Tesla and the missing designs

Nikola Tesla is a man whose reputation is of great genius marred by utter madness, but there can be little doubt that this Serbian American creative inventor, physicist and polymath was one of the greatest innovators of the late 19^th and early 20^th Century. Born in Serbia in 1856 he spent his formative years as a gifted scholar completing his four years of schooling in three years whilst being able to perform complex mathematical calculations in his head that led to accusations of cheating by his teachers. He attended University for only one term and worked as an engineer and as a telegraph engineer, but how childhood and early years were troubled by a series of illnesses, categorised by blinding flashes of light and visions often linked to words or sounds. It is thought that he probably experienced a form of synaesthesia where sounds or smells are converted into lights and colours by the brain. It is also possible that he suffered from a form of epilepsy. Whatever other conditions he had, he also suffered his first of several nervous breakdowns at the age of 22. He had an extremely rare ability to completely visualise the solution to a problem mentally before moving on to the construction phase.

Tesla is best known for his work in electromagnetism, electricity, radio and gravity and flight, working closely with both Edison and Marconi and almost certainly being at least in part an inspiration to both men. He certainly produced an enormous number of patents for a vast range of devices, but here we see the first interesting discrepancy between Teslas own notes and the records handed down through official sources. Many of the ideas and solutions that he espoused in his notes and articles, for which it would appear that we should expect patent applications, those applications appear not to have been filed. Now it could certainly be the case that given Teslas propensity for working largely mentally that he never got around to filing these missing patents, but this doesn't fit with the suggestion that he may have suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and was a ferocious organiser of his own notes, ideas and designs. This discrepancy has led some to suggest that many of his inventions were indeed patented but that these patents were for inventions with strong military applications and were immediately classified as secret by the US Government.

It is interesting to note at this point that having become a US citizen, and having moved to work in the states there appears to be rather more work missing than was previously the case. From the evidence that we do have, it would appear that not only did Tesla create alternating current (AC) electricity, but he also made innovative breakthroughs in wireless energy transmission, a technology that is still not fully developed today as far as the general public are aware. In his later years Tesla became increasingly withdrawn and reclusive, in part because of his lack of success in comparison to Edison and Marconi, but also it appears because much of his work was forced to remain hidden by successive US governments who understood the weapon potential of many of his ideas. Of particular note as far as this blog is concerned are two of his later designs. The first is an oscillating frictionless motor designed by means of transfer of momentum from a small weight, to trigger building collapse and potentially earthquakes, and the second, the use of extremely high voltage electricity generation and wireless transmission to modify weather. Some of Teslas notes for which there are no filed patents suggest strongly that designs that Tesla invented are currently in use as part of the US HAARP weather modification programme.

There can be little doubt that Tesla was a genius, if a rather flawed one, but we can only hope that one day the missing pieces of his work, along with the missing designs are finally revealed and todays scientists can have the opportunity to fully explore some of his more extreme ideas. It may be an ineffective hope given the level of secrecy surrounding his work but it is likely that there could be World changing designs hidden away that could prove very useful. We will have to wait and see.