# "The Secret of Nikola Tesla"-Questions
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 23, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462 "2010-05-23T15:32:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/1 "2010-05-23T15:32:48Z")
I just saw this awful flick-poorly acted and dreadful. Anyway, I have a few questions:
-in the movie, Tesla was approached by a young Marconi-and Tesla invites him into his lab. Later, JP Morgan is enraged to find that Marconi has patented a working wireless telegarpgy system-ahead of Tesla.
Later, Tesla accused Marconi of infringing his patenst-why didn’t Tesla sue?
-Tesla is shown demonstarting his radio-controlled boat. Since this involved a working radio syatem, why didn’t Tesla commercialize the device at this point?
-All in all, the movie did a pretty lousy job of portraying the man.
My final question: since the success of Tesla’s AC power system, George Westinghouse got rich off Tesla’s patents-why didn’t he bail Tesla out (when JP Morgan had abandoned him)?
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/2 "2010-05-23T16:02:53Z")
He did sue. What makes you think he didn’t?
The case was held up in the courts for years and not decided until 1943 - in Tesla’s favor. However, it’s widely considered that the decision happened only because the government wanted to break Marconi’s patents in WWII. Tesla was already dead.
Tesla’s radio-controlled boat was a laboratory toy. It couldn’t be commercialized. Tesla undoubtedly knew that when he gave such explanations as
> [@](#):
>
> he would not demonstrate his system publicly on less than a world-wide basis because it could be confused with the amateurish efforts made by other experimenters. … “This is all small-time stuff,” he would reply. “I can’t be bothered with it.”
That’s from fawning biographer John J. O’Neil.
Westinghouse didn’t bail Tesla out because Tesla was a nutcase throwing his money away at impossible nonsense.
What? A movie about Tesla didn’t tell you this? I am shocked, shocked!
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### Author:  [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/3 "2010-05-23T23:42:24Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> He did sue. What makes you think he didn’t?
>
> The case was held up in the courts for years and not decided until 1943 - in Tesla’s favor. However, it’s widely considered that the decision happened only because the government wanted to break Marconi’s patents in WWII. Tesla was already dead.
The 1943 case was actually Marconi suing the government for compensation for using some of his later patents, must importantly one for adjustable tuning, during World War I. However, the Supreme Court ruled that Marconi’s tuning patent had been fully anticipated by one issued to John Stone Stone. Because some of the review of the case mentioned Tesla’s work, his admirers, in a wild stretch, now claim that “in 1943 the court declared that Tesla invented radio”. However, the commentary at the time noted that this was overdue recognition of John Stone Stone’s pioneering work. Unfortunately he was dead too, but Stone was alive when the lower court ruled in his favor.
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/4 "2010-05-24T00:44:13Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Westinghouse didn’t bail Tesla out because Tesla was a nutcase throwing his money away at impossible nonsense.
Huh? I saw a [movie about Tesla](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482571/) showing his invention of a duplication / teleportation device that was pretty amazing. With funding, who knows how it would have changed society?
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/5 "2010-05-24T01:48:34Z")
[Lots of cool stuff about Tesla!](http://davidszondy.com/future/tesla/tesla.htm)
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/6 "2010-05-24T01:50:06Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#):
>
> Huh? I saw a [movie about Tesla](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482571/) showing his invention of a duplication / teleportation device that was pretty amazing. With funding, who knows how it would have changed society?
Or just with a client with the imagination to use it for something besides a magic act. :rolleyes:
Classic [Reed Richards Is Useless.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReedRichardsIsUseless)
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/7 "2010-05-24T01:51:43Z")
And the **original** [1920s Style Death Ray!](http://davidszondy.com/future/tesla/teslaray.htm)🙂
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/8 "2010-05-24T02:06:32Z")
[New York Times, August 4, 1915](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9400E3DE133FE233A25757C0A96E9C946496D6CF)
> [@](#):
>
> TESLA SUES MARCONI ON WIRELESS PATENT; Alleges That Important Apparatus Infringes Prior Rights Granted to Him. BASIC PRINCIPLES INVOLVED Marconi Company Manager Claims Ownership of All Underlying Wireless Inventions.
>
> A suit brought by Nikola Tesla against the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America, seeking the annulment of one of the chief Marconi patents, will have its first public argument in the United States District Court tomorrow, when counsel for Mr. Tesla will seek to have the court strike out nine paragraphs in the Marconi Company’s answer to Mr. Tesla’s complaint.
[Teslamania](http://teslamania.delete.org/frames/tesla.html)
> [@](#):
>
> 1915 Tesla files lawsuit against Marconi This starts a patent fight that lasts for 29 years. Tesla vs. Marconi is ultimately resolved in Tesla’s favor.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/9 "2010-05-24T03:21:47Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> And the **original** [1920s Style Death Ray!](http://davidszondy.com/future/tesla/teslaray.htm)🙂
I thought that was [**Richard Pearse**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) 🙂
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### Author:  [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2010, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/10 "2010-05-24T10:03:51Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> TESLA SUES MARCONI ON WIRELESS PATENT; Alleges That Important Apparatus Infringes Prior Rights Granted to Him. BASIC PRINCIPLES INVOLVED Marconi Company Manager Claims Ownership of All Underlying Wireless Inventions.
>
> A suit brought by Nikola Tesla against the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America, seeking the annulment of one of the chief Marconi patents, will have its first public argument in the United States District Court tomorrow, when counsel for Mr. Tesla will seek to have the court strike out nine paragraphs in the Marconi Company’s answer to Mr. Tesla’s complaint. [New York Times, August 4, 1915](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9400E3DE133FE233A25757C0A96E9C946496D6CF)
>
> 1915 Tesla files lawsuit against Marconi This starts a patent fight that lasts for 29 years. Tesla vs. Marconi is ultimately resolved in Tesla’s favor.
> [Teslamania](http://teslamania.delete.org/frames/tesla.html)
Again, these are actually two separate and unrelated cases, neither of which was won by Tesla. The first case was actually started by Marconi against a German-afffiliated firm. Tesla countersued in support. However, this case was never decided, as World War One broke out, the stations in question were seized by the United States government during the war, and the patents in question expired during the war.
The second case was based on a number of firms getting compensation for the government’s use of their patents during World War One. The background on this case is covered in [The Navy and the Patent Situation](http://earlyradiohistory.us/1963hw31.htm) chapter of L. S. Howeth’s _History of Communications-Electronics in the United States Navy_. In 1921 a Navy board recommended that the Marconi company be compensated $1.25 million dollars. However, Congress decided to require the individual companies to go through the normal process of suing the U.S. government in the Court of Claims. This was the legal action, that, in the case of Marconi, dragged on until 1943.
The 1943 case was actually a narrow one that in no way addressed “who was the inventor of radio”. [justia.com](http://justia.com) has the full text of the Supreme Court decision: [MARCONI WIRELESS TEL. CO. V. UNITED STATES, 320 U. S. 1 (1943)](http://supreme.justia.com/us/320/1/case.html). Quoting from the summary: "Marconi showed no invention over Stone (Patent No. 714,756) by making the tuning of his antenna circuit adjustable, or by using Lodge’s (Patent No. 609, 154) variable inductance for that purpose. "
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### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/11 "2010-05-24T20:28:43Z")
Thanks for the replies. As I say, this is the puzzling thing: JP Morgan fronted money to Tesla, to build a radio transmitter. Clearly, by 1890 or so, Tesla had mastered the essentials of CW radio transmission-why didn’t he just build a radio system for Morgan? The only think I conjecture is that Morgan wanted his own patents, so that Marconi could not have a monopoly on radio (Morgan preferred that HE should own the monopolies).
JP was a very smart man-how he would let Tesla piss away his money is a mystery (unless as I stated) it was just to keep Marconi at bay.
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### Author:  [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/12 "2010-05-24T21:24:36Z")
> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> Clearly, by 1890 or so, Tesla had mastered the essentials of CW radio transmission-why didn’t he just build a radio system for Morgan?
Tesla did develop an advanced continuous wave “oscillator”, but he hadn’t developed very much on the receiver side, since his main goal was power transmission. More importantly, he didn’t think radio could be used for long distance transmissions, and didn’t believe that what he called “hertz-waves” could be used for anything more than line-of-sight transmissions.
His theory was that long distance communication could only be achieved by electrical currents running through the ground. In 1919 he reviewed his beliefs in [The True Wireless](http://earlyradiohistory.us/1919tru.htm). The language is sometimes archaic and the logic hard to follow, but its clear he had his own ideas about physics. (He didn’t believe light or “hertz-waves” were a transverse radiation, instead he thought they were compression waves in the ether.) In particular, Tesla didn’t believe that either ground-wave (then called “gliding wave”) or skywave radio transmissions (signals bouncing off the ionosphere, then called the “Heaviside layer”) were possible. Even in 1919 that was a fallacy that was had to understand.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/13 "2010-05-24T23:29:34Z")
> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> Thanks for the replies. As I say, this is the puzzling thing: JP Morgan fronted money to Tesla, to build a radio transmitter. Clearly, by 1890 or so, Tesla had mastered the essentials of CW radio transmission-why didn’t he just build a radio system for Morgan?
[Because Tesla did not understand, or rejected, the operational principles of radio.](http://davidszondy.com/future/tesla/sanedays.htm)
> [@](#):
>
> Curiously, despite his achievements, Tesla never had a very good theoretical grasp of what electricity actually is. He tended to ignore developments in physics. In fact, he greeted Einstein’s theory of relativity with downright hostility. For Tesla, electricity wasn’t a thing of electrons and energy states, but of fluids, vibrations, and harmonics in a system which he seemed to understand, but which made his explanations the thing of which headaches are made.
>
> \
>
> Tesla’s interest in high frequency electricity had other benefits. A number of his circuits were basic to radio technology. Because he didn’t understand how electromagnetic radiation worked, Tesla thought that sending messages through the air required transmitting huge amounts of energy, so he never produced a working system, but his patents did predate those of Marconi by several years and Tesla was awarded precedence by US supreme court in 1943.
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-secret-of-nikola-tesla-questions/540462/14 "2010-05-25T02:07:22Z")
> [@whitetho](#):
>
> Tesla did develop an advanced continuous wave “oscillator”, but he hadn’t developed very much on the receiver side, since his main goal was power transmission. More importantly, he didn’t think radio could be used for long distance transmissions, and didn’t believe that what he called “hertz-waves” could be used for anything more than line-of-sight transmissions.
>
> His theory was that long distance communication could only be achieved by electrical currents running through the ground. In 1919 he reviewed his beliefs in [The True Wireless](http://earlyradiohistory.us/1919tru.htm). The language is sometimes archaic and the logic hard to follow, but its clear he had his own ideas about physics. (He didn’t believe light or “hertz-waves” were a transverse radiation, instead he thought they were compression waves in the ether.) In particular, Tesla didn’t believe that either ground-wave (then called “gliding wave”) or skywave radio transmissions (signals bouncing off the ionosphere, then called the “Heaviside layer”) were possible. Even in 1919 that was a fallacy that was had to understand.
Anthing that brings you out of hiding is a plus.