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Nikola Tesla Returns to the New Yorker Hotel – And So Can You!

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David J. KentNikola Tesla lived in the New Yorker Hotel for the last ten years of his life, passing away in Room 3327 on January 7, 1943. Last year I joined the Tesla Science Foundation for their Tesla Memorial Conference. And this year, you can too. The conference celebrates the life of the great Serbian-American inventor. Last year the conference focused on “Why Tesla Matters.” And this year the goal is even more ambitious.

The 2014 theme is “Let’s Build a Tesla Curriculum!”

When I talk about Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity at various libraries and book clubs I usually start off by asking how many people were taught in schools about Tesla. While everyone raises their hands when I ask about being taught about Edison and Marconi, the hands for Tesla are usually sparse. One of the goals of the Tesla Science Foundation, along with the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe and other Tesla organizations, is to build a curriculum that give Tesla his proper place alongside the other great inventors. The curriculum would recognize Tesla’s often overlooked, but critical, contributions to science…and to society.

What that curriculum would look like, and how it would get out to the schools, and what level of schools it should get out to, are all to be discussed at the Tesla Memorial Conference on January 11, 2014. If you have ideas, you need to be there. I’ll be there  signing copies of my book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity, as well as talking about my forthcoming Tesla book. How the book could fit into a curriculum has yet to be determined.

Along with myself and other Tesla authors such as Bernard Carlson and Howard Lipman (PanOrpheus) will be a full day of presentations from scientific experts developing Tesla-inspired inventions. In addition, the conference will feature Jane Alcorn (Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe), Joe Sikorski (Fragments from Olympus), James Jaeger (Poet of Electricity), and Nenad Stankovic (Tesla Magazine), all of whom will bring us up to date on their activities designed to bring Tesla to the people.

In the evening don’t miss the Spirit Awards with music by Mano Divina and others, along with a special celebrity tribute by Bajaga!

And a whole lot more!

So join us at the New Yorker Hotel on January 11, 2014. View the program (both the Conference and Spirit Awards) here. Don’t miss out.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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An Abraham Lincoln (and Nikola Tesla) Christmas

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In 1834, as an Illinois legislator, the 25-year-old Abraham Lincoln voted against closing the state government on Christmas day. He felt that elected officials should keep the day a workday “because he felt he would be wasting taxpayers’ money if he took the day off.” Later when he was in the White House he sent no Christmas cards and set up no Christmas tree.

Shocking? Not really. Back then Christmas was a normal working day in most of the United States. Government offices and most businesses were open. Christmas didn’t become a national holiday until President Ulysses S. Grant signed a congressional bill into law. That was in 1870. For those that are interested, David Frum, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, provides some fascinating insights into why Christmas wasn’t celebrated by the government. Now, of course, the White House has jumped on the bandwagon and issues annual Christmas ornaments.

Abraham Lincoln Christmas Ornament 1999 Abraham-Lincoln-Cameo-Ornament-2013

 

 

 

 

That’s not to say that Christmas wasn’t important. In fact, Christmas was getting a lot of press in the 1850s, which is one of the reasons why Grant did what he did. The brutality of the Civil War also played a role in the resurgence of Christmas in American life. Ironically, it was the non-religious aspects of Christmas that saw the biggest growth during this period. Not the least of which was the popularization of Santa Claus.

While Santa may have had some origins in St. Nicholas and other regional folklore, he evolved into the jolly old elf we know today thanks in large part to Thomas Nast, a prolific illustrator and cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly magazine. It was Nast who first introduced Santa Claus (aka, Father Christmas) – as a recruiting tool for the Union army! One iconic image from the January 3, 1863 issue of Harper’s, has Santa “on a sleigh handing out packages to Union soldiers in Civil War camp.”

Thomas Nast 1863 Christmas

So Santa became propaganda rallying behind the Union war effort. The South used this to their advantage as well, telling children that those evil Yankees might block Santa’s route from the North Pole down to Confederate territory. This, of course, was long before Coca-Cola turned Santa into a soft drink marketing campaign and Hallmark made a fortune selling Christmas cards.

There was one rather important Christmas celebration for Abraham Lincoln. General William Tecumseh Sherman, who had been decimating a path toward the sea throughout the fall of 1864, wired Lincoln in the White House on December 22nd. The wire said:

“I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah.”

He also had captured “150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition,” along with “about 25,000 bales of cotton.” An ecstatic Lincoln replied with “many, many, thanks for your Christmas gift.” As devastating was Sherman’s destruction during his march, it helped bring the war to an end a few months later.

I can’t leave without also bringing you Christmas greetings from Nikola Tesla. Here’s a brief video to get you started.

Want more? Check out these photos and videos of Christmas trees made from Tesla coils.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from me and Science Traveler. Watch for much, much more in the new year. [Hint – 2014 is going to be exciting!]

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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Tesla Commemorative Conference 2014 – Let’s Build a Tesla Curriculum

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Nikola TeslaNikola Tesla lived out the final ten years of his life in the New Yorker Hotel. Each year the Tesla Science Foundation and the New Yorker Hotel host a Tesla Commemorative Conference. The 2014 event will be held on Saturday, January 11th and includes a discussion on building a Tesla curriculum for schools, along with a wide range of Tesla-inspired technical presentations. The goal is to help bring the world of Nikola Tesla to a wider audience.

That is the goal of my book. One of the most gratifying responses to Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity has been the number of people who say they believe the book would be a wonderful addition to the curricula of schools ranging from middle school, high school, and even undergraduate college. Many people have told me that they are buying an extra copy of the book specifically to donate it to their local school or public library.

The need for such a book has been obvious. Traditionally the Tesla book market has been split between three categories – highly technical reprints of Tesla’s papers and patents, long scholarly studies of Tesla’s life, and books aimed at children or very young teenagers.

Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity has successfully appealed to a broader middle audience. The book includes many photographs, graphic arts, and highlighted quotes and stories, all of which bring Nikola Tesla to a general public that may have very little knowledge of the great inventor. The writing style is intentionally clear and fluid so that readers young and old can gain insights into both the technical achievements and personal stories that make Tesla such an interesting man as well as a critically important contributor to modern science. People that know a lot about Tesla and people who know very little, as well as everyone in between, have all found the book both entertaining and informative.

Tesla and the author

The January conference is a wonderful opportunity to further develop a curriculum that will spread the word about Nikola Tesla. Perhaps my book will become a part of that curriculum. The conference will delve into the best way to reach out to those who have yet to know and appreciate one of the most important, yet little known, inventors in our history.

The Tesla Conference is being held on January 11, 2014 at the famed New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan, just steps away from Madison Square Garden and the Penn Station Amtrak stop. An agenda of the conference can be found on the Tesla MeetUp page.

My three part series on the 2013 Tesla Conference can be read at: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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Did Nikola Tesla Play a Practical Joke on Mark Twain’s Birthday?

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Mark Twain 1909 Wiki CommonsNovember 30th is the birthday of Mark Twain, the nom de plume of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Known for his wit and books featuring unforgettable characters such as Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and the “Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” Mark Twain was also a good friend of Nikola Tesla. So good that Tesla decided to have a little fun with him one day in his laboratory.

Tesla enjoyed many delightful evenings at dinner parties thrown at the fine Lexington Avenue brownstone of poet and editor Robert Underwood Johnson and his beautiful wife, Katharine. Among the “wide range of famous and lively luminaries” that adorned the Johnson’s home were Samuel Clemens, naturalist John Muir, and various musicians, actors, and actresses that routinely graced the New York stages. For his part, Tesla would regale the others with recitations of both poetry and his inventions, and commonly the evening would end with Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, Anton Dvořák or other guests following Tesla back to his laboratory to witness firsthand some of his electrical marvels.

One day Mark Twain dropped by the laboratory and Tesla decided to have a little fun with him. He asked Twain to step up on a small platform and then set the thing vibrating with his oscillator. Twain was thrilled by the gentle sensations running through his body.

“This gives you vigor and vitality,” he exclaimed.

After a short time Tesla warned Twain that he better come down now or risk the consequences.

“Not by a jugfull,” insisted Twain, “I am enjoying myself.”

Continuing to extol on the wonderful feeling for several more minutes Twain suddenly stopped talking. Looking pleadingly at Tesla he yelled:

“Quick, Tesla! Where is it?”

“Right over there,” Tesla responded calmly. Off Twain rushed to the restroom, embarrassed by his condition. Tesla smiled; the laxative effect of the vibrator was well known to the chuckling laboratory staff.

Mark Twain in Tesla's Laboratory

Mark Twain in Tesla’s Laboratory

Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla remained friends until Samuel Clemens’ death in 1910. Tesla lived on to 1943. Shortly before his own death in a lonely two-room suite at the New Yorker Hotel, Tesla was thinking of his old friend. While he had become a naturalized American citizen over a half-century earlier, Tesla’s cremated remains now rest in a spherical “Tesla ball”–shaped urn at the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade.

For his part, Samuel Clemens knew how to make an entrance – and an exit – in style. He was born in a year where Halley’s Comet buzzed the Earth, and died at age 74 the very next time Halley’s Comet returned to our view. While we’ll always remember Clemens’ alter ego of Mark Twain, we’re just now rediscovering his friend and practical joke player, Nikola Tesla.

5 Things You Didn’t Know about Nikola Tesla

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (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 is on Abraham Lincoln, due out in 2017.

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Exciting News about Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity

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Tesla: The Wizard of ElectricityI’ve been incredibly thankful to everyone who has helped make Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity a success. And now there are even more thanks deserved. Yesterday my editor at Sterling Publishing informed me that they will issue a second printing of the book. My literary agent, Marilyn Allen, probably captured the moment the best, and most succinctly, when she responded with: “AWESOME.”

Sales have been outstanding in the four months since it was released – over 9,000 of the 10,000 books printed have flown off the shelves! That in itself is exciting because the initial print run was larger than normal for non-fiction books (especially non-fiction books about obscure, long-dead, scientists). And while the books were initially featured prominently in Barnes and Noble stores at an incredibly affordable price, they have become harder to find as the warehouse emptied out and individual stores sold out their stock. Books also weren’t available directly on Amazon.com, which is, after all, where many people buy most of their books these days. Still, sales continue to be consistently strong, and on top of the hard copy sales there have also been substantial sales of the e-book on barnesandnoble.com.

David J. Kent

Even more exciting is that the publisher is so confident the books will continue to sell well, they’ve scheduled the second printing to be double the size of the initial, that is, 20,000 books. As a book that backlists well (i.e., doesn’t get outdated), Sterling expects the book to sell for many years to come. Who knows, maybe we’ll get a third printing (and fourth? and fifth?).

And if all of that wasn’t enough, the publisher is planning to release the book in July 2014, just in time for Nikola Tesla’s birthday. Sterling plans a “back-to-school” promotion, which is undefined at the moment but would likely include some book signings and other events. I’ll keep you posted.

Thank you all for supporting me and the book so wholeheartedly. It’s because of you that Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity has been so successful. The hunger of the public for information about Nikola Tesla has been very gratifying. As can be seen by the topics of my posts on this website, there currently is an incredible amount of activity and interest about Tesla. As Tesla himself once said:

“The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.”

It seems the future has arrived.

Which leads to some additional news. I’ve been approached by the director of the Ipswich Museum in my home town. They would like me to schedule a brown-bag lunch presentation at the museum sometime in 2014. I’m also working on a new Tesla book focused on his interest in what today we call “renewable energy.” I’ll have more details on both of these in later posts, as well as information on how to subscribe to a newsletter I expect to begin producing early in the new year.

Exciting times, these!

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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Nikola Tesla Augmented Reality App by Brian Yetzer

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Nikola TeslaNikola Tesla is one of the coolest inventors that ever lived. And now there is an even cooler way to learn more about him – augmented reality.

What is augmented reality? According to Brian Yetzer, digital artist, designer, and educator, augmented reality (AR) is:

 

…a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data…the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality.

You got a taste of Brian’s augmented reality treatment of Nikola Tesla at the Exton Public Library event earlier this month (check out the second video). He is currently developing an augmented reality app as part of the upcoming traveling exhibit called Tesla: Past. Present. Future. The traveling exhibit is being sponsored by the Tesla Science Foundation. According to Brian, the app will help accomplish the three project objectives:

  • Educate the public about Nikola Tesla, an unsung hero of the 20th century and his vision of a world with free, renewable energy.
  • Bring awareness to our current energy crisis and our need to harness it safely and responsibly. Nikola Tesla was one of the first green energy proponents.
  • Engage smart phone and tablet users in the latest in mobile technology and interactive techniques.

Of course, there is much more than the app involved. At the Exton event there were three posters featuring Nikola Tesla-related images. One was the Wardenclyffe Tower, another Tesla’s famous chair pose, and the other a stylized, almost psychedelic, series of floating Tesla coils. Embedded in the posters are codes that bring the images to life via “interactive 3D animation and video playback superimposed over a real-world environment.” In addition, Brian is “producing augmented reality Tesla coil t-shirts and printable 3D models of the Nikola Tesla bust, Tesla coil, and Wardenclyffe Tower.”

Brian Yetzer

All of this is incredibly cool (just like Nikola Tesla).

You can find out more about the project by checking out Brian’s Indiegogo campaign. Feel free to share Brian’s campaign info, or you can simply share this article on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. I, for one, am looking forward to this innovative way to share knowledge of Nikola Tesla with a new generation of youth. Who knows – one may get inspired by Tesla just like Google founder Larry Page did.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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Part 2 – Photos and Videos from Tesla Presentation at Chester County Library, Exton, PA

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This is Part 2 of my report on the November 3rd Nikola Tesla presentations of various artists, writers, and filmmakers at the Chester County Library in Exton, PA. If you haven’t seen it already, go back and read Part 1 here. I finished up Part 1 by mentioning that I talked about my book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity.

David J. Kent

Other highlights of the event include two videos and “Astronomusic” by Laura Woodswalker Todd, a videographer and electronic musician who lives in Phoenixville, PA. “Light Worker” and “Tesla Tower” are music video tributes to Nikola Tesla that employ synthesizers and computer software to express artistic visions. Laura also joined Howard Lipman as they demonstrated the Steampunk Wand along with a Tesla-inspired electronic instrument called the theremin.

Laura Woodswalker Todd

Howard, who superbly emceed the event, narrated a compendium video showing how Tesla had influenced science fiction going back to the 1920s. In fact, Hugo Gernsback, a close friend of Nikola Tesla, often used Tesla and his inventions as models for his Amazing Stories science fiction magazine beginning in 1926. Howard then regaled us with readings from one of his Tesla-inspired fiction books. Writing as PanOrpheus, Howard read from Tesla’s Light Bulb, due out in December 2013.

Howard Lipman aka PanOrpheus

Next up were demonstrations of various Tesla devices by Adolphe Alexander and Harry Oung. Some of us took turns demonstrating the spark gap and lighting a fluorescent bulb without wires. Ready for a cool video? Ru Sun demonstrates how to do it.

But that’s not all. We were joined by Brian Yetzer of Yetzer Studios who is developing the next generation of “augmented reality.” What appeared to be simple poster artwork for most of the event became much much more as Brian turned his iPad to the image. It turns out the poster is embedded with code that can be read by special software in Brian’s tablet…and viola! Emerging from the screen were working models of Tesla inventions and descriptions of how they all work, which makes for an exhilarating communication experience. Brian will be crowdfunding the next step of his enterprise – creating an App – so come back here for more information. Meanwhile, check out this video.

After more than three hours of Tesla talk and discussions the library staff came to shoo us out of the room for the next users, but it’s safe to say that the participants thoroughly enjoyed the gathering. I know I had a great time. And on top of that I sold a few books, some of which Tesla Science Foundation founder Nikola Lonchar will use for TSF give-aways in the future. I was happy to be a part of this experience. See you all in New York in January.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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Part 1 – Photos and Videos from Tesla Presentation at Chester County Library, Exton, PA

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For those who couldn’t make the November 3rd presentations of various artists, writers, and filmmakers in Exton, I’ve put together the following set of photos and videos. The Chester County Library, with fantastic coordination by Kristen Cassidy and superb hosting by author Howard Lipman, was the location of the event. The library provided us a room on the second floor where for three hours Howard directed the showing of videos, discussions of Tesla-inspired books and artwork, and made some incredible lightning bolts shoot from one side of the large room to the other.

Library sign, photo by Ru Sun

Okay, I made that last part up. We did have Tesla coils set up and some cool sparking demonstrations, but they didn’t actually fill the room with lightning. More on that later.

We started with a series of videos and audio presentations introducing Nikola Tesla to the participants. The first was a video created and distributed by Tesla’s Ambassadors, a Facebook-based group designed to “honour and respect the achievements of the great genius Nikola Tesla.” Check out this “Nikola Tesla Style” video from Tesla’s Ambassadors.

Also showing was a video by award-winning filmmaker Joseph Sikorski called Tower to the People: Tesla’s Dream at Wardenclyffe Continues, created to help promote the development of a science center at Tesla’s old laboratory, Wardenclyffe.

Tower to the People

And we couldn’t pass up the chance to see the video viewed by over 16 million people on YouTube, Nikola Tesla vs Thomas Edison: Epic Rap Battles of History.

After the videos it was my turn. I talked about my book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity, and then led a wide-ranging discussion that delved into Tesla’s support for renewable energy (which, BTW, is the topic of my next book), his friendships with Mark Twain and John Muir, and how just perfect it was to have David Bowie play Tesla in the movie, The Prestige. [I told you it was wide-ranging]

There was much, much more, but since this is already getting long I’ll arbitrarily stop here and make this “Part 1” and then follow up shortly with “Part 2,” which will include more cool videos and photos. Be sure to check back for, to quote Paul Harvey, “the rest of the story.”

See Part 2 here.

More information on upcoming Tesla events and speaking engagements.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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Nikola Tesla at the Chester County Library, Exton PA

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Tesla: The Wizard of ElectricityOn November 3rd, join me and a cast of artists, writers, and filmmakers at the Chester County Library, Exton, PA for an extraordinary multimedia Tesla event. Sponsored by the Tesla Science Foundation, there will be presentations on “Why Nikola Tesla Matters” and how Tesla has been an influence in Books, Film and Art.

I’ll be there talking about Nikola Tesla and my book Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. Check out the videos by Laura Todd, a local Phoenixville electronic composer, and other visual media artists. Musical interludes will include demonstration of a Theremin, which is a phenomenal musical instrument that makes use of the kinds of electronic fields made famous by our own Nikola Tesla. And as if the theremin wasn’t cool enough, the addition of a ‘Steampunk Wand’ is sure to create some unusual effects! On top of all that we’ll have on display some of Tesla’s devices, including two amazing Tesla coils (frizzy hair optional), plus Tesla-inspired art. There will also be a display of books about Tesla. Signed copies of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity will be available for purchase ($10 makes a great Christmas gift).

Hosted by Howard Lipman, a Chester County Author, and Radio Host Mark Passio, the event is being held on Sunday, November 3rd from 1:30 to 4:30 pm at the Chester County Library, 450 Exton Square Parkway, Exton, PA, 19341. Call 484-888-1582 for more information. Also check out the Tesla Club event page or the Chester County Library announcement for more information.

I hope to see you all there.

More information on upcoming Tesla events and speaking engagements.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

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Nikola Tesla Book, Film, and Art Presentations

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Tesla: The Wizard of ElectricityFor those in the Philadelphia/Exton area, there is an upcoming Tesla “Book, Film and Art” event presented by members of the Tesla Science Foundation. The event is hosted by Howard Lipman, a Chester County Author, Radio Host Mark Passio. There will also be presentations by other Tesla Foundation members on “Why Nikola Tesla Matters”, and how Tesla has been an influence in Books, Film and Art.

The event is being held on Sunday, November 3rd from 1:30 to 4:30 pm at the Chester County Library, 450 Exton Square Parkway, Exton, PA, 19341. Call 484-888-1582 for more information. Also check out the Tesla Club event page, which notes:

Videos related to Tesla, including Laura Todd, a local Phoenixville electronic composer’s pieces, and other Tesla related visuals will be shown. Members will display some of Tesla’s devices, and Tesla Art will be provided by Zzvezdana Scott, the proprietor of a Kennett Square Art Gallery. There will be a display of books about Tesla.

More information on upcoming Tesla events and speaking engagements.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below.