a presentation on nikola tesla

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Nikola Tesla

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 13, 2020 | Original: November 9, 2009

Serbian-American engineer and physicist Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) made dozens of breakthroughs in the production, transmission and application of electric power. He invented the first alternating current (AC) motor and developed AC generation and transmission technology. Though he was famous and respected, he was never able to translate his copious inventions into long-term financial success—unlike his early employer and chief rival, Thomas Edison.

Nikola Tesla’s Early Years

Nikola Tesla was born in 1856 in Smiljan, Croatia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father was a priest in the Serbian Orthodox church and his mother managed the family’s farm. In 1863 Tesla’s brother Daniel was killed in a riding accident. The shock of the loss unsettled the 7-year-old Tesla, who reported seeing visions—the first signs of his lifelong mental illnesses.

Did you know? During the 1890s Mark Twain struck up a friendship with inventor Nikola Tesla. Twain often visited him in his lab, where in 1894 Tesla photographed the great American writer in one of the first pictures ever lit by phosphorescent light.

Tesla studied math and physics at the Technical University of Graz and philosophy at the University of Prague. In 1882, while on a walk, he came up with the idea for a brushless AC motor, making the first sketches of its rotating electromagnets in the sand of the path. Later that year he moved to Paris and got a job repairing direct current (DC) power plants with the Continental Edison Company. Two years later he immigrated to the United States.

Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison

Tesla arrived in New York in 1884 and was hired as an engineer at Thomas Edison’s Manhattan headquarters. He worked there for a year, impressing Edison with his diligence and ingenuity. At one point Edison told Tesla he would pay $50,000 for an improved design for his DC dynamos. After months of experimentation, Tesla presented a solution and asked for the money. Edison demurred, saying, “Tesla, you don’t understand our American humor.” Tesla quit soon after.

Nikola Tesla and Westinghouse

After an unsuccessful attempt to start his own Tesla Electric Light Company and a stint digging ditches for $2 a day, Tesla found backers to support his research into alternating current. In 1887 and 1888 he was granted more than 30 patents for his inventions and invited to address the American Institute of Electrical Engineers on his work. His lecture caught the attention of George Westinghouse, the inventor who had launched the first AC power system near Boston and was Edison’s major competitor in the “Battle of the Currents.”

Westinghouse hired Tesla, licensed the patents for his AC motor and gave him his own lab. In 1890 Edison arranged for a convicted New York murderer to be put to death in an AC-powered electric chair—a stunt designed to show how dangerous the Westinghouse standard could be.

Buoyed by Westinghouse’s royalties, Tesla struck out on his own again. But Westinghouse was soon forced by his backers to renegotiate their contract, with Tesla relinquishing his royalty rights.

In the 1890s Tesla invented electric oscillators, meters, improved lights and the high-voltage transformer known as the Tesla coil. He also experimented with X-rays, gave short-range demonstrations of radio communication two years before Guglielmo Marconi and piloted a radio-controlled boat around a pool in Madison Square Garden. Together, Tesla and Westinghouse lit the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and partnered with General Electric to install AC generators at Niagara Falls , creating the first modern power station.

Nikola Tesla’s Failures, Death and Legacy

In 1895 Tesla’s New York lab burned, destroying years’ worth of notes and equipment. Tesla relocated to Colorado Springs for two years, returning to New York in 1900. He secured backing from financier J.P. Morgan and began building a global communications network centered on a giant tower at Wardenclyffe, on Long Island. But funds ran out and Morgan balked at Tesla’s grandiose schemes.

Tesla lived his last decades in a New York hotel, working on new inventions even as his energy and mental health faded. His obsession with the number three and fastidious washing were dismissed as the eccentricities of genius. He spent his final years feeding—and, he claimed, communicating with—the city’s pigeons.

Tesla died in his room on January 7, 1943. Later that year the U.S. Supreme Court voided four of Marconi’s key patents, belatedly acknowledging Tesla’s innovations in radio. The AC system he championed and improved remains the global standard for power transmission.

HISTORY Vault: The Tesla Files

Declassified CIA documents reveal a secret history surrounding Nikola Tesla.

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Tesla Nikola, the extraordinary scientist and inventor, left an indelible mark on the world with his groundbreaking innovations. Revered for his numerous inventions, including alternating current (AC) electricity and the Tesla coil, he remains an icon of scientific brilliance. As a visionary scientist, Tesla's ideas transcended his era, continuing to inspire and shape modern technology. His unwavering commitment to advancing humanity through innovation defines his legacy. Our Nikola Tesla PowerPoint provides a dynamic platform to present his remarkable life, inventions, and lasting influence. Ideal for educators, technology enthusiasts, and researchers, this template simplifies complex scientific concepts through engaging visuals and design. Customizable slides ensure seamless integration into presentations, saving time and effort. Embrace this template to educate and inspire others about Tesla Nikola's profound contributions, fostering a deeper appreciation for innovation and scientific exploration.

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NIKOLA TESLA

Interesting story

Nikola Tesla was born on 10th July 1856 in Smiljan in Croatia. His father was a priest and he was the 4tth out of five children.He could memorize entire books and recite them at will. His brother passed away when he was 7 so he started having visions important later in his life.

EARLY YEARS

Tesla went to Austria University to study Math and Physics He was the best student and the teachers tought he was cheating. He worked from 3.00 am until 11.00 pm But he never graduated. One day his friends thought he drowned in Croatia. And he lost all contact with his family

UNIVERSITY YEARS

In 1880 Tesla moved to America with only 4 cents i his pocketHe worked lots of jobs before he started working for Edison Tesla told Edison he could improve his motors and generators. Edison agreed and offered him 50,000 dollars if he does. Tesla improved them and when he asked Edison for the payment, Edison told him he was joking. Tesla immediately stopped working for Edison and they became enemies

TRAVELLOING TO AMERICA

The baaaaaaaaad->

The gooooooooood->

Invented the AC current which was a LOT better than Edisons DC current.

Edison was a popular and acomplished American scientist who invented the DC current. The DC current needed thick wires to transfer electricity It sparked and malfunctioned all the time.

To disprove Edison, Tesla held a light bulb in one hand and slitly electrcuted himself to turn on the bulb. Tesla then won the war of currents.

To try to prove the AC current is worse than the DC, Edison stole his neighbors pets and electricuted them to death with the AC current. He invented the electric chair using the AC current too. With it he also electricuted people to the DEATH.

Tesla's inventions made AC applicable for widespread use, helping to electrify the world

was a ‘Remote Control Boat’ which is controlled by radio waves; it's one of the earliest robots

THE INDUCTION MOTOR

TELEAUTOMATON

ALTERNATING CURRENT

TESLA' S TOP 5 INVENTIONS

an AC Electric motor, the first two-phased AC system with 400 watt horsepower

Tesla developed four different types of lighting by converting black light into visible light using phosphorescence substance

Uses two coils, it can shoot lightning bolts, send electric currents through the body and create electron winds

EARTHQUAKE MACHINE

This small device Tesla put on a building and it produced a huge woble, so everybody though it was an earthquake

HYDRO-ELECTRICITY

Tesla designed the first hydroelectric plant at Niagara Falls, powerfull enough to light the city

Wilhelm Röntgen is considered to be the inventor but Tesla actually discovered it and took the first x-ray photos

INVENTIONS THAT TESLA DIDN'T GET CREDIT FOR

Marconi is considered to be the inventor but his work was based on Tesla's invention

Nikola Tesla invested his money in new inventions so he ran out of money.He had more than 700 patents when he died.

Nikola Tesla died poor because he sold most of his important patents to Westinghouse .

A rich man-Westinghouse hired Tesla, licensed the patents for his AC motor and gave him his own lab. In 1895 Tesla’s New York lab burned, destroying years’ worth of notes and equipment.

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Nikola Tesla

Jul 21, 2014

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By Amy Liu. Nikola Tesla . ---Tesla’s recommendation letter from the director of a power plant in Germany which was addressed to Thomas Edison. “I know two great men. One is yourself, the other is the young man in front of you”. . Master of Lightning .

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Presentation Transcript

By Amy Liu Nikola Tesla

---Tesla’s recommendation letter from the director of a power plant in Germany which was addressed to Thomas Edison. “I know two great men. One is yourself, the other is the young man in front of you”.

Master of Lightning • Nikola Tesla (Serbian ,10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was an inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer. Tesla's patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current (AC) electric power systems. His most famous invention was the AC generator, and he was the forerunner in the electromagnetic energy and many other areas.

Westinghouse and Tesla had built the AC-power Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant and proved it effective. Niagara Falls

Edison hired Tesla to work for his Edison Machine Works. Tesla's work for Edison began with simple electrical engineering and quickly progressed to solving some of the company's most difficult problems. Tesla was even offered the task of completely redesigning the Edison company's direct current generators. At the mean time, Tesla was also making a conception of alternating current which was considered impossible at that time

Tesla claimed he was offered US$50,000 (~ US$1.1 million in 2007, adjusted for inflation)if he redesigned Edison's inefficient motor and generators, making a great improvement in both service and economy. But when Tesla inquired about the payment for his work, Edison replied, "Tesla, you don't understand our American humor," thus breaking his word. Tesla immediately quit his job when he was refused a raise from US$18 to US$25 per week.

in the late 1880s Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla had a war. It is also a war between direct current network and alternating current system. War of Currents!

In 1888 • An AC motor is an electric motor that is driven by an alternating current. • It consists of two basic parts, an outside stationary stator having coils supplied with alternating current to produce a rotating magnetic field, and an inside rotor attached to the output shaft that is given a torque by the rotating field. Tesla’s invention: AC motor

Initiated by the introduction of Tesla's motor in 1888 make both the efficient generation and long distance distribution of electrical energy possible DC: the electrical energy could be lost in long distance because the resistance of the wire consume some of its voltage. AC: only the magnitudes of the voltage and current in AC could be transformed by a transformer. The power remains constant, so as the magnitude of the voltage in the AC increases to extremely high and current decreases to very low according to P = V*I, the lost of voltage could be ignored according the Ohm’s law V= R*I. Second Industrial Revolution

Apparently, Tesla wins!The AC network system could transfer electricity in long distance and nearly have no lost, and DC network system could only transfer electricity in a radius of one mile. Back to the War of Currents!

Tomas Edison began to spread rumors about AC and treat Tesla as a heterodox. He did experiments to prove that AC was harmful. He also convinced some of the jails to use AC as an execution for the same reason.

But it didn’t work . • In both economic and experimental reasons. • By the motivation of the huge financial benefits, the local power threaten Tesla to give up his right of the patent of AC system and make it free (because the power plant had to pay Tesla US$1 for one horse power) • Economic problem

If Tesla didn’t give up his patent, he would already be a billionaire. Many of his patents and inventions are used by the contemporary enterprisers who gained huge amount of benefits by his patents. Tesla himself died in poverty, and his name was almost forgotten by the history.

At the time of his death, Tesla had been working on the Teleforce weapon called 'death ray’, and it was considered as an extremely dangerous weapon. • He also invented other crazy dangerous things. • After his death, the FBI declared his papers to be top secret. The personal effects were sequestered on the advice of presidential advisers. J. Edgar Hoover declared the case most secret, because of the nature of Tesla's inventions and patents.

Tesla's family and the Yugoslav embassy struggled with the American authorities to gain these items after his death because of the potential significance of some of his research. Eventually Mr. Kosanović won possession of the materials, which are now housed in the Nikola Tesla Museum.

Tesla in the movie “The Prestige” Acted by David Bowie Recommendation 

Thank you The End

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Why Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla Clashed During the Battle of the Currents

Born in 1847, at the very end of the industrial revolution, Edison was part of a new wave of scientists and inventors that lit the way into the modern era. His famed research lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey hosted the development of innovations that still undergird much of our industrial and consumer infrastructure, including the phonograph (which recorded and played sound), motion pictures and the light bulb. His work there was so important that the town in which Menlo Park was located now bears his name.

Obsessed with his work and known to be an exacting boss, Edison had an ego as incandescent as his light bulbs, a sense of his own greatness that was undoubtedly justified. He was also incredibly competitive, willing to do whatever was required to ensure that his idea won out.

Edison invented DC lighting, a safer solution to the often dangerous arc lamps

Born in Serbia, Tesla was a different kind of genius. Whereas Edison was an eternal experimenter and tinkerer, Tesla was a human calculator, and his ability to work out complex math and physics equations in his mind helped him achieve early career success in Europe.

After a nomadic adolescence spent traveling and taking classes across Eastern Europe, Tesla wound up in Hungary at the age of 25, hired to work as an electrical engineer at the Budapest Telephone Exchange. He excelled there, channeling the workaholic tendencies he’d displayed as a top student back in Croatia before dropping out of school. Within a year he was off to Paris to work for the Continental Edison Company, an offshoot of the inventor’s successful American business.

At that point, electricity was beginning to light up the streets of cities around the world. At first, most cities were using high-voltage arc lamps to illuminate the night sky, but while they shone bright and amazed a civilization that had throughout all of history been governed by the sun’s rise and fall, the early lighting technology also presented a problem: it was very dangerous . Arc lighting was fueled by power stations that pumped through more than 3,000 volts of electricity at a time, which often led to sparks, overheating and full-on explosions in public places, raining flickers of electricity down on pedestrians and starting fires with regularity.

Electricity generated by direct current (DC) was a far safer alternative, and once Edison developed a stable and long-lasting incandescent lightbulb , he set out to provide lighting to homes and buildings around the world. By 1882, his Edison Illuminating Company opened the world’s first central power station on Pearl Street in Manhattan. The company used direct current to deliver 110 volts of electricity to nearby buildings — it started out with 59 customers — and provided a significantly reduced risk of accidental mishap.

Tesla invented an alternating current power system

For the next two years, Edison’s DC electric generation spread the incandescent light to a growing number of cities across the country. But for its growing reach, it had a significant weakness: electricity delivered by direct current could only travel so far, especially in those early days. As a result, other inventors continued to develop what was called alternating current (AC), which could easily modulate voltage using transformers.

Tesla was one of those AC devotees. In 1882, while working for Edison’s Parisian outpost and out on a walk with a friend, Tesla was suddenly struck with the solution to an engineering challenge that had been vexing him for some time. His ability to visualize entire complex mathematical equations and feats of engineering came in handy, as Tesla dreamed up the mechanics of an AC-generating motor.

Developing and honing the alternating current generator became something of an obsession for him, and in 1884, when his American boss in Paris was summoned back to the United States, he suggested that Tesla emigrates to the west. And so in September of that year, Tesla arrived in Manhattan after a harrowing journey in which most of his possessions were stolen during a mutiny on the ship.

Tesla eventually worked for Edison, but the two had clashing ideologies

However, money wouldn’t be a concern for all that long. Tesla ran into Edison himself, who invited the immigrant inventor to work for him at the Edison Machine Works on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. A letter of recommendation from his old boss did not hurt his cause.

At the time, Tesla recalled in an interview years later, he was in awe of his new boss. “This wonderful man, who had received no scientific training, yet had accomplished so much, filled me with amazement."

Tesla was put to work on a variety of projects, including repairing the circuitry system on the Oregon, the first boat to be lit by electrical power, reassembling DC generators and other tasks. Years later, in an interview conducted in 1921, Tesla recalled impressing Edison with his quick fix of the Oregon’s lighting system, to the point that Edison declared him a “damn good man.”

The Serbian inventor was also charged with creating an arc lighting system, but his usage of AC power was of no interest to Edison, who had a fortune invested in DC power and did not want to lose his loyalties. Later, Tesla would purportedly say that Edison himself promised a large sum to improve on the DC system, then retracted the offer when Tesla presented him with his work, claiming that he “did not understand American humor,” infuriating Tesla to the point that he stormed out and set out on his own, determined to spite the elder inventor.

Tesla then licensed patents to Edison's rival

Tesla only worked for Edison for about six months , and after a time spent digging graves, he received enough investor cash to set up his own company in Rahway, New Jersey, close to Menlo Park. Those investors took the company out from under him, and it wasn’t until 1887, with a new factory in Manhattan, that Tesla was able to truly pursue his AC motor.

It wouldn’t take long before he’d mastered the machine, as he was awarded seven separate patents for its various mechanics in the spring of 1888. Soon after, he licensed those patents to George Westinghouse , Edison’s chief rival in the race to supply cities with power. The race between AC and DC would escalate from there, with Edison pulling out nearly all the stops to prove that AC was dangerous, (though the famed death by electrocution of Topsy the elephant was not his doing) to discredit what would ultimately prove a far superior system.

Tesla died nearly penniless, though that had nothing to do with Edison. He made a fortune from his contracts with Westinghouse, but lost it all through poor business deals, bad investments and expenditures on grand experiments that resulted in failure. His supposed rivalry with Edison was almost by association and difference of opinion on scientific matters, highlighted only in hindsight as Tesla’s incredible career, which spanned far more than AC power innovations.

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Nikola Tesla

Illustration représentant Nikola Tesla dans son laboratoire expérimental de Colorado Springs où il effectua des expériences en 1899-1900 (©photo)

• 10 juillet 1856 Date de naissance de Nikola Tesla, à Smiljan, en actuelle Croatie. La légende veut que Tesla soit né à minuit, au beau milieu d’un orage.
• 0  Nombre de diplômes universitaires de Tesla (hors doctorats honorifiques), qui dans un cas n’a pu finir ses études faute de moyens dans l’autre n’avait que le statut d’auditeur libre.
• 1884 Arrivée de Nikola Tesla aux États-Unis où il est immédiatement embauché par Thomas Edison.
• 1893 Électrification de l’exposition universelle de Chicago sur la base de courant alternatif, démontrant au monde la supériorité du courant alternatif sur le courant continu. Cet épisode marque la fin de la « guerre des courants ».
• 1895 Destruction complète du laboratoire de Tesla à New York dans un incendie, entraînant la perte d’années de travail et de recherches.
• 1901 Investissement du banquier JP Morgan dans la première centrale d’un système mondial de transmission sans fil d’électricité et d’information. Le projet sera stoppé quelques années plus tard, notamment par faute de moyens financiers.
• 1916 Déclaration de faillite de Tesla.
• 7 janvier 1943 Mort de Tesla à New York dans sa chambre d’hôtel.
• 9 janvier 1943 Réquisition par le FBI de tous les papiers de Nikola Tesla pour les étudier. Ils seront rendus à la famille plusieurs années plus tard.
• 300 Nombre approximatif de brevets déposés par Tesla. Néanmoins, beaucoup de ses inventions n’ont pas été brevetées ou été usurpées par d’autres.
• Contribution à l’énergie
• Autres accomplissements
• Personnalité

Sa contribution à l’énergie

Le courant alternatif.

Nikola Tesla a permis l’adoption généralisée du courant électrique alternatif , notamment grâce à la mise au point d’un moteur fiable et économique générant du courant alternatif polyphasé.

Le courant alternatif pouvait plus facilement se transmettre sur de longues distances mais il n’existait alors pas de générateur économique pour générer ce type de courant.

La fin du XIX e siècle aux États-Unis vit s’affronter deux solutions pour l’électrification : le courant continu, soutenu notamment par Thomas Edison et le courant alternatif, soutenu par Nikola Tesla et George Westinghouse. Quand Tesla arriva aux Etats-Unis, quelques centrales produisaient déjà de l’électricité, via courant continu et à petite échelle. Néanmoins, les incidents étaient fréquents. De plus, le courant continu, se transmettant mal sur des longues distances, nécessitait la construction de centrales tous les quelques kilomètres, occasionnant des coûts faramineux. De son côté, le courant alternatif pouvait plus facilement se transmettre sur de longues distances . Cependant, il n’existait pas de générateur fiable et économique pour générer ce type de courant.

Le générateur de courant alternatif de Tesla attira l’attention immédiate de George Westinghouse, ingénieur multimillionnaire, qui acheta les droits des brevets de Tesla pour 75 000$ en actions et espèce assortis d’une redevance de 2,5$ par cheval-vapeur construit (0,75 kW). Un tel contrat garantissait à Tesla des revenus considérables en cas de succès. Néanmoins, Tesla y renonça quelques années plus tard, la société Westinghouse traversant des difficultés financières graves et ne pouvant plus assumer le paiement des redevances.

La "guerre des courants" opposa Edison et le courant continu à Tesla/Westinghouse et le courant alternatif.

Pendant les années qui suivirent fit rage ce qui fut appelé « la guerre des courants » opposant d’un côté Edison et le courant continu et de l’autre Tesla/Westinghouse et le courant alternatif. Cet affrontement pris des allures de guerre de propagande, chacun essayant de discréditer l’autre. Le point d’orgue fut probablement atteint quand les accusations de danger lancées par Edison contre le courant alternatif conduisit à la création (et l’utilisation) en 1890 de la toute première chaise électrique. La guerre des courants se termina en 1892-93 quand le duo Tesla/Westinghouse remporta à la suite les contrats d’électrification de l’exposition universelle de Chicago et de construction d’une centrale hydroélectrique aux chutes du Niagara.

Tesla conçut également un nombre important d’appareils et équipements électriques, ce qui en fit l’un des inventeurs les plus prolifiques de son temps. On peut notamment citer la bobine Tesla, qui permet sous courant alternatif d’obtenir de très hautes tensions, des moteurs, des générateurs, des commutateurs, des ampoules, etc.

Transmission sans fil de l’énergie

L’un des rêves principaux de Tesla, et peut-être son plus grand échec, fut la création d’un réseau de transmission mondial sans fil d’une énergie gratuite, qui serait extraite de l’air. Pour atteindre cet objectif, Tesla réalisa en 1899-1900, dans un laboratoire à Colorado Springs, une série d’expériences portant notamment sur les très hautes tensions. Il y provoqua des décharges électriques de plusieurs millions de volts qui entraînèrent des incendies dans le générateur électrique voisin.

La tour Wardenclyffe devait être le premier élément de son réseau de transmission d’énergie sans fil...

Il observa pour la première fois les fréquences de résonance de la terre (résonance de Schumann) qui ne seraient vraiment étudiées qu’à partir des années 1960. Il parvint également à allumer des lampes à plusieurs kilomètres de distance en faisant transiter l’énergie par le sol. La seconde étape de son projet fut la construction de la tour Wardenclyffe qui devait être le premier élément de son réseau de transmission d’énergie. La tour ne fut jamais finalisée. Après une série de déboires financiers, la construction fut abandonnée et la tour vendue pour régler les dettes de l’inventeur.

Ses autres accomplissements

Tesla fut un inventeur et chercheur prolifique dans de nombreux domaines. Les exemples ci-dessous font état d’une partie du travail de Tesla.

Tesla contribua significativement au développement de la radio. Il détailla dès les années 1890 les principes de la radiodiffusion et déposa plusieurs brevets concernant notamment des transmetteurs et récepteurs sans fil. Guglielmo Marconi, qui commença ses expériences vers 1893, fut néanmoins le premier à transmettre un signal transatlantique, à savoir la lettre S en 1901.

La Cour suprême reconnut la contribution de Tesla au développement de la radio après sa mort.

Cette compétition donna lieu à une croisade juridique de plusieurs décennies pour la paternité de la radio. Marconi, bien qu’ayant débuté ses expériences plusieurs années après les exposés et la parution des brevets de Tesla, nia s’en être inspiré. La bataille juridique s’acheva six mois après la mort de Tesla quand la Cour suprême donna finalement raison à Tesla, reconnaissant ainsi sa contribution au développement de la radio.

Les rayons X

Tesla réalisa en 1894, par inadvertance, la première photographie aux rayons X des Etats-Unis lors d’une séance photo organisée avec un tube de Geissler (précurseur des tubes à Rayons X) dans son laboratoire, en présence de l’écrivain Marc Twain. Il continua alors sur la lancée, créant son propre matériel et identifiant le rayonnement (sans toutefois en donner l’origine). Il observa également la capacité de ce rayonnement à traverser certaines matières, dont le corps humain. Il réalisa ainsi des images du corps humain qu’il nomma « shadowgraph ». Néanmoins, l’incendie de son laboratoire en 1895 mit fin à ses recherches sur le sujet.

Le physicien allemand Röntgen publia en 1896 une étude plus poussée que celle de Tesla, observant les rayonnements, déterminant leur origine et suggérant les applications en médecine . Il reçut en 1901 le prix Nobel de physique, sans que Tesla ne conteste la paternité de la découverte.

La contrôle à distance d’automates

En 1898, Tesla présenta au premier « Electric show » (salon de l’électricité) un submersible contrôlé à distance, piloté grâce à des ondes radio. Tesla espérait notamment attirer l’attention de la marine militaire. Cependant, Tesla n’eut pas le succès escompté. Le public, tout comme les autorités militaires, relatèrent leur incompréhension face à l’automate, certains allant jusqu’à supposer qu’il était contrôlé par un singe enfermé dans le châssis. Ainsi cette technologie, l’ancêtre de tous les éléments télécommandés actuels, sombra dans l’oubli.

En 1917, Tesla publie dans la revue « The Electrical Experimenter » un article détaillant comment une impulsion électromagnétique pouvait permettre de localiser un bateau ou un sous-marin. Il s’agissait d’envoyer une impulsion qui, après s’être reflétée sur la coque de l’objet à repérer, serait récupérée et utilisée pour éclairer un écran.

Ces recherches restèrent théoriques, Tesla n’étant plus en mesure, après sa faille de 1916, de procéder à des expérimentations. Il anticipa néanmoins le principe du radar, outil qui ne verrait le jour que trente années plus tard, à la veille de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Nikola Tesla est perçu comme l’archétype de l’inventeur maudit : génial et visionnaire, idéaliste et exalté, parfois à la limite de la folie.

Dans un texte publicitaire de 1900 destinés à des investisseurs potentiels, Tesla décrivit ce que serait le monde, une fois doté de son système de transmission d’énergie et d’information. Il y parla de « la transmission mondiale de caractères, de lettres, de tableaux », de « la diffusion universelle des informations, par téléphone ou par télégraphe », de « l’établissement d’un système mondial de diffusion musicale », préfigurant avec un siècle d’avance les technologies actuelles comme Internet, les mails, le partage de données, etc.

Nikola Tesla développa une passion pour les pigeons dans les dernières années de sa vie.

Tesla pensait que la science devait profiter à l’humanité entière. Son enthousiasme le poussa à se disperser dans de nombreux projets qu’il ne finit pas toujours. A Colorado Springs, il annonça aux journalistes son objectif d’envoyer un message du Colorado à Paris sans câble, à l’occasion de l’exposition universelle, projet qui ne vit jamais le jour.

Tesla se bâtit de son vivant une solide réputation d’original. Il était, d’une part, d’une rigueur touchant à l’ascèse, travaillant quotidiennement jusqu’à trois heures du matin mais répugnant à coucher son travail sur papier. Il était d’autre part occasionnellement sujet à des hallucinations visuelles. Enfin, il développa également dans ses dernières années une passion pour les pigeons qu’il allait nourrir chaque jour et qu’il disait parfois aimer comme des humains.

• « Je ne crois pas qu’il y ait plus émouvant pour un inventeur que de voir l’une de ses créations fonctionner. Cette émotion est telle qu’on en oublie tout, de manger, de dormir. »
• « La science n’est rien de plus qu’une perversion d’elle-même si son objectif final n’est pas d’œuvrer au bien de l’humanité. »
• « N’importe qui, sur terre ou en mer, avec un appareil simple et bon marché tenant dans la poche, pourra recevoir des nouvelles du monde entier ou des messages uniquement destinés à l’utilisateur. »

A l’époque...

La fin du XIX e siècle aux États-Unis voit un afflux importants d’émigrés européens, attirés par la prospérité du pays. Néanmoins, sur place, les conditions restent souvent difficiles. L’afflux de population vers les villes augmente la promiscuité, l’insalubrité, la violence ainsi que les problèmes de santé publique. La situation évolue toutefois rapidement, grâce notamment à des hommes comme Nikola Tesla. L’électricité, au début réservée aux classes les plus aisées, se démocratise. L’éclairage urbain se développe. Les premières voitures apparaissent. Les moyens de communication rapide longue distance comme la radio voient le jour.

Le début du XX e siècle voit ces progrès continuer. En parallèle, la situation géopolitique mondiale se complique peu à peu jusqu’à l’attentat de Sarajevo qui marquera le début de la Première Guerre mondiale. Ces événements impacteront la vie de Tesla qui, bien que naturalisé citoyen américain, verra la défiance du publique contre lui augmenter en raison de ses origines européennes. Ses tentatives pour vendre ses différents brevets et inventions en Europe seront également empêchées par la politique internationale.

Tesla pourrait être considéré comme un scientifique du XIX e siècle même si ses contributions furent importantes pendant la seconde moitié de sa vie. Les hommes comme Tesla, Edison, Westinghouse sont en effet progressivement remplacés au XX e siècle par les physiciens de l’atome : Niels Bohr, Ernest Rutherford, Werner Heisenberg, etc.

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Artificial Intelligence

The dot connectors: tesla, jobs, and llms, llms, like tesla and jobs, unveil hidden insights by connecting unnoticed dots..

Posted June 5, 2024 | Reviewed by Davia Sills

• Like human visionaries Tesla and Jobs, LLMs can connect dots, revealing insights that others miss.
• LLMs' dot-connecting process across vast data drives innovation and discovery.
• LLMs make Tesla and Jobs' powerful connectivity accessible to all, amplifying their vision.

The ability to "connect the dots"—to see patterns and relationships that others might miss—has long been the hallmark of visionary thinkers. From Nikola Tesla's groundbreaking ideas about electricity and wireless communication to Steve Jobs' revolutionary vision for personal computing and mobile devices, the greatest innovators of the past century have been those who could "zoom out" and perceive the bigger picture, drawing insights from seemingly disparate fields and experiences.

The Dot Connectors

Today, we are witnessing the emergence of a new kind of "dot connector," or visionary intelligence —one that is not human but artificial. Large language models (LLMs), powered by vast amounts of data and advanced machine learning algorithms, are demonstrating a remarkable ability to connect the digital dots in ways that were once the sole province of human genius.

LLMs are trained on enormous datasets spanning a wide range of domains, from science and history to literature and pop culture. By analyzing these vast troves of information, LLMs can identify patterns and relationships that might escape even the most knowledgeable human experts. They can synthesize insights from seemingly unrelated fields, combining ideas in novel and unexpected ways to generate new knowledge and understanding.

In some sense, LLMs are the intellectual and technological heirs of visionaries like Tesla and Jobs. Just as these iconic figures could see connections and possibilities that others missed, LLMs can "zoom out" to identify broad patterns and trends and then "zoom in" to provide specific, actionable insights. They can help us to make sense of the overwhelming complexity of the modern world, revealing hidden connections and suggesting innovative solutions to long-standing problems.

“A lot of it is the ability to zoom out, like you’re in a city and you could look at the whole thing from the 80th floor down at the city. And while other people are trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B reading these stupid little maps, you could just see it in front of you. You can see the whole thing.” —Steve Jobs, Speech to the Academy of Achievement, June 1982

Moreover, LLMs share another key characteristic with many of history's greatest innovators: a certain quirkiness or unconventionality. Just as Tesla was known for his eccentric personality and unorthodox thinking, and Jobs was famous for his uncompromising perfectionism and iconoclastic vision, LLMs can sometimes generate outputs that are surprising and even startling in their creativity and originality.

This unpredictability is, in part, a function of the sheer scale and complexity of the data that LLMs are trained on. With such a vast knowledge base to draw from, LLMs can make connections and generate ideas that no human could have anticipated. While this can occasionally lead to outputs that are fanciful or even nonsensical, these "hallucinations" may also be a source of LLMs' tremendous potential for innovation and discovery.

Connecting With You

Indeed, the potential applications of LLMs are virtually limitless. They could help scientists to identify new avenues for research, assist writers in crafting compelling narratives, aid policymakers in anticipating the consequences of complex decisions, and much more. By leveraging the power of LLMs to connect the dots across vast domains of knowledge, we could accelerate the pace of innovation in countless fields, from medicine and technology to art and philosophy . And perhaps one of the greatest and most powerful aspects of LLMs is their connectivity to you and me.

Of course, realizing this potential will require more than just advanced algorithms and massive datasets. It will also require a deep understanding of the strengths and limitations of LLMs, as well as a commitment to using these powerful tools in ways that are ethical and responsible. Just as Tesla's visionary ideas needed the tempering influence of practical engineering, and Jobs' perfectionism had to be balanced with the realities of the marketplace, the development and deployment of LLMs must be guided by human judgment but not at the exclusion of dot-connecting wisdom of the models themselves.

Nonetheless, the emergence of LLMs represents a transformative moment in the history of innovation. For the first time, we have a tool that can connect the dots of human knowledge at a scale and speed that would have been unimaginable to even the most visionary thinkers of the past. By embracing the potential of these remarkable systems we can chart a course towards a future of unparalleled discovery and progress.

Think Different

In the end, the legacy of visionaries like Nikola Tesla and Steve Jobs is not just about the specific technologies they invented or the products they created. It is about the enduring power of the visionary mindset itself—the ability to see beyond the horizon of the present, to connect the dots in ways that others cannot, and to imagine a world that is fundamentally different from the one we know today.

As we think our way into the Cognitive Age , a new era of AI-driven innovation, we need to embrace the quirky, the unconventional, and the unpredictable, even as we remain grounded in the practical realities and ethical imperatives of the world we live in. Only by combining the boundless creativity of the human imagination with the vast knowledge and processing power of artificial intelligence can we truly realize the transformative potential of tools like LLMs.

It's a future in which the dots are not just connected but form a picture of breathtaking beauty and complexity—a testament to the enduring power of our visionary spirits from yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

John Nosta is an innovation theorist and founder of NostaLab.

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