Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla (17 page)

Tesla would later claim spectacular results in wireless transmission never duplicated by any other researcher; he states that his system was not bound to the inverse-square laws, and it appears that his success, if indeed it was a success(!), was based on the premise that above certain frequencies the ether revealed novel and heretofore unknown features. Perhaps threshold values were involved.

Tesla continued his discussion on the structure of the ether and its relationship to electromagnetic phenomena by making two observations: (1) “that energy [could be transmitted] by independent carriers” and (2) that atomic and subatomic particles whirled around each other like little solar systems.
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These two concepts, which were tied to the mystery of the structure of the ether, predated similiar ideas proposed by quantum physicists Ernest Rutherford, Niels Bohr, and Albert Einstein by at least a decade.

In Rutherford’s case, he is often credited as the first physicist to view the atom as structured somewhat like a solar system. It is evident, however, that Rutherford referred to Tesla’s high-frequency lectures in 1895, when he constructed high-frequency AC equipment for conducting long-distance wireless experiments.
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Tesla stated that he could create electromagnetic oscillations that displayed transverse and also longitudinal wave characteristics. The first (transverse) case corresponds to the concept of the ether as a medium for propagating wavelike impulses; and the second (longitudinal) case corresponds to what today is known as a quantum of energy analogous to the
way sound waves travel through air. Tesla maintained, against all opposition, even to this day, that his electromagnetic frequencies traveled in longitudinal, bulletlike impulses, and thus they carried much more energy than can be ascribed to Hertzian transverse waves. In fact, as alluded to before, Hertz wanted to eliminate the idea of mass from the Maxwellian electromagnetic equations.

Tesla’s idea of longitudinal waves in the ether appear to be a direct outcropping of the research undertaken by Ernst Mach, who was still at Prague at the time. Mach’s radical views on the relationship between consciousness, space and time, and the nature of gravity were beginning to alter greatly the thinking of a number of key individuals. His idea, which
came to be known as “Mach’s Principle,” hypothesized that all things in the universe were interrelated, for example, the mass of the earth, according to this theory, was dependent on a supergravitational force from
all
stars in the universe. Nothing was separate. This view, which Mach realized corresponded to Buddhist thinking, paralleled closely views espoused by Tesla. Although the following quote was written almost a quarter of a century later, its link to Tesla’s 1893 lecture is clear: “There is no thing endowed with life—from man, who is enslaving the elements, to the nimblest creature—in all this world that does not sway in its turn. Whenever action is born from force, though it be infinitesimal, the cosmic balance is upset and universal motion results.”
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This idea was extended and interlinked between living organisms and inert matter by Tesla. All are “susceptible to stimulus from the outside. There is no gap between, no break of continuity, no special and distinguishing vital agent. The same law governs all matter, all the universe is alive.”
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The source of power which runs the universe is that found within “the sun’s heat and light. Wherever they are there is life.” As these processes were electrical in nature, to Tesla, the secret of electricity held the secret of life.

Looking at the world around him, Tesla realized that it was a finite place and that the natural resources which gave humans the fuel to produce electricity would eventually run out. “What will man do when the forests disappear, when the coal deposits are exhausted?” he asked his Philadelphia audience. “Only one thing, according to our present knowledge, will remain; that is to transmit power at great distances. Man will go to the waterfalls, [and] to the tides,” Tesla speculated, because these, unlike coal and oil reserves, are replenishable.
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Having set up the premise that it could be possible to derive inexhaustible amounts of energy with properly constructed equipment, that is, “to attach our engines to the wheelwork of the universe,” Tesla described, for the first time ever, his invention of wireless transmission. Cloaking his true goals in more palatable language, he announced, “I…firmly believe that it is practicable to disturb by means of powerful machines the electrostatic conditions of the earth and thus transmit intelligible signals and perhaps power.” Taking into consideration the speed of electrical impulses, with this new technology, “all…ideas of distance must…vanish,” as humans will be instantaneously interconnected. “First, we must know what capacity the earth is, and what charge it contains.” Tesla also speculated that the earth was “probably a charged body insulated in space and” and thus had a “low capacity.” The upper strata, much like the vacuum created in his Geissler tubes, would probably be an excellent medium for transmitting impulses.
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We see here the precursor to the discovery by Heaviside and Kennelly of the ionosphere.
Tesla had already thrust large amounts of electrical energy into the earth to try to measure its period of frequency, but he had yet to come up with a figure that appeared accurate. Nevertheless, he knew the size of the earth and the speed of light and thus was already at this time formulating optimum wavelengths for transmitting impulses through the planet.

During his talk, Tesla demonstrated
impedance phenomena
by turning on and off a lightbulb by placing it at various positions along an electrified metal bar. Based somewhat on the work of Hertz, this experiment demonstrated the concepts of wavelength and standing waves. He constructed circuits with two or three bulbs independently connected in a row and placed metal bars at various points along the way, thereby illuminating or extinguishing one or another of these bulbs by impeding or not impeding the electrical flow. He also displayed electric lamps illuminated with only a single wire and therefore was able to establish that the wire itself could be replaced by connecting the lamp directly to the earth, which also was a conductor, as no return circuit (as found in the Edison bulbs) was necessary. As before, Tesla also displayed lamps illuminated with no connections whatsoever.

With pure resonance, Tesla suggested, wires become unnecessary, since impulses can be “jumped” from sending device to receiver. Naturally, the receiving instruments would have to be tuned to the frequency of the transmitter. “If ever we can ascertain at what period the earth’s charge, when disturbed [or] oscillates with respect to an oppositely electrified system or known circuit, we shall know a fact possibly of the greatest importance to the welfare of the human race.”
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Tesla proceeded to present a diagram which depicted how to set up the aerials, receivers, transmitter, and ground connection. The son of one of his assistants described the apparatus:

In the transmitter group on one side of the stage was a 5-kva high-voltage pole-type oil filled distribution transformer connected to a condenser bank of Leyden jars, a spark gap, a coil and a wire running up to the ceiling. In the receiving group at the other side of the stage was an identical wire hanging from the ceiling, a duplicate condenser bank of Leyden jars and a coil—but instead of the spark gap, there was a Geissler tube that would light up…when voltage was applied. When the switch was closed, the transformer grunted and groaned, the Leyden jars showed corona sizzling around their foil edges, the spark gap crackled with a noisy spark discharge, and an invisible electromagnetic field radiated energy into space from the transmitter antenna wire [to the receiver antenna wire].
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Tesla elaborated: “When the electric oscillation is set up,” he said,
“there will be a movement of electricity in and out of [the transmitter], and alternating currents will pass through the earth…In this manner neighboring points on the earth’s surface within a certain radius will be disturbed.” Although Tesla’s main goal was to
transmit power,
he also noted that “theoretically,…it [w]ould not require a great amount of energy to produce a disturbance perceptible at great distance, or even all over the surface of the globe.”
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In Tesla’s autobiography, written a quarter of a century later, the inventor informs the reader that there was such opposition to his discussion of wireless telegraphy at that time that “only a small part of what I had intended to say was embodied [in the speech]…This little salvage from the wreck has earned me the title ‘Father of the Wireless.’”
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Tesla stated that it was Joseph Wetzler who told him to deemphasize his work in wireless in this lecture. Wetzler probably edited out a number of key passages which, in the long run, could have helped Tesla establish more easily his priorities in the field. Nevertheless, the entire Philadelphia speech runs a hundred typeset pages and covers numerous other topics as well. What is important to realize is that for the first time ever, a major inventor announced bold possibilities in the field of wireless communication; simultaneously, he explained in step-by-step fashion all of the major components that would be needed for success.

The question of who invented the radio is complex, for there was no single developer. Experiments in wireless can be traced back to Joseph Henry, who, in 1842, transmitted electrical energy across a thirty-foot room between magnetized needles and sensitive Leyden jars, and to Samuel Morse, who sent messages in 1847 by means of induction across an eighty-foot-wide canal by using something called “current leakage.”
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The first individual to transmit messages over long distances using aerials (in the form of kites) and a ground connection was Mahlon Loomis. A dentist and experimentalist who also used electricity to stimulate growth in plants, Loomis not only received a patent on the device in 1872 but also successfully introduced the “Loomis Aerial Telegraphy Bill” before the U.S. Congress. Loomis made such an impact that $50,000 was appropriated to help him in his pursuit. In 1886, Loomis sent wireless messages fourteen miles between two mountains in Virginia, and a few years later, he also sent messages between ships two miles apart in Chesapeake Bay. There is little doubt that Tesla was aware of Loomis. For one thing, his patent was registered, and Tesla always made it a practice to study the work of his precursors. Also, it should be noted that some of the wording from Loomis’s patent applications and published writings sound eerily like the wording in some of Tesla’s discourses. For instance, Loomis discusses the passing of “electrical vibrations or waves around the world,” and principles of harmonics and resonance, and he also refers to harnessing “the
wheelwork of nature,” a favored term of Tesla’s.
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In 1875, Thomas Edison, while working with Charles Batchelor, noticed an unusual sparking effect emanating from the core of an electromagnet which leaped to noncharged bodies several feet away. By using an electroscope, he was
unable
to distinguish a charge.
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In actuality, he had created a high frequency that could not be detected by his equipment. “By charging a gas main, Edison was able to obtain sparks from the fixtures in his house several blocks away…Edison thought that since energy can take various forms, and it was possible to change electricity to magnetism, magnetism might be transformed into something else.”
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Edison therefore announced to the scientific community that he had discovered a new “unknown force.” Possibly, Tesla’s ideas of connecting an oscillator to the water mains of a city may have been influenced by this research.

In the early 1880s, William Preece, electrical engineer for the British Post Office, began directing experiments in wireless communication by means of an inductive apparatus. He was probably also the first inventor to realize that the
earth itself was an integral component in the successful implementation of any wireless system.
After isolating the role of the earth as either a primary or secondary circuit, Preece utilized telephone receivers as detecting devices and concluded that “on ordinary working telegraph lines the disturbance reached a distance of 3,000 feet, while effects were detected on parallel lines of a telegraph 10 to 40 miles apart in some sections of the country.” Preece’s work of detecting earth currents, which was duplicated by Western Union engineers in the United States, significantly influenced the theories expounded by Tesla.
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Preece had displayed a long-standing interest in wireless communications. He had visited Edison in the mid-1880s, just after Tesla emigrated to America, to witness firsthand Edison’s latest invention, which he called the “grasshopper telegraph,” a device for jumping messages from dispatch stations to moving trains. By means of induction or resonance, a metal strip attached to a telephone receiver on a moving railroad car would send or receive messages from a similar strip strung parallel to the track at the station. Although the invention never evolved beyond this primitive early stage, the patent would later have important legal significance in priority battles over the invention of the wireless.