Nikola Tesla

“ It is not strange, is it not shame, that we, beings in the highest state of development in this our world, beings with such immense powers of thought and action, we, the masters of the globe, should be absolutely at the mercy of our unseen foes, that we should not know whether a swallow of food or drink brings joy and life or pain and destruction to us! In this most modern and sensible warfare, in which the bacteriologist leads, the services electricity will render will prove invaluable. ”

“ Some, who delight in the exercise of the powers of criticism, call this an asymmetrical development, a degeneration or departure from the normal, or even a degradation of the race. But they are mistaken. This is a welcome state of things, a blessing, a wise subdivision of labors, the establishment of conditions most favorable to progress. Let one concentrate all his energies in one single great effort, let him perceive a single truth, even though he be consumed by the sacred fire, then millions of less gifted men can easily follow. ”

“ Electrical science has revealed to us the true nature of light, has provided us with innumerable appliances and instruments of precision, and has thereby vastly added to the exactness of our knowledge. ”

“ And in this most important of all fields, gentlemen, long afterwards, when time will have placed the events in their proper perspective, and assigned men to their deserved places, the great event we are commemorating today will stand out as designating a new and glorious epoch in the history of humanity — an epoch grander than that marked by the advent of the steam engine. ”

“ The men who tell you this are ignoring forces which are continually at work, silently but resistlessly — forces which say Peace!
There is the genuine artist, who inspires us with higher and nobler sentiments, and makes us abhor strife and carnage. ”

“ Already we know, chiefly through the efforts of a bold pioneer, that light, radiant heat, electrical and magnetic actions are closely related, not to say identical. The chemist professes that the effects of combination and separation of bodies he observes are due to electrical forces, and the physician and physiologist will tell you that even life’s progress is electrical. Thus electrical science has gained a universal meaning, and with right this age can claim the name “Age of Electricity.” ”

“ First of all the inquiry, by the aid of the microscope and electrical instruments of precision, into the nature of our organs and senses, and particularly of those through which we commune directly with the outside world and through which knowledge is conveyed to our minds, has revealed their exact construction and mode of action, which is in conformity with simple and well established physical principles and laws. Hence the observations we make and the facts we ascertain by their help are real facts and observations, and our knowledge is true knowledge. ”

“ But among all these many departments of research, these many branches of industry, new and old, which are being rapidly expanded, there is one dominating all others in importance — one which is of the greatest significance for the comfort and welfare, not to say for the existence, of mankind, and that is the electrical transmission of power. ”

“ It was the artist, too, who awakened that broad philanthropic spirit which, even in old ages, shone in the teachings of noble reformers and philosophers, that spirit which makes men in all departments and positions work not as much for any material benefit or compensation — though reason may command this also — but chiefly for the sake of success, for the pleasure there is in achieving it and for the good they might be able to do thereby to their fellow-men. ”

“ Our knowledge of form, for instance, is dependent upon the positive fact that light propagates in straight lines, and, owing to this, the image formed by a lens is exactly similar to the object seen. Indeed, my thoughts in such fields and directions have led me to the conclusion that most all human knowledge is based on this simple truth, since practically every idea or conception — and therefore all knowledge — presupposes visual impressions. ”

“ Electrical science has disclosed to us the more intimate relation existing between widely different forces and phenomena and has thus led us to a more complete comprehension of Nature and its many manifestations to our senses. Electrical science, too, by its fascination, by its promises of immense realizations, of wonderful possibilities chiefly in humanitarian respects, has attracted the attention and enlisted the energies of the artist ”

“ This is quite in accordance with the fundamental law of motion, which commands acceleration and increase of momentum or accumulation of energy under the action of a continuously acting force and tendency, and is the more true as every advance weakens the elements tending to produce friction and retardation. For, after all, what is progress, or — more correctly — development, or evolution, if not a movement, infinitely complex and often unscrutinizable, it is true, but nevertheless exactly determined in quantity as well as in quality of motion by the physical conditions and laws governing? ”

“ We have to evolve means for obtaining energy from stores which are forever inexhaustible, to perfect methods which do not imply consumption and waste of any material whatever. Upon this great possibility, which I have long ago recognized, upon this great problem, the practical solution of which means so much for humanity, I have myself concentrated my efforts since a number of years, and a few happy ideas which came to me have inspired me to attempt the most difficult, and given me strength and courage in adversity. ”

“ It is a monument worthy of our scientific age, a true monument of enlightenment and of peace. It signifies the subjugation of natural forces to the service of man, the discontinuance of barbarous methods, the relieving of millions from want and suffering. ”

“ By reasons both of economy and convenience we are driven to the general adoption of a system of energy supply from central stations, and for such purposes the beauties of the mechanical generation of electricity can not be exaggerated. The advantages of this universally accepted method are certainly so great that the probability of replacing the engine dynamos by batteries is, in my opinion, a remote one, the more so as the high-pressure steam engine and gas engine give promise of a considerably more economical thermodynamic conversion. ”

“ If we want to reduce poverty and misery, if we want to give to every deserving individual what is needed for a safe existence of an intelligent being, we want to provide more machinery, more power. Power is our mainstay, the primary source of our many-sided energies. ”

“ While honoring the workers in other countries and all those who, by profession or inclination, are devoting themselves to strictly scientific pursuits, we have particular reasons to mention with gratitude the names of those who have so much contributed to this marvelous development of electrical industry in this country. Bell, who, by his admirable invention enabling us to transmit speech to great distances, has profoundly affected our commercial and social relations, and even our very mode of life ”

“ The engineer is turning his energies more and more in this direction, being attracted by the prospect of obtaining a higher thermodynamic efficiency. Much larger engines are now being built, the construction is constantly improved, and a novel type of engine, best suitable for the generation of electricity, is being rapidly evolved.
There are many other lines of manufacture and industry in which the influence of electrical development has been even more powerfully felt. ”

“ The high-frequency currents also bring us to the realization of a more economical system of lighting; namely by means of phosphorescent bulbs or tubes, and enable us to produce with these appliances light of practically any candle-power. Following other developments in purely electrical lines, we have all rejoiced in observing the rapid strides made, which, in quite recent years, have been beyond our most sanguine expectations. ”

“ The time will not be long in coming when those men who are turning their ingenuity to inventing quick-firing guns, torpedoes and other implements of destruction — all the while assuring you that it is for the love and good of humanity — will find no takers for their odious tools, and will realize that, had they used their inventive talent in other directions ”

“ In the great enterprise at Niagara we see not only a bold engineering and commercial feat, but far more, a giant stride in the right direction as indicated both by exact science and philanthropy. Its success is a signal for the utilization of water powers all over the world, and its influence upon industrial development is incalculable. ”

“ With ideas it is like with dizzy heights you climb: At first they cause you discomfort and you are anxious to get down, distrustful of your own powers; but soon the remoteness of the turmoil of life and the inspiring influence of the altitude calm your blood; your step gets firm and sure and you begin to look — for dizzier heights. ”

“ As to the energy supply in small isolated places as dwellings, I have placed my confidence in the development of a light storage battery, involving the use of chemicals manufactured by cheap water power, such as some carbide or oxygen-hydrogen cell.
But we shall not satisfy ourselves simply with improving steam and explosive engines or inventing new batteries; we have something much better to work for, a greater task to fulfill. ”

“ Gentlemen, there are a number of features clearly discernible in, and characteristic of, human intellectual progress in more recent times — features which afford great comfort to the minds of all those who have really at heart the advancement and welfare of mankind. ”

“ We have many a monument of past ages: we have the palaces and pyramids, the temples of the Greek and the cathedrals of Christendom. In them is exemplified the power of men, the greatness of nations, the love of art and religious devotion. ”

“ Through his influence types of men are now pressing forward, impelled by a deep love for their study, men who are doing wonders in their respective branches, whose chief aim and enjoyment is the acquisition and spread of knowledge, men who look far above earthly things, whose banner is Excelsior! Gentlemen, let us honor the artist ”

“ Having examined for a long time the possibilities of the development I refer to, namely, that of the operation of engines on any point of the earth by the energy of the medium, I find that even under the theoretically best conditions such a method of obtaining power can not equal in economy, simplicity and many other features the present method, involving a conversion fo the mechanical energy of running water into electrical energy and the transmission of the latter in the form of currents of very high tension to great distances. ”

“ With sufficient power at our disposal we can satisfy most of our wants and offer a guaranty for safe and comfortable existence to all, except perhaps to those who are the greatest criminals of all – the voluntarily idle. ”

“ There are pessimistic men, who, with anxious faces, continuously whisper in your ear that the nations are secretly arming — arming to the teeth; that they are going to pounce upon each other at a given signal and destroy themselves ”

“ There is another reason for the claim which I have before stated which is even more potent than the former, and that is the immense development in all electrical branches in more recent years and its influence upon other departments of science and industry. To illustrate this influence I only need to refer to the steam or gas engine. For more than half a century the steam engine has served the innumerable wants of man. ”

“ I wish much to tell you on this occasion — I may say I actually burn for desire of telling you — what electricity really is, but I have very strong reasons, which my coworkers will best appreciate, to follow a precedent established by a great and venerable philosopher, and I shall not dwell on this purely scientific aspect of electricity. ”

“ But if light would not propagate in accordance with the law mentioned, but in conformity with any other law which we might presently conceive, whereby not only the image might not bear any likeness to the object seen, but even the images of the same object at different times or distances might not resemble each other, then our knowledge of form would be very defective, for then we might see, for example, a three-cornered figure as a six or twelve-cornered one. ”

“ With the clear understanding of the mechanism and mode of action of our organs, we remove all doubts as to the reality and truth of the impressions received from the outside, and thus we bar out — forever, we may hope — that unhealthy speculation and skepticism into which formerly even strong minds were apt to fall. ”