Tesla Energy Science
Conference
Integrity Research Institute
Beltsville, Maryland
November 8th and 9th, 2003
Comments by William H. Terbo,
Executive Secretary, Tesla Memorial Society, Inc.
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I have been dealing with the personality,
accomplishments and ideals of Nikola Tesla for almost my entire life. The form
of that attention has changed over the past sixty plus years from the family
aspect of a simple and respectful recognition of a man from another age who
just happened to be my father's uncle to being closely associated with the
popular revival of interest in a giant often regarded as the greatest inventive
mind of the modern technological era.
Nikola Tesla has been the subject
of every facet of modern media, both directly and in the context of other
aspects of history, technology and his impact on today's society. Over the
years hundreds of articles have focused on him, dozens of books have recounted
his life and accomplishments, a score of documentaries have featured his place
in modern history and more than one feature film have been devoted to this
remarkable man. Most of these works have sought to capture something of the
essence of this dramatic but enigmatic man. But even the most diligently
prepared works focus on the American years of invention and conflict with but a
cursory sketch of Tesla's early years and but a distant appreciation of the
philosophy and sensibilities that drove the man. Often the research done relied
on earlier, less reliable, work with the effect of compounding errors of fact
and detail.
Today, I would like to provide a little background on
current areas of Tesla recognition and some personal thoughts on the private
character of Nikola from a family point of view.
TESLA
RECOGNITION
Tesla's name is much more familiar to Europeans than to
Americans. His name appears (as a brand) on widely distributed household light
bulbs and appliances in Eastern and Southern Europe. Many large-scale
electrical installations bear his name in Europe and elsewhere. (I understand
that the new scientific Particle Accelerator under construction in Germany is
to bear Tesla's name.) In Europe, outside of the former Yugoslavia, this
significant level of recognition does not regularly extend to busts and
plaques.
However, many American locations linked to Tesla are
recognized with plaques, street names and so forth. The most impressive is a
more that twice life sized statue of Tesla overlooking Niagara Falls, the 1973
Bicentennial gift to the United States from the government of Yugoslavia. Tesla
is depicted seated, on a raised pedestal, with a set of plans spread across his
lap. This "seat" in his lap provides an inviting photo opportunity for parents
of children visiting the Falls. (Such a video clip is a part of the I Love New
York tourism campaign).
To date, bronze busts of Tesla (with black
granite bases and bronze plaques) have been placed in honored locations in more
than ten of America's leading universities, the result of a nonprofit citizen's
campaign led by an educator and Tesla Memorial Society Executive Board member,
John W. Wagner. (Funding for the busts comes from personal funds, gifts, grants
and the sale of thousands of high quality "Tesla" T-shirts. For more
information e-mail: John
Wagner).
HISTORY
Nikola Tesla was a superstar of a
hundred years ago and the popular darling of the print media much in the manner
of today's movie stars and sports heroes. (Remember, Engineering was once the
stuff of romance.) The stardom thrust on Tesla started with the introduction of
his alternating current system in the early 1890's and captured the imagination
of the entire world with the harnessing of Niagara Falls in 1896. The
connection between efficient and transportable electric energy quickly
replacing previous inefficient methods with an accompanying decrease in
exhausting manual labor was not lost on the general public. They credited the
improvement in productivity and living standards to Tesla. Soon the public
clamored to hear the details of each new discovery of this scientific
icon.
That fame continued in a somewhat more modest measure through the
1930's while he lived. But after his death in 1943, this recognition quietly
faded as the nation and the world concluded the World War and directed its
attention to reconstruction and an explosion of new technology. It took another
25 years for people to reflect on just who was responsible for the new standard
of ease and comfort enjoyed by modern societies. The name of Nikola Tesla, now
almost completely unknown to the new generations, kept appearing when talk
turned to the creative source of the technology that brought electric power,
radio and a host of other everyday devices to the masses.
My father,
Nikola Trbojevich (Nicholas J. Terbo) was the son of Tesla's eldest sister,
Angelina. (At my Anglo-American mother's preference, we used the social name of
Terbo and I was born with that name - father's professional name of Trbojevich
was well established before their marriage in 1923.) Until my father's
generation the Tesla and Trbojevic (the Serbian spelling) families were almost
exclusively clericals in the Serbian Orthodox religion living nearby in the
same Austro-Hungarian Military Frontier province county of Lika (now a part of
the Republic of Croatia) directly facing, at that time, the Ottoman Empire's
most westward reach in the territory of what is now Bosnia.
Two
important elements established a special link between Tesla and father (30
years Tesla's junior): they were the only members of the extended families who
were technically educated and the only members who immigrated to America.
Father's professional and financial standing was secured by his invention of
the Hypoid gear, used on the vast majority of the world's automobiles since
1930. The Hypoid gear introduced advanced mathematics to the art of gear design
much as Tesla united electrical theory and electrical engineering. Tesla
reveled in referring to father as "my nephew, the mathematician." Their family
and intellectual connections made for frequent contact between New York and
Detroit by visit, phone, telegram and mail.
My relation to Tesla's fame
was quite subdued during the time of my education and early professional life.
If it hadn't been for the Tesla Coil, which a few of the most enterprising high
school age youngsters chose to build after winding their first electric motor,
I don't think Tesla's name would have ever surfaced in that environment. With
me, it was which engineering school I would attend - not what career I would
pursue. My father's professional success combined with Tesla's reputation
created a momentum too hard to resist. In those days I never offered up my
relationship to Tesla without some specific reason. In all my courses in
Electrical Engineering Tesla's name was introduced but once, and that in
connection with the Coil. (However, when I took a course in gear design, my
father's specialty, the Professor made me rise and be recognized - such was my
father's more current reputation.)
After college I went to Los Angeles
and became a part of the missile and space industry. With the exception of a
very few scientists and people of Slavic background, particularly Serbs,
Tesla's name was completely forgotten there. A woman of German origin I knew in
Los Angeles danced with a Yugoslav folk dance club. I suggested that she might
want to mention to her friends in the group that she knew one of the closest
living relatives of Nikola Tesla. The next day she told me they said
"impossible that a close Tesla relative would be in Los Angeles" and they
didn't believe me! I had to provide family detail to convince them. It was my
first realization of the almost reverential regard Serbs and other Slavs hold
for Tesla.
During my Los Angeles years my Secret clearance restricted
my international travel particularly to Eastern Europe, including Yugoslavia.
In 1973 I made a career change to satellite telecommunications and relocated
first to Washington, DC and then to the New York City metropolitan area. It was
a pivotal time in the renewal of interest in Tesla, both for his scientific
accomplishments and for the intriguing texture of his personality. To my
amazement, the level of activity concerning Tesla in the East was exceptional
and well publicized. In 1975 Nikola Tesla was inducted into the National
Inventors Hall Of Fame with Orville and Wilbur Wright, Samuel F. B. Morse and
Guglielmo Marconi. The Hall is sponsored and publicized by the United States
Department of Commerce. The Bicentennial Year of 1976 brought forth a torrent
of honors. By 1975 my relationship to Tesla had been more widely known and I
have been pleased to accept the Inventors Hall Of Fame diploma, the 1983
issuance of a U.S. Postal Service commemorative stamp and many other such
honors in the family name.
In 1979 I was able to make my first trip to
Yugoslavia. The reception accorded to me was only a small measure of the almost
religious esteem in which Tesla is held in the land of his birth. No
appointment was withheld, no courtesy was denied. Travel was arranged
throughout the entire country including Tesla's and my father's birth county of
Lika. I was finally able to visit the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade where the
bulk of his estate is preserved. The Museum possesses over 1,200 exhibits and
160,000 pages of documents plus hundreds of other items of memorabilia,
including more correspondence with my father than I retain at home.
PERSONAL THOUGHTS
Let me talk for just a minute about the
personality and character of Nikola Tesla. Much has been written about his
public persona, usually dealing with the creation and implementation of his
inventions and discoveries. Such writing tends to show a man of overwhelming
intellect, dedication and perseverance. It creates a picture of a somber and
sober person with a single-mindedness that seems to preclude a more human side.
Much has also been speculated on the private side of Tesla. This speculation
has been much influenced by his fastidious dress, his formal manners and his
precise writing style. Aside from the more outrageous speculations, the
conclusion drawn that this was an introverted and driven workaholic without a
fully developed personal side. However, put in the context of the times, dress,
manners and precision in writing were really hallmarks of the decades on either
side of the turn of the century. We have very few instances of verifiable
anecdotes from his closest friends because such gossip rarely found its way
into print. (What a change from today's celebrity bashing.) But, in context or
out of context, these characterizations of Tesla's private personality have
been perpetuated.
I've thought of this and believe that I may very well
have a unique insight into Tesla's private personality through a comparison
with my father. The parallels in their lives far exceed the common gene pool
formed by their blood relationship. Except for being 30 years apart in age, the
list of parallels is truly staggering:
· Both born in the
Austro-Hungarian Military Frontier Province county of Lika where periodic
military incursions by the Ottomans created a special sense of danger and
responsibility among the border Serbs. · Both sons of Serbian Orthodox
priests and were raised in a very severe and demanding faith. · Both
received high level technical educations far from home, necessary in those days
as such education was not available in the provinces. Tesla was educated in
Graz and Prague, father in Budapest. · Both worked in Budapest for
similar lengths of time and immigrated to the United States at 28 years of age.
· Both exhibited qualities of dedication, patience, modesty and a
philosophical turn of mind and, as inventors, made their most important
inventions in their middle thirties. · Both suffered from a certain
naivete, particularly in business, and acquired, but let slip from their hands,
a considerable fortune, and were ultimately frustrated. · Both were
strong and vigorous and died at 86 (Tesla) and 87 (father).
Considering
my father's personality and some of the anecdotes father told me about Tesla, I
believe that many of the affectations and idiosyncrasies so linked to Tesla
(aversion to pearls, fear of germs, reluctance to shake hands, super
sensitivity to sound and so forth) were well under control. Some, in his later
life when the need to keep the press interested was more important, were
consciously exhibited. I think it amused him. His wiping the silverware,
measuring the volume of his meals and favoring multiples of three is simply
manifestations of mildly compulsive-neurotic tendencies. Better to do something
rather than sitting idly waiting for dinner to be served.
(When I met
him as a seven, eight or nine year old boy, Tesla, 80 years old, hugged me,
kissed me in the Serbian manner and mussed my hair. This is hardly something
for a person to do if in fear of germs. Eight-year old boys must be crawling
with germs, regardless or how recently washed!)
While both Tesla and
father had serious religious upbringing, I believe both were governed by ethics
rather than doctrine. I believe both had their feet planted firmly on the
ground when philosophizing and the most religion-inspired thought they had was
a duty to serve their fellow man. My father often said he would prefer the
Nobel Prize to a million dollars. That was long before the Nobel Prize WAS a
million dollars. (My mother said she would prefer the million.)
And
that brings me to an unexpected point. Father had a good sense of humor and
could hardly finish telling a funny story without bursting into roars of
laughter. Some of the stories were from childhood in the old country - stories
similar to the ones Tesla probably knew and that tickled him. A friendship with
Sam Clemens must have a strong element of humor in it. When you next think of
Nikola Tesla, that discoverer of great concepts, think of him with a smile on
his face and a laugh on his lips.
THE TESLA MEMORIAL SOCIETY,
INC.
To bring a focus to the increasing number of Tesla-oriented
activities, the Tesla Memorial Society was founded in 1979 and incorporated in
1980 as a non-profit, non-political, all volunteer membership organization
operating under Section 501 (c) (3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The
Society Charter is to "honor and perpetuate the memory and ideals" of Nikola
Tesla through support of and participation in various cultural activities and
as a source for speakers and media contact. The Society is the oldest U.S.
based international organization honoring Nikola Tesla in continuous operation.
In 1980 I became a part of the Society first as Honorary Chairman, later as
Chairman of the Executive Board and more recently as Executive Secretary. One
of my principal tasks with the Society is to write and speak about Tesla the
man in a correct way that neither deifies him nor holds him to unqualified
gossip. |
| WHT/William H. Terbo Edited 3
January 2005 ©
2003 tmsub |
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