Wizard

by Marc Seifer

  His theories on the relationship of wavelength to the structure and manufacture of light and his displays of wireless fluorescent tubes prompted one viewer to postulate that the future mode of lighting a dwelling might occur by actually “rendering the whole mass of the air in the room softly and beautifully phosphorescent.”16

  Tesla unveiled the first true radio tube in this second month of 1892, in the presence of all of the key forefathers of the invention of the wireless. In order to obtain the most perfect vacuum possible, the adept had extracted the air from a bulb that was contained inside another vacuum tube. Within this inner chamber, Tesla generated a beam of light “devoid of any inertia.” By producing extremely high frequencies, he created an electric “brush” that was so sensitive that it responded even to the “stiffening of the muscles in a person’s arm!” This brush tended to “circle away” from an approaching person, but always in a clockwise direction. Noting that the ray was extremely “susceptible to magnetic influences,” Tesla speculated that its direction of rotation was probably affected by the geomagnetic torque of the earth. He further expected that this brush would rotate counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Only a magnet could get the stream of light to reverse its direction of rotation. “I am firmly convinced,” Tesla stated, “that such a brush, when we learn how to produce it properly, may be the means of transmitting intelligence to a distance without wires.”17

  “Of all these phenomena,” Tesla began, in the next phase, “the most fascinating for an audience are certainly those which are noted in an electrostatic field acting through a considerable distance. By properly constructing a coil,” he continued, “I have found that I could excite vacuum tubes no matter where they were held in the room.”18

  Referring to the work of J. J. Thomson and J. A. Fleming on the creation of a luminous thread within a vacuum tube, Tesla went on to discuss different methods of exciting vacuum tubes by altering the wavelength or the length of the tube.

  Setting up a fan as an analog and discussing the research of Preece, Hertz, and Lodge on the radiation of electromagnetic energy into the earth and space, Tesla then displayed “no wire” motors: “It is not necessary to have even a single connection between the motor and generator,” he announced, “except, perhaps, through the ground…[or] through the rarefied air…There is no doubt that with enormous potentials…luminous discharges might be passed through many miles of rarefied air, and that, by thus directing the energy of many hundreds of horse power, motors or lamps might be operated at considerable distances from stationary sources.”19

  Based on research conducted the year before, which had been prompted by the work of J. J. Thomson in propagating streams of electrical energy, Tesla expanded upon his high-intensity button lamp, a device that could dematerialize or “vaporize” matter. This arrangement, as we shall see, is precisely the configuration required to create laser beams. Most likely, Tesla displayed actual laser beams at this time. However, neither he nor the other scientists present at the time recognized the unique importance of the directed ray, as it was part of a combination of other lighting effects which resulted in the disintegration of the material that was being bombarded.

  There are two types of standard lasers which correspond to Tesla’s work: (1) a ruby laser, which reflects energy back to its source, which in turn stimulates more atoms into emitting special radiation, and (2) a gas laser, which consists of a tube filled with helium and neon. High voltage is applied across two electrodes near the ends of the tube, causing a discharge to take place. In both instances, the excited atoms are contained in an enclosure and then reflected into one specific direction. They differ from ordinary flashlights not only because they emit a uniform wavelength of light but also because there is a pausing (metastable) state before the light is emitted.20

  Tesla worked with lamps constructed in exactly these ways. The first he called a button lamp; the second, an exhausted or phosphorescent tube. Their prime function was as efficient illumination devices. Their secondary functions were as laboratory apparatus for a variety of experiments. In one tube filled with “rarefied gas…once the glass fibre is heated, the discharge breaks through its entire length instantaneously.”21 Another bulb “was painted on one side with a phosphorescent powder or mixture and threw a dazzling light, far beyond that yielded by any ordinary phosphorescence.”22

  “A common experiment [of mine]…was to pass through a coil energy at a rate of several thousand horsepower, put a piece of thick tinfoil on a stick, and approach it to that coil. The tinfoil would…not only melt, but…it would be evaporated and the whole process took place in so small an interval of time that it was like a cannon shot…That was a striking experiment.”23

  Tesla also constructed a type of button lamp which could disintegrate any material, including zirconia and diamonds, the hardest substances known to exist. The lamp was, in essence, a globe coated inside with a reflective material (like the Leyden jar) and a “button” of any substance, most often carbon, which was highly polished and attached to a source of power. Once electrified, the button would radiate energy which would bounce off the interior of the globe and back onto itself, thereby intensifying a “bombardment” effect. In this way the button would be “vaporized.”24

  Tesla next described precisely the invention of the ruby laser, over five decades before its reappearance in the middle of the twentieth century. The description is quite explicit:

  In an exhausted bulb we can concentrate any amount of energy upon a minute button…[of] zirconia…[which] glowed with a most intense light, and the stream of particles projected out…was of a vivid white…Magnificent light effects were noted, of which it would be difficult to give an adequate idea…To illustrate the effect observed with a ruby drop…at first one may see a narrow funnel of white light projected against the top of the globe where it produces an irregularly outlined phosphorescent patch…In this manner, an intensely phosphorescent, sharply defined line [emphasis added] corresponding to the outline of the drop [fused ruby] is produced, which spreads slowly over the globe as the drop gets larger…A more perfect result used in some of these bulbs [involves]…the construction of a zinc sheet, performing the double office of intensifier and reflector.25

  The inventor’s talk ended with the speculation that with improvements in the construction of long-distance cables, per his suggestions, telephony across the Atlantic would soon be possible. It is significant to note that at this moment he did not yet envision wireless transmission of voice, but rather wireless transmission of intelligence (i.e., Morse code), light, and power. His discussions with Preece, however, on the existence of earth currents was beginning to take hold, and shortly afterward, Tesla began to conceptualize the idea of transmitting voice and even pictures by means of wireless.

  “It has been my chief aim in presenting these results to point out phenomena or features of novelty,” Tesla concluded, “and to advance ideas which I am hopeful will serve as starting points of new departures. It has been my chief desire this evening to entertain you with some novel experiments. Your applause, so frequently and generously accorded, has told me that I have succeeded.”26

  At the end of the lecture “Mr. Tesla tantalizingly informed his listeners that he had shown them but one-third of what he was prepared to do, and the whole audience…remained in their seats, unwilling to disperse, insisting upon more, and Mr. Tesla had to deliver a supplementary lecture…It may be stated, as Mr. Tesla mentioned but which hardly seems to be realized, that practically the whole of the experiments shown were new, and had never been shown before, and were not merely a repetition of those given in…America.”27

  Having seen the inventor handle such enormous voltages “so unconcernedly,” many of the attendees mumbled surprise among themselves and gathered the courage to inquire how Tesla “dared to take the current through his body.”

  “It was the result of a long debate in my mind,” Tesla replied, “but though calculation and reason, I concluded
that such currents ought not to be dangerous to life any more than the vibrations of light are dangerous…Consider a thin diaphragm in a water-pipe with to and fro piston strikes of considerable amplitude, the diaphragm will be ruptured at once,” the inventor explained by analogy. “With reduced strokes of the same total energy, the diaphragm will be less liable to rupture, until, with a vibratory impulse of many thousands per second, no actual current flows, and the diaphragm is in no danger of rupture. So with the vibratory current.” In other words, Tesla had increased the frequency, or alterations per second, but reduced the amplitude or power greatly. The wizard thereupon fired up the coil once again, sending tens of thousands of volts through (or around) his body and illuminated two fluorescent tubes which he held dramatically in each hand. “As you can, see,” Tesla added, “I am very much alive.”

  “That we can see,” one member responded, “but is there no pain?”

  “A spark, or course, passes through my hands, and may puncture the skin, and sometimes I receive an occasional burn, but that is all; and even this can be avoided if I hold a conductor of suitable size in my hand and then take hold of the current.”

  “In spite of your reasons,” another concluded with a shake of his head, “your speculation resembles to me the feelings that a man must have before plunging off the Brooklyn Bridge.”28

  In listening to Tesla’s statement that he had only shown part of what he had prepared, the perspicacious Professor Dewar, inventor of the Dewar flask, or everyday hot or cold thermos, took the inventor at face value and realized that there was more information to impart. The wizard had simply run out of time. As a member of the board of the Royal Institution, also situated in London, Dewar knew that there were many dignitaries who missed the grand event, especially Lord Rayleigh, so he set himself the task of persuading Tesla to present an encore the following evening.

  After the talk Dewar escorted Tesla on a tour of the Royal Institution, where he displayed the work of his predecessors, especially Michael Faraday’s apparatus. “Why not stay for one more performance?” Dewar inquired.

  “I must go to Paris,” Tesla insisted, keeping foremost in his mind his desire to limit the time of his visits at each stop so that he could return to the States as quickly as possible.

  “How often do you think you will have the chance to visit the laboratories of such men as Crookes or Kelvin?” Dewar asked in his Scottish brogue. At the same time, he invited Tesla to visit his own lab, where he was creating extremely low temperatures that approached absolute zero and conducting pioneer studies of electromagnetic effects in such environments as liquid oxygen.29 “You’ve already lived in Paris. Now see London!”

  “I was a man of firm resolve,” Tesla admitted later, “but succumbed easily to the forceful arguments of the great Scotchman. He pushed me into a chair and poured out half a glass of wonderful brown fluid which sparkled in all sorts of iridescent colors and tasted like nectar.”

  “Now,” Dewar declared with a twinkle in his eye and a grin that brought one of reciprocation on the face of his captive, “you are sitting in Faraday’s chair and you are enjoying whiskey he used to drink.”

  “In both aspects,” Tesla recalled, “it was an enviable experience. The next evening I gave a demonstration before the Royal Institution.”30

  At the culmination of the lecture, much of which, again, was new material not presented the previous evening (but integrated into the above discussion), Tesla presented Lord Kelvin with one of his Tesla coils,31 and Lord Rayleigh took over the lectern for the conclusion. Tesla recalled, “He said that I possessed a particular gift of discovery and that I should concentrate upon one big idea.”32

  Coming from this “ideal man of science,” one who had worked out mathematical equations concerning the wavelength of light and who had also calculated the atomic weights of many of the elements, this suggestion made a great impression. A new sense of destiny swirled through Tesla as he began to realize that he would have to figure out a way to surpass his earlier discoveries in AC.

  The next day, Tesla received an invitation from Ambrose Fleming to visit his lab at University College on the weekend. Fleming had been successful in setting up “oscillatory discharges with a Spottiswoode Coil as the primary and Leyden jars as the secondary,” and he wanted to show Tesla his results.33 Having been a consultant to Edison in connection with the lighting industry, Fleming would four years hence work with Marconi in the development of the wireless and a few years after that, come to invent the rectifier, a device for converting the incoming electromagnetic waves of AC into DC upon entering the receiving apparatus.34 Having attended both lectures, Fleming “congratulated [Tesla] heartily on your grand success. After th[is] no one can doubt your qualifications as a magician of the first order.” The English aristocrat concluded by dubbing Tesla a member of the new fictitious “Order of the Flaming Sword.”

  Tesla had sparked the imagination of his British colleagues, and rapidly a number of them began to replicate his work and make their own advances. At Sir William Crookes’s lab, Tesla constructed a coil as a gift and taught Crookes how to build Tesla coils on his own, but Crookes complained: “The phosphorescence through my body when I hold one terminal is decidedly inferior to that given with the little one [that you made for me].”35

  As was his custom, Tesla toiled incessantly until the eclectic Crookes forced him to take a break, and at night, after dinner, the two scientists sat back and prognosticated. Topics ranged from discussions of the ramifications of their own research and potential future of the field to religion, Tesla’s homeland, and metaphysics.

  Twirling an elongated waxed mustache that fanned out like the tail feathers of a bird of paradise, the bearded mentor revealed that he had experimented in wireless communication before even Hertz began his investigations in 1889. Crookes discussed the possibility that electrical waves would be able to penetrate solid objects, such as walls, and he argued against Kelvin’s suggestion that the life force and electricity were at some level identical. “Nevertheless, electricity has an important influence upon vital phenomena, and is in turn set in action by the living being, animal or vegetable.” Here Crookes was referring to various species, such as electric eels, iridescent sea slugs, and lightning bugs. Further speculation caused the two men to discuss the possibility that electricity could be utilized to purify water and treat “sewage and industrial waste.”

  “Perhaps,” Crookes suggested, “proper frequencies could be generated to electrify gardens so as to stimulate growth and make crops unappealing to destructive insects.”

  Expanding on the work of Rayleigh, Crookes discussed with Tesla the possibility of setting up millions of separate wavelengths so as to ensure secrecy in communication between two wireless operators. They also reviewed the work of Helmholtz on the structure of the physical eye, noting that receptors on the retina are “sensitive to one set of wavelengths [i.e., visible light], and silent to others.” In the same way, a receiving device for accepting electromagnetic signals might also be so constructed to receive certain transmissions and not others.

  “Another point at which the practical electrician should aim,” Crookes said in response to one of Tesla’s more dauntless speculations, “is in the control of weather.” Such goals as the elimination of fog or the ghastly “perennial drizzle” that plagued the island and creation of great amounts of rain scheduled for specific days were also discussed.36

  And if this were not enough, Crookes also introduced Tesla to a vigorous discussion of his experiments in mental telepathy, spiritualism, and even human levitation. As a member of the Society of Psychical Research and later president, Crookes was in good company. Other scientists who would rise to the helm of the psychic society included Oliver Lodge, J. J. Thomson, and Lord Rayleigh.37 Crookes straightforwardly presented a plethora of convincing evidence, including drawings by receivers that matched those created by senders, photographs from seances of ectoplasmic materializations generated by the clair
voyant Florence Cook, and eyewitness accounts of levitation by himself and his wife.38

  Those statements were enough to raise the eyebrows of anyone, and they served to rattle Tesla’s worldview. As a staunch materialist, up to that time Tesla had absolutely no belief in any aspect of the field of psychic research, including relatively tame occurrences, such as thought transference. But with Crookes’s documentation and the support of other members of the cognoscenti, especially Lodge, and with Tesla already exhausted from the strain of his severe schedule, the Serb’s mind began to spin. He would drop off in the middle of conversations and subsequently frightened his host. The reality that he had constructed and the world of superstition he thought he had left behind when he emigrated from the Old World swarmed through his brain like a hive of bumblebees and shattered mightily his worldview.

  The pressure Tesla was under caused Crookes to offer some friendly advice in a letter. “I hope you will get away to the mountains of your native land as soon as you can. You are suffering from over work, and if you do not take care of yourself you will break down. Don’t answer this letter or see any one but take the first train.” Ending the letter on a waggish note, Crookes added, “I am thinking of [going] myself, but I am only thinking of going as far as Hastings.”39 Tesla wanted to take his advice, but he had to address the Paris society first.

  Tesla crossed the English Channel during the second week of February and booked a room at the Hotel de la Paix. At his upcoming lecture “before a joint conference of the Société de Physique and the Société International des Electriciens,” which was held on February 19,40 the inventor sought out the well-known French physician Dr. d’Arsenoval, a pioneer in the field of diathermy. Tesla said later: