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Nikola Tesla and the Two Sides of Budapest

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Budapest is the capital of Hungary. It also played a key role in Nikola Tesla’s greatest discovery and in the development of modern technology. There are two sides to Budapest, and I got to explore both of them a few years ago.

Spanning the banks of the beautiful and broad Danube River, the second longest river in Europe, Budapest used to be two cities (or three, depending on how you count). Buda, on the western bank, is the former capital of the Kingdom of Hungary. Sitting high on the hill is the Buda Castle and the Citadel.

Buda Castle, Budapest, Hungary

On the opposite, eastern, bank is Pest. Mostly flat (compared to the hilly Buda), its most prominent feature is the newer Parliament Building, though you might think it looks more like some sort of sprawling cathedral. It remains the largest building in all of Hungary, and the tallest in Budapest. And yes, it was rainy during my entire visit.

Parliament, Budapest, Hungary

Buda and Pest were merged into the single city of Budapest in 1873. Nine years later, Nikola Tesla had moved to Budapest expecting to take a job working for Alexander Graham Bell’s new telephone company. The job turned out to be nonexistent, but Tesla was able to find work at the Central Telegraph Office, where he soon found himself sinking into a profound depression. It was during one of his episodic visions he discovered the principles that led to his most famous invention – the alternating current polyphase system of electricity. You can read more about that in this excerpt from my Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity book.

Budapest offers other interests to science travelers like myself. It houses the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, eighteen different Universities, Roman spas, and of course the beautiful Danube River itself.

During my time in Europe I was able to see several of the places that Nikola Tesla spent time, including Budapest, Austria, Strasbourg, Slovenia, Prague, London, and Paris. Still on my list to see are Belgrade and Lika. I look forward to that adventure.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, scheduled for release July 31, 2017. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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The Pope’s Climate Encyclical and Why Climate Deniers are Their Own Worst Enemy (From The Dake Page)

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Pope climate encyclicalIt should go without saying that when you deny reality long enough, eventually reality makes you look foolish. Climate deniers have been denying the science behind man-made climate change for so long that they have lost even the illusion of credibility. They have become their own worst enemy, and as such have put themselves on a path of complete irrelevancy.

Deniers have chosen this path, of course. By blatantly denying even the most basic science and by egregiously promoting the most obvious and ludicrous falsehoods, deniers have marginalized themselves to the point of inconsequentiality. Deniers now find themselves being taken as seriously as Donald Trump’s presidential run. Yes, they have become that buffoonish.

And alone.

Deniers used to hide behind ideological blinders, seeking protection for their anti-science beliefs in the arms of “conservatives,” the “religious,” and “Republican” comfort groups. Now deniers find themselves in a category among themselves. In contrast, intellectually honest and informed people who identify within these traditional labels no longer provide cover for denial.

Religions do not condone denial of the science

This point is brought home as Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, issues the Vatican’s papal encyclical on climate change and the environment. [Here is a summary of the main points; and here is the full letter, in English] In it the Pope acknowledges the unequivocal science demonstrating human activity is causing our climate to warm, and that the changes observed and coming present a significant risk to humanity.

Let me stop here and reinforce this to make it clear, because this is a point that climate deniers have intentionally tried to confuse as they attack the Pope.

[Continue reading the full post on The Dake Page]

The above is a partial cross-post of a full article on The Dake Page. Please click on the link above to read further. Thanks.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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Tesla and Electric Cars in Scandinavia

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More and more I see electric cars around the United States, mostly the obvious ones like the Tesla Model S and an occasional plug-in hybrid like the Chevy Volt, plus the obvious non-plug-in hybrids like Toyota Prius. But this pales to the number of electric cars that I saw in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. One reason – access to charging stations.

Tesla car

Elon Musk has been working hard to install charging stations throughout the major driving corridors of the US. The government has not been all that helpful in that regard; in fact, because of oil and auto manufacturer lobbying (and Congress’s inability to function), our government inaction still works against the widespread distribution of electric cars. Europe has taken the opposite approach.

Electric cars in Oslo

In Copenhagen, there were a couple of charging stations right next to the famed city hall. In Stockholm, charging stations were also present, while in Oslo they have put a huge focus on electric vehicles. The photo above shows charging stations lined up and down both sides of the street. Interestingly, this particular spot was up against the old stone fortress walls made so famous in Jo Nesbo books. It shows that the old and new are compatible.

Norway EV Sales

While it was nice to see so many Tesla Model S cars, the predominant electric vehicle (EV) was actually the Nissan Leaf. According to Clean Technica, the Leaf has grabbed a huge lead in market share in Norway. The graphic above shows that Leaf sales made up 55% of the total EV sales in January 2014, almost four times the next electric car (Volkswagen’s e-Up!) and almost five times the Tesla Model S. Fully electric vehicles (EVs) dwarfed the number of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in Norway (and in Denmark, where 100% of EVs were full plug-ins). Oddly enough, PHEVs were ahead of full EVs in Sweden, in part because of the popularity of Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV and the lack of availability of the Tesla Model S.

Besides the greater environmental awareness of Scandinavians compared to Americans, drivers in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway already have access to the type of electrical sockets needed for EVs. These countries also offer much better financial incentives to help drivers move away from fossil fuel based engines to more sustainable engine technology.  They have also done a better job at facilitating charging stations, most of which are free to the public.

As you’ll see in that last link, charging stations for EVs and PHEVs are starting to appear in more and more places in the US as well, which should mean faster adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles in the near future. Eventually, all our vehicles may be EVs. That would go a long way to reducing our dependence on oil-based energy and our contributions to man-made climate change.

I’ll have more science traveling updates from Scandinavia, as well as from the Everglades, Yosemite, Argentina, and the other places I’ve visited since I embarked on this new career. Stay tuned (and feel free to wander around previous posts by clicking on “Travel” in the category list below).

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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The People’s Republic of Chinese Chemicals and The Puppet Suit

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No, this isn’t the name of some bizarre new Chinese opera or dance troupe, it’s a mashup of two new posts on The Dake Page and Hot White Snow. The former has a book review of The People’s Republic of China Chemicals; the latter a response to a microfiction writing prompt. Excerpts are below with links to the full originals.

Peoples Republic of ChemicalsBook Review: The People’s Republic of China Chemicals by William J. Kelly and Chip Jacobs (The Dake Page)

An important book, poorly written. The People’s Republic of China Chemicals purports to reveal how the offshoring of American manufacturing to China helped China become the most polluted country on the planet. It does achieve that goal, though perhaps in spite of itself. While the title suggests a discussion on chemicals, the vast preponderance of the book is focused on the massive air pollution problems in China. This isn’t surprising given the authors’ previous collaboration, a book about the smoggy days of Los Angeles.

The early chapters provide some historical background on China’s dynastic rule and frequent invasions by the Japanese, the British, and others, as well as its own political infighting. Their overly rosy characterization of Mao’s various attempts to control everything once he and the communists took over is somewhat naïve – or at the very least, incomplete – but they generally capture the essence of how China came to set itself up as the world’s factory. The authors’ explanation of how entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and various bilateral and multilateral trade agreements spurred the rapid growth of industry and economy, while perhaps overly rancorous, is well done.

In short, the book documents through rapid-fire detail and personal anecdote the rise of Chinese manufacturing and with it the extraordinary increase in coal-based pollution. The authors relate how bad the air pollution has become, and the subterfuge of the Chinese government to deny its existence even as giant screens in Tiananmen Square broadcast barely visible images of splendid panoramic vistas through the gritty air.

[Continue reading on The Dake Page]

HalloweenThe Puppet Suit (Hot White Snow)

“Well, you clean up nice.”

Apparently she had never seen him in a suit before. But here he was, dressed up like some Wall Street tycoon in hopes of making an impression. Unfortunately, the interview hadn’t gone as well as the suit made him look. It was fine until the interviewer pulled out the puppets. Not what he expected for an investment firm, for sure. When the guy started using the puppets to explain how his firm and other “too-big-to-fail” firms had manipulated the global financial meltdown and still took multi-million dollar bonuses…

I walked out.

[See the original and the writing prompt this is response to on Hot White Snow]

Also watch for my new book on Thomas Edison. A companion to Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity, EDISON is due out in early 2016 from Sterling Publishing.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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Nikola Tesla and Abraham Lincoln – Connected at the Players Club

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Lincoln and Tesla Connected by Fate coverAs I’ve mentioned before, Nikola Tesla and Abraham Lincoln have a surprising number of connections between them. I’m currently writing about them in my new ebook called (unsurprisingly) Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla – Connected by Fate, due out this summer on Amazon.com.

One unexpected, and somewhat ironic, connection revolved around key players in Lincoln’s assassination, at a club called The Players.

During his most socially-active period Nikola Tesla hung out with some of the more famous personages of the time. Among his friends were Samuel Clemens (aka, Mark Twain), John Muir, Robert Underwood Johnson, Sarah Bernhardt, and others. One of his favorite places to relax was The Players, a social club established to “bring actors into contact with men of different professions such as industrialists, writers and other creative artists.” Nikola Tesla was one of those men.

The Players, by the way, was started by famous Shakesperean actor, Edwin Booth. Yes, that Edwin Booth, older brother of the more infamous John Wilkes Booth, assassin of Abraham Lincoln.

Illegitimate son of the world-renowned actor, Junius Brutus Booth, Edwin went on to establish himself as a superior actor on his own. His two brothers, Junius Jr. and John Wilkes, equally illegitimate, also became actors, though one not as famous and the other more infamous. After the assassination, Edwin disowned John Wilkes and eventually resumed acting, making the title role in Hamlet his signature.

Edwin established The Players in 1888 and died in 1893 just as Nikola Tesla was lighting up the “White City” at the Chicago World’s Fair.

There is much more to the story, of course, and I’ll have that in Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla – Connected by Fate. Watch for it on Amazon later this summer.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in July 2016.

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[Daily Post]

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How Climate Scientists Can Communicate the Science to the Public (from The Dake Page)

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Huh CommunicationLast week we took a look at how climate scientists can communicate the science to policy-makers, so today in Part 3 we’ll look at how scientists can communicate directly with the public. Together these are a three-part series on how to communicate climate science to all three target audiences – other scientists, policy-makers, and the public.

Communicating with the public is actually the most important of the three target audiences, and the one that scientists are least likely to have spent much time doing in their careers. And that’s a shame because policymakers (notwithstanding the disproportionate influence of lobbyists and rich campaign donors) are most influenced by public opinion. It is the public who are the real drivers of change. It is they who give policymakers permission (or pressure) to take action. If enough of their constituents demand action, they will act.

But reaching out to the public is inherently more difficult for scientists. Scientists, like all professionals, have usually spent considerable time (and expense) getting specific education, training, and life experience in their area of expertise than the general public. In these days of specialization it seems we all have our expertise, whether it be in some climate related science, economics, brain surgery, law, plumbing, or bridge design. Each field builds up its own set of jargon, technical words that have specific meanings within their field but may have no meaning to anyone outside that field (or worse, mean something completely different outside the field).

So it’s critical to reach out to the public, but scientists have to do so in ways that can be understood and are meaningful. Here are a few examples, though this by no means should be considered an exhaustive list:

1) Speak at libraries, churches, schools, etc.: Talk about science in a church? Of course. I was recently in a church whose stained glass windows included one celebrating several of our greatest scientists – Albert Einstein, George Washington Carver, and others. Libraries, churches, and schools all have one thing in common – they are places where the community comes together to learn. Off to give a talk about your area of specialty.

[Continue reading items 2 through 5 on The Dake Page]

The above is a partial cross-post of a full article on The Dake Page. Please click on the link above to read further. Thanks.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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Scandinavian Surprises

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The trip to Scandinavia was, in a word, awesome (a word I rarely use, I assure you). In 10 days we visited Copenhagen, Stockholm, Olso, Bergen, and points in between. I previewed the route in a previous post and I’m working my way through the first 2800 photographs for future posts, so stay tuned for details.

Each city has its own well-known attractions (e.g., Little Mermaid, Royal Palaces, The Scream, etc.) but we ran into a few surprises as well.

spiral tower

For example, in Copenhagen there was the changing of the guard we accidentally stumbled upon, not to mention the replica of Michaelangelo’s David tucked into an out-of-the-way canal-side walkway, and the big band concert and fireworks at Tivoli. There was also the cool spiral tower above, which I’ll have more on later. Oh, and then there is the Copenhagen Marathon, which blocked our route while about 10,000 runners passed in front of us.

Kungstradgarden subway station

In Stockholm there was the unfortunate surprise that we had scheduled our whole day Monday around the mistaken belief that the museums and other attractions would be open, only to find out that most are closed on Mondays. [Tip: Check the tour books before you plan your schedule.] But that was offset by the more pleasant surprises, like the really cool artwork unique to each subway station (and the station agent at Kungstradgarden that let us go down to the platform gratis to take photos like the one above).

Air and Water Gauges

In Oslo I was pleasantly surprised to find the Ra, the papyrus reed raft Thor Heyerdahl traveled in, which was tucked into the lower level of the Kon Tiki Museum. Of course, the Kon Tiki balsa wood raft he used on his first epic voyage was there too. Meanwhile, the scientist in me liked the above stone slabs on the street that gave visual gauges of air and water quality; more on that in the future too.

In Bergen, nothing can beat the impromptu “makeover/fashion show” that emptied off the train onto the platform (complete with loud dance music, TV coverage, and a catwalk).

And then there was the free beer on the Lufthansa flight from Oslo to Frankfurt. I may have a new favorite air carrier (hint to United Airlines). 🙂

Tesla car

Given the success of my Tesla book, there was one more surprise that seemed appropriate – the prevalence of Tesla Model S and other electric cars and charging stations in all three countries.

There is tons more to talk about, which I’ll do in follow up posts complete with photos and videos as soon as I can sort through them.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Ships Abound in Oslo

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I’m still science traveling in Scandinavia, but here’s a few photos of something that’s a big deal here in Oslo – ships! This old sailing ship is used as a tourist boat when it’s not showing the contrast with the modern Opera House in the background. You can walk all over the roof of the latter, which goes all the way to the water and a cool glass sculpture floating in the fjord like a sailing ship in its own right.

But all the cool ships are on a separate spit of land best reached by a water taxi.

Which gets us to a series of small museums highlighting several Viking ships, the Kon Tiki, and the Fram. The Fram is an old (1890s) wooden ship taken into the Arctic, and later, the Antarctic. It’s a fascinating story I’ll have more on later. Here’s the Fram.

But my favorite was the Kon Tiki. Thor Heyerdahl sailed this balsa wood raft from Peru to Tahiti in 1947. I read about it many years ago. Even cooler, I was surprised to see that the museum also had the Ra, a papyrus boat he built in Egypt and sailed from Morocco to Barbados in 1969. I’ll definitely be writing more about these later as they are true science traveling.

[Note: This was from a trip in May 2015]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His next book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, is scheduled for release in summer 2017.

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How Climate Scientists Can Communicate the Science to Policymakers (from The Dake Page)

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Huh CommunicationLast week we took a look at how climate scientists can communicate the science to scientists in other fields. That was Part 1 of a three-part series on how to communicate climate science to all three target audiences – other scientists, policy-makers, and the public.Today in Part 2 we’ll look at how scientists can communicate with policy-makers.

Why this is so important should be self-evident. Policy-makers – Congressmen, Presidents, Executive Agencies (like EPA), and their equivalents at state and international levels – are the ones charged with determining the correct policies needed to address the unequivocal science of man-made climate change. Sure, virtually all the candidates from a particular party who want to be president have offered up various versions of denying the science and/or have argued no action is necessary, but the fact is the science is so unequivocal that even that particular party will have to take action. So how do scientists adequately communicate the science to these policy-makers and policy-maker wannabes?

Obviously this starts with having a clear understanding of the science, something we’ve talked about in previous posts. Let’s assume that’s the case. Here are some things that climate scientists can do in an effort to reach out to policy-makers:

1) Write white papers: But keep them short, preferably bullet points. Despite the conventional wisdom, policy-makers are busy people who spend many hours keeping up with debates with colleagues on the Hill (for example) while maintaining contact with constituents back home (not to mention all those fundraisers with lobbyists and supporters). They are not going to be reading any actual scientific literature, nor would they likely understand it if they tried. [Note: by “they,” I mean their staffs.] So write shorter white papers, again with a lot of white paper and bullet points, that succinctly summarize the main points and gist of the science. As much as you think policy-makers need the details, they don’t. All they need are the basics so that they can grasp the unequivocal nature of the data and conclusions.

One caveat on this point. Some policy-makers, e.g., regulators or science-trained legislators, will want more detail and will ask tons of pertinent questions. When you find one of these by all means be ready to devote significant effort to accurately and clearly keep them informed of the science. As I write this the name Sheldon Whitehouse, Senator (D-RI) immediately pops into mind.

[Continue reading Items 2 though 5 at The Dake Page]

The above is a partial cross-post of a full article on The Dake Page. Please click on the link above to read further. Thanks.

David J. Kent is a science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Science Traveling in Scandinavia – The Route

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By the time you read this I will be science traveling in Scandinavia. The trip will take us into three countries – Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Somehow I missed these countries during my three years living and working in Brussels, Belgium, so I’m back to fill in the gaps.

Copenhagen

After a quick plane change in Amsterdam, our first stop is Copenhagen, Denmark, home of the iconic harborside houses above. Long besieged by Vikings (at least historically), and despite having huge oil and gas reserves in the North Sea, Denmark is actually leading the way with renewable energy from wind turbines.

Little Mermaid Copenhagen

A few days of exploring Copenhagen and environs and then it’s time to hop a speed train through the Swedish countryside up to Stockholm, Sweden, where we will be obligated to hike up to the Little Mermaid statue. [Note added on 6/2/15: Yes, the Mermaid is still in Copenhagen, not Stockholm. Somehow I got the landmarks jumbled when I wrote this and scheduled it for future posting and I didn’t have access to fix it from the road. Thanks, Betsy, for catching the error.] Like Denmark, Sweden’s history has had a huge historical Viking influence.

Norwegian Fjord

Another train from Stockholm takes us to Oslo, which is the beginning and the end of our Norwegian experience. We’ll spend a couple of days checking out the environs that induced “The Scream,” Edvard Munch’s iconic painting – which are actually four paintings – and we should be able to see at least three of them. We’ll also see, you guessed it, more Viking influence. From Oslo we take a winding train/train/boat/bus/train across the Norwegian interior and through the fjords before reaching the city of Bergen on the western coast. A day later we’re back on the train to Oslo to catch the flight home (via Frankfurt, Germany).

During all of this I’ll have my laptop so that I can be writing up the experiences during the long flights and train rides. As is my usual pattern, I’ll be looking for sciencey stuff along the way (how did those fjords come to be, anyway?). Internet access will be sporadic but I’ll plan to post photos here and on Facebook whenever I get a chance.

Watch this space for more on Scandinavia.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for over thirty years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and the e-book Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time. He is currently writing a book on Thomas Edison.

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