikola Tesla seen
0:47Tesla in his final years it would have
0:49been hard to believe he was one of the
0:51greatest minds of the modern era his
0:53genius shaped the world we know today
0:55pioneering the alternating current the
0:58electrical system which powers our homes
1:00around the globe his influence can be
1:03seen all around us from remote control
1:05and radio to wireless communication
1:08perhaps most impressive of all Tesla's
1:11work and creations came out of his
1:12passion for science with his earnings
1:15being sunk into projects aimed at the
1:17betterment of humanity rather than for
1:19greed and profit
1:24Tesla was born on the 10th of July 1856
1:28in modern-day croatia his mother came
1:31from a line of inventors and had an
1:33incredible memory been able to memorize
1:35the entirety of Serbian epic poems and
1:38so she trained her son with exercises
1:40and memorization as time went on Tesla
1:43was known to have an eidetic memory
1:45later speaking eight different languages
1:47which he credited his mother's efforts
1:50in his youth at the age of five Tesla
1:53witnessed the death of his older brother
1:54in a horse riding accident the image of
1:57which would stay with him for his entire
1:59life after this Tesla began experiencing
2:02flashes of light and images making it
2:05hard to separate the reality from his
2:06imagination he claimed his inventions
2:09would come to him in these flashes of
2:11light conceptualizing their entire
2:13design in his head and correcting their
2:15floors without ever putting pen to paper
2:17in an interview from 1919 he described
2:20this process stating I do not rush into
2:24actual work when I get an idea I start
2:27at once building it up in my imagination
2:28I changed the construction make
2:31improvements and operate the device in
2:33my mind it is absolutely immaterial to
2:36me whether I run my turbine in thought
2:39or test it in my shop invariably
2:42my device works as I conceived that it
2:44should and the experiment comes out
2:46exactly as I planned it in 20 years
2:49there has not been a single exception
2:52Tesla excelled in the education system
2:55but ended up dropping out of university
2:57due to a gambling addiction and other
2:59personal issues
3:01inspired by Electrical demonstrations by
3:03his physics professor Tesla went and got
3:06a job with the Paris branch of the
3:08Continental Edison Company in 1882
3:11installing indoor lighting around the
3:13city management soon realized that his
3:16talents were wasted on such a job and
3:18tasked him with constructing and
3:20improving dynamos and motors
3:22he was so insightful in his innovations
3:24that the company soon had him travelling
3:27around Europe fixing problems at other
3:29Edison installations
3:34in 1884 at the age of 28
3:37Tesla's manager offered him a job at
3:40Edison machine works in New York City an
3:42offer he accepted he soon moved to
3:45America where he would spend a majority
3:47of his life becoming a naturalized
3:49citizen seven years later in 1891 he
3:53soon came into contact with company
3:55owner Thomas Edison and the two
3:58initially got on with Tesla describing
4:00Edison as an inspirational figure an
4:02Edison stating to Tesla I have had many
4:05hard-working assistants but do you take
4:08the cake this mutual admiration would
4:10not last long however with a lifelong
4:12rivalry soon developing the main source
4:15of animosity between the two resulted
4:18from a disagreement about the type of
4:19current each man preferred Edison's
4:22company owned the patents for DC or
4:24direct current a system where electric
4:27charge only flows in one direction
4:29Tesla however was an advocate for
4:32alternating current or AC a system where
4:35the electric charge changes direction
4:37periodically these changes in direction
4:41allow AC current to maintain power over
4:44longer distances it is also possible to
4:46use devices called transformers to
4:49change the magnitude of AC voltage
4:51allowing a current to travel at a high
4:53voltage and then be reduced to a lower
4:55voltage for safe use in homes Tesla
4:58tried explaining the benefits of
5:00alternating current to Edison but Edison
5:02wouldn't listen as it could ruin the
5:04sails for direct current to which he
5:06owned all the patents Edison then
5:09offered Tesla a large bonus of $50,000
5:12if he redesigned 24 of his obsolete
5:15machines upon completion
5:17Edison refused to pay and revealed that
5:20the task had been a practical joke
5:21saying Tesla you don't understand our
5:24American humor Tesla resigned after six
5:28months at the company and set out on his
5:30own he wanted to change the world and he
5:33knew he could
5:35he spent the next year setting up his
5:37own company developing his ideas on
5:39alternating current however his
5:42investors showed little interest and
5:44decided to take the company including
5:46all the patents he created he was left
5:48digging ditches in the street to survive
5:51fortunes would soon change for Tesla
5:53however with his ideas on an alternating
5:56current motor catching the eye of a new
5:58investor helping established the Tesla
6:01Electric Company in 1887 he then
6:04designed a motor which was much cheaper
6:06and easier to maintain than the ones
6:08using a direct current he revealed his
6:11motor at the American Institute of
6:13Electrical Engineers the following year
6:15a display that caught the attention of a
6:17businessman named George Westinghouse
6:20Westinghouse was a major player in the
6:22electric market and needed Tesla's motor
6:24to complete his alternating current
6:27system a system that would compete
6:29against Thomas Edison Westinghouse
6:31bought the motor and hired Tesla as a
6:34consultant for the equivalent of fifty
6:36five thousand dollars a month along with
6:38royalties for inch horsepower produced
6:40by his motors things for Tesla were
6:43looking good and so began the war of the
6:49currents Edison started going to extreme
6:52lengths to discredit Tesla's AC system
6:54he began paying schoolchildren 25 cents
6:58to bring him household pets
6:59where he would set up a public stage and
7:01electrocute the animals in an attempt to
7:03show the public that Tesla's AC system
7:06was not safe over time electrocutions
7:09increased in scale with a horse
7:11eventually being executed in public
7:13Edison continued executing animals many
7:16years after the War of the currents had
7:18concluded with Edison film company
7:20producing a short film in 1903 titled
7:24electrocuting an elephant the film
7:26showed the electrocution of Topsy a
7:28former circus elephant who was killed
7:31when 6600 volts were shot through her
7:34body
7:35despite the negative press generated by
7:38Edison Tesla and Westinghouse continued
7:40to develop their alternating current
7:42system the opportunity to show that
7:45alternating current was both safe and
7:47viable for large-scale use came at the
7:49World's Columbian Exposition hosted in
7:52Chicago in 1893 Edison had put forward
7:56an offer too light to the fair but
7:57Westinghouse underbid him winning the
7:59contract and with it the chance to
8:01outshine Edison while it was a struggle
8:04to provide lighting at the low cost put
8:06forward Westinghouse and Tesla succeeded
8:09showing the world the strength of
8:11alternating current their success
8:13continued with Westinghouse Electric
8:15being chosen over Edison's company
8:18General Electric to construct a
8:20hydroelectric plant at Niagara Falls
8:22Tesla drew up designs for the plant
8:25which was a massive success eventually
8:27power in part of New York City
8:29alternating current continued to grow in
8:32popularity and became the system we all
8:34use to power our homes today with direct
8:37current being phased out over the next
8:39decade while Westinghouse won the war of
8:42the currents his company was left on the
8:44verge of bankruptcy with ten million
8:47dollars of debt he turned to Tesla for
8:49help asking him to temporarily reduce
8:52his royalties to help him keep his
8:54company afloat compelled by compassion
8:56for his friend instead of reducing his
8:59royalties Tesla tore up his contract
9:01eliminating them entirely the money he
9:04gave up would be worth 300 million
9:07dollars in today's money but this was of
9:09little concern to Tesla who was more
9:11interested in the pursuit of science
9:13over financial gain this act saved
9:16Westinghouse who would go on to buy
9:18Tesla's AC patent for two hundred
9:20sixteen thousand dollars in 1897 this is
9:24equivalent to about six million dollars
9:26today money that Tesla used to set up
9:28new laboratories in New York and fully
9:30dedicate himself to invention
9:32[Music]
9:37Tesla had become an international figure
9:39with his laboratories frequently visited
9:42by the rich and powerful including his
9:44close friend and father of American
9:46literature
9:47Mark Twain Tesla's inventions were
9:50numerous with him a machine almost 300
9:53patents in his career he created an
9:55early version of neon light in a highly
9:58efficient bladeless turbine for
9:59automobiles and was the pioneer in x-ray
10:02technology been one of the first to warn
10:04of it's dangerous to humans one of his
10:07most famous inventions was his renowned
10:09Tesla coil a device capable of producing
10:12large amounts of high-voltage
10:13electricity a standout invention was a
10:16remote-controlled boat displayed at
10:18Madison Square Garden in 1898 this boat
10:22was such an amazing advance in wireless
10:24technology and so ahead of its time that
10:26the audience initially thought he was
10:28using magic or telepathy to make it move
10:30there were even claims that there was a
10:33monkey hidden inside the boat who was
10:35trained to operate it while Tesla was an
10:42amazing inventor he struggled to market
10:44his creations always looking towards the
10:46next invention rather than working out
10:48how to sell what he had already made
10:50many of his ideas went on written and
10:53the ones that were noted down often went
10:55without legal patent this method of
10:58operating caused Tesla serious issues
11:00when he began working on radio at the
11:02end of the 19th century he came up with
11:05the idea of radio in 1892 and was soon
11:08ready to transmit a signal to a location
11:1050 miles away but disaster struck with
11:14his work being destroyed in a lab fire
11:16in 1895 Tesla had not submitted a patent
11:19application and only did so after two
11:22years of rebuilding his research at the
11:25same time an Italian inventor named
11:27Marconi had also been working on radio
11:30establishing patent rights in England
11:32but when he tried to acquire them in the
11:35United States he was turned down as his
11:37ideas were deemed too similar to Tesla's
11:40unfortunately for Tesla Marconi was able
11:43to make the world's first transatlantic
11:45radio message in 1901
11:47using 17 of Tesla's patents Thomas
11:51Edison then through his financial weight
11:53behind Marconi with the US Patent Office
11:55suddenly changing its mind on its
11:57previous rulings Marconi now had rights
12:01in the United States with Edison able to
12:03take a cut of the profits
12:05Tesla initially let the issue slide but
12:08the last straw came when Marconi won the
12:10Nobel Prize in 1911 for his development
12:13of radio something which was only
12:15possible due to Tesla's uncredited work
12:18Tesla tried to sue Marconi but the cases
12:21dragged on for years only being resolved
12:24in Tesla's favor eight months after his
12:26death Tesla's most radical idea came
12:33about at the turn of the 20th century he
12:36aimed to create a world wireless system
12:38which would be capable of dispersing
12:40energy to anywhere in the world
12:42Tesla received funding for this project
12:45in 1901 and soon purchased land on Long
12:47Island New York where he would construct
12:49his device over the next year a great
12:52wooden tower was constructed standing
12:55187 feet tall with a metal dome 68 feet
12:59in diameter he named the facility
13:01Wardenclyffe tower and believed it would
13:03radically advanced wireless technology
13:05with what he called communication
13:07devices the likes of which would not be
13:10seen for another century a telephone
13:13subscriber here may call up and talk to
13:15any other subscriber on the globe an
13:17inexpensive receiver not bigger than a
13:20watch will enable him to listen anywhere
13:22on land or sea to a speech delivered or
13:25music played in some other place however
13:28distant in the same manner any picture
13:31character drawing or print can be
13:33transferred from one to another place
13:35millions of such instruments can be
13:38operated from but one plant of this kind
13:41the tower also had other applications
13:44including universal and accurate
13:47timekeeping global music distribution
13:49and a marine system which would allow
13:51ships to determine their exact location
13:54and steer perfectly without the need for
13:56a compass despite his amazing ideas
13:59Tesla
14:00soon suffered many setbacks Marconi's
14:031901 radio broadcast had drawn attention
14:06away from Wardenclyffe tower with the
14:08media beginning to think of the project
14:10as a hoax the investors Tesla had been
14:13able to gather soon realized that there
14:15was no way to regulate and therefore
14:17profit from the energy produced by the
14:18tower this led many investors to back
14:21out leaving Tesla who was now in his 50s
14:24in financial ruin
14:26Tesla struggled on for over a decade
14:28trying to complete his plans in vain he
14:31then had a nervous breakdown and his
14:33debt reached so high he lost
14:35Wardenclyffe to foreclosure in 1915 the
14:38land soon passed to another owner who
14:41destroyed the tower to make space for
14:43real estate Tesla was now bankrupt and
14:46his mental health started to
14:48significantly decline he began living in
14:51a string of hotels and started caring
14:53for pigeons taking time every day to
14:55feed and care for them in his late 70s
14:59he ended up at The New Yorker Hotel
15:01where he would stay for the rest of his
15:03life this was largely thanks to the
15:05Westinghouse Electric and manufacturing
15:07company who saw the dire conditions he
15:10was in and decided to pay his rent as a
15:12way to thank him for saving them all
15:15those years ago
15:16Tesla went on to live until the age of
15:1886 dying in his hotel room on the 7th of
15:21January 1943 Nikola Tesla was a man
15:28ahead of his time his advancements in
15:30electricity radical helping to usher in
15:33the modern age with his influence seen
15:35in anything from x-rays to remote
15:37control his world wireless system had
15:40the potential to advance technology by
15:42nearly a century while also providing
15:44free energy to the globe unlike so many
15:47of his era Tesla did not work for
15:49financial gain instead working to
15:52advance humanity perhaps it is not
15:54surprising that a man so far ahead of
15:56his time has only found his place in the
15:5821st century an age shaped by his
16:01technological brilliance
16:03[Music]
16:20you

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