Original poster: Mddeming@xxxxxxx
Hi Chris,
There are several reasons for Tesla's name being associated with
pseudoscience. Here are several.
1. As he got older, Tesla tended to be secretive about what he was
really working on.
2. Tesla accomplished what to the lay person were seemingly magical
things at the close of the 19 th century. His name conjures up hopes
of insights into "realities of nature" undiscovered by mere mortals.
Most people don't know the difference between science and
engineering. (that includes many in the professions) Tesla would
frequently let his technical insights take a back seat to his
stagecraft, especially with potential investors.
3. Most journalists of that time were even more science illiterate
than those of today. They were also on expense accounts that could
only be justified by an adequate amount of interesting news, the
more spectacular the better, accuracy not withstanding, and they
wrote for an even more gullible and ignorant public
4. Tesla knew how to play to the media for dramatic effect,
especially when trying to raise funds. He lived into the "Golden
Age" of science fiction. Tesla and H. G. Wells were contemporaries
and "War of the Worlds" hit the best seller list less than a year
before Tesla went to Colorado Springs, where he dropped several
hints about radio signals from Mars.
5. To Tesla, conceptualizing and accomplishing were interchangeable.
He claimed he had a technique of visualizing something in such
detail that when constructed, it would work exactly as planned. You
will note that Tesla did not submit working models of any of his
patented devices and many of his illustrations are diagrammatical at
best. It is not always clear which of his inventions actually came
into physical existence.
6. Tesla was, especially in his later years, a "notable character".
Supermarket tabloids were just starting to flourish during his
lifetime. The 1931 version of "Frankenstein" used special effects
devices that had their origins in Tesla's lab. Many of the
illustrations from the covers of magazines featuring Tesla's "energy
transmission", Wardenclyffe, and "Death Rays" show up in slightly
modified form in the Buster Crabbe / Flash Gorden movie serials of
the 30s.
7. Mastery of lightning has always been the province of gods and
sorcerers, witches, warlocks and wannabes. Tesla was getting quite a
reputation in this area. Ads hawking "suppressed, secret knowledge"
and "free power" were in the back of the same magazines that carried
articles by and about Tesla in the front.
8. Most Americans have always had suspicions, to a greater or lesser
degree, about what "foreigners" living here are really up to, what
arcane knowledge they have, and many are ready to accept the most
outlandish claims without proof. Tesla's neuroses, and that fact
that his father was a priest of a (to most Americans)
little-understood denomination and his somewhat metaphysical
explanation of his own abilities and near-death experiences made him
a perfect target to be adopted as a patron saint of many
pseudoscientists
9. Many of Tesla's devices were immediately adaptable to many forms
of medical quackery that flourished in the 1920s & 30s and persists
even today: e.g. Lakhiovsky oscillators, Violet Ray wands of various
types, purple power amulets, etc.
10. Some outfits that used to publish only technical books of repute
have discovered that the crackpot market is far more lucrative. Some
of these are High Voltage Press, Lindsay Books, Borderland Sciences,
Health Research . Even TFC Books has become a mixed bag of some
solid and some shaky publications distributed with equanimity.
11. While Tesla did not embrace the pseudoscience promoters, he did
not disavow them either when it enhanced his publicity. The West
Coast of the U.S.and Canada, always a breeding ground for
interesting nut cases, has spawned several religious cults dedicated
to the worship of Tesla.
Put all this together and I think you can see why we have such a
problem today especially with the rise of antiscience "New Age",
over unity, Aether revivalist, and UFO crap.
Matt D.
In a message dated 8/6/05 3:40:27 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
On another note, hopefully Terry will let it go as it is just my
opinion, but has anyone wondered why there is quite so much
pseudo science associated with Tesla, and where all of this rubbish
comes from and why?
Thanks
Chris