Dear listeners… and now… the mayor of the city of New York, esteemed Fiorello Henry La Guardia…
…Last Thursday evening in our city of New York, a man of 87 years passed away in his modest hotel room. His name was Nikola Tesla. He died in poverty, yet he was one of the most useful and successful people who ever lived. His achievements are enormous and as time goes by, they become even greater. Nikola Tesla could have amassed hundreds of millions of dollars, he could have become the richest man in the country, in the world, if he cared about wealth. But he didn’t. (…)
Nikola Tesla was a great philanthropist, a true scientific genius, a scientist-poet. While he was among us, he did incredibly marvelous, extraordinary things. He simply did them to serve humanity and asked for nothing in return. He didn’t care about money. He didn’t care about honor because who gives one person the right to bestow honor upon another. That was his stance. He didn’t expect or ask for gratitude. Nikola Tesla did not care to be paid for what he had done for humanity. (…)
His life is a triumph. (…) Tesla is not dead, he is very much alive among us. His victory in life, his achievement that we celebrate here, is among us. We do not pay homage to him. We have gathered here to feel the triumph of a human life and to share our feelings with you.
Part of the eulogy read by the Mayor of New York City, Fiorello Henry La Guardia, on the occasion of Nikola Tesla’s death, on WNYC radio, on January 10, 1943.
In May 1900, in The Century Magazine, an article titled “The Problem of Increasing Human Energy” by one of the world’s most significant scientists and innovators, Nikola Tesla, was published.
This article had been anticipated for months. After many inventions in the field of high-frequency alternating currents and high voltage which he had already presented to the greatest authorities of that time, Nikola Tesla retreated to his laboratory. Further research in Colorado Springs was shrouded in secrecy. For almost nine months, the eyes of the scientific communities in America, England, and France were focused on Colorado Springs, eagerly awaiting what new discoveries this genius would bring.
Tesla had agreed with his friend and editor of The Century Magazine, Robert Johnson, to write an article about the research results. This article would explain the system of wireless energy transmission and its practical application, with accompanying photographs of the high-frequency oscillator. After returning to New York, Johnson organized a celebratory dinner in Tesla’s honor, during which Tesla handed over his article.
To Johnson’s disappointment, the article did not contain any scientific presentation of the research results. Instead, Tesla focused on explaining the deep meaning and purpose of his work, as well as the potential consequences and impact it could have on the development and progress of humanity. At Johnson’s request, Tesla expanded and elaborated on these concepts. The article is enriched with scientific presentations of research results, but it connects them with a more detailed elaboration of philosophical questions about human progress.
The article was finally published in May 1900. There was great interest, and after its publication, many other journals across the USA and Europe write about it and publish parts of it. Below are excerpts from the article:
…Of all the various phenomena that nature offers to our senses, none fills us with greater wonder than that unimaginably complex movement that we define as human life in its entirety. Its mysterious origin is forever veiled in impenetrable darkness of the past, its character has become incomprehensible due to its endless complexity, and its destiny hidden in the immense depths of the future. Where does it come from? What is it? What does it strive for? These are all great questions that sages of all times have tried to answer.
…Birth, growth, old age, and death of an individual, family, race, or nation, what is it but the You ask if when all life manifestations, even in their most complex forms, like in a human being, no matter how intertwined and incomprehensible, are just one movement to which the same general laws of motion that govern the entire physical universe must be applied. When we speak of a human being, we mean the concept of humanity as a whole (…)
But can anyone doubt today that all millions of individuals and countless types and characters form one unity? Although we are free to think and act, we stick together with inseparable bonds like stars in the sky. We do not see these bonds, but we feel them. I cut my finger and it hurts: that finger is a part of me. I see a friend in pain and that also hurts me: my friend and I are one. I see an injured enemy, a lump of matter, for which I care the least in the world, but it still saddens me. Doesn’t this show that each of us is just a part of the whole?
For centuries, this idea has been represented in the perfectly wise teachings of religion. Probably not just as a means of ensuring peace and harmony among people, but as a deeply rooted truth. Buddhists express it in one way, Christians in another, but both say the same thing: we are all one.
If you want to understand the universe, think about energy, frequency, and vibration.
Nikola Tesla
First, let us ask ourselves: where does all the driving force come from? What is the source that powers everything? We see the ocean rise and fall, rivers flow, wind, rain, hail, and snow hit our windows, trains and steamships come and go; we hear the sound of cars, voices from the street; we feel, smell, and taste, and we think about all of it. And all that movement, from the crashing of mighty ocean waves to the subtle movement in our thoughts, has only one common cause. All that energy springs from one single center, one source – the Sun. The Sun is the source that powers everything. The Sun sustains all human life and provides all human energy. Another answer we have found to the above existential The following is as follows: in order to increase the force that accelerates human movement, it is necessary to turn to greater use of solar energy. We appreciate and respect those great people of past epochs whose names are connected to immortal achievements and who have proven themselves as benefactors of humanity: religious reformers with their wise sayings, philosophers with their deep truths, mathematicians with their formulas, physicists with their laws, inventors with their principles and secrets drawn from nature, artists with their forms of beauty. But who appreciates him, the greatest of all – who can say his name – who was the first to start using solar energy to save the labor of a weak human being? This was the first act of scientific philanthropy by man, and its consequences are immeasurable.
…There is no doubt that out of all the resistances due to friction, the one that slows down human movement the most is ignorance. It is not without reason that Buddha, the man of wisdom, said: Ignorance is the greatest evil in the world. Friction The problem resulting from ignorance, which is greatly exacerbated by the multitude of languages and nationalities, can only be reduced by spreading knowledge and unifying the heterogeneous elements of humanity. This would be the best investment of effort.
…Just like the mass that initially resists movement, once set in motion, it increases energy. A scientist does not strive for immediate results. He does not expect his advanced ideas to be readily accepted. His work is like that of someone who sows seeds for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who will come and show the way. He lives, works, and hopes, like the poet who says:
It gives me sublime happiness
that through the work of my hands I achieve every day!
Do not let me get tired.
No, these are not empty dreams:
for now, only sprouts, but eventually,
the trees will bear fruit and provide shade.
J. W. von Goethe, Hope
Source: Century Illustrated Magazine, The Problem of Increasing Human Energy by Nikola Tesla, June 1900.