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Nikola Tesla was one of the foremost inventors of our time, but he was
discredited during his lifetime. From the time he was a boy he had an ability
to "see" things that would come into his mind. He said they were not
hallucinations, and it was hard for him to distinguish between an actual
object and an object his mind produced. As a young man he was fascinated with
Niagara Falls. In his mind he saw a vision of a giant wheel with the water
spilling over it. Thirty years later in America his ideas were carried out in
the harnessing of the power of Niagara Falls. His father sent him to an
excellent polytechnic school in Austria . He suffered a nervous breakdown from
overwork. The acute sensations of sight and hearing he had experienced as a
boy were greatly magnified during this time. Once in a flash of inspiration he
had a vision of a motor and drew it with a stick in the sand. Six years later
he presented the very same thing to the American Institute of Electrical
Engineers. He had a succession of ideas and in a period of two months he had
envisioned all the inventions which are now identified with his name. In New
York he worked for Edison. In 1885 he formed the Tesla Arc and Light Company
and developed the motors he had pictured in his mind. He foresaw the
development of guided missiles and weapons of mass destruction. Tesla thought
people should be able to live in peace with one another, and he designed
inventions to be used for peaceful purposes. Had Tesla been a better
businessman he would have become very wealthy, but he let people take
advantage of him. He was able during his lifetime to create the things he
envisioned and obtain 700 patents in 25 countries. Tesla died alone in a New
York hotel at the age of 86. He was destitute and in debt.
