09/05/2025
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Nikola Tesla: The First Jedi
From 1891 to 1893, Nikola Tesla gave three of the greatest lectures in scientific history. He performed experiments with alternating currents of very high frequency and left the world’s greatest engineers spellbound as he demonstrated a new theory of light. These public demonstrations made Tesla the true father of wireless power.
Throughout his investigations of alternating current and very high-frequency phenomena, Tesla concluded that light bulbs using carbon filaments were inferior—and that an electric field of sufficient intensity could be made to fill a room and light electrodeless vacuum tubes. This was done by connecting two large sheets of zinc to the terminals of the circuit, with the sheets spread about fifteen feet apart. The sheets served as condensers, and both received the charge of electricity from the wires connecting them to the transformer, creating an electric field between the two. Tesla would then introduce vacuum tubes and place them between the zinc sheets—illuminating the tubes and lighting the room. He waved the vacuum tubes wildly about, reminiscent of a Star Wars Jedi showcasing the very first lightsabers, and the tubes continued to glow as long as they remained within the electric field. This experiment was intended to illustrate the possibility of electrifying a room via metal plates in the ceiling or under the floor, and lighting vacuum tubes placed anywhere within a building—providing wireless light.
The electrical wizard accomplished this by upping the speed of his dynamo, transforming his alternating currents into a continuous flow of static currents. This allowed him to pass a large amount of energy from sheet to sheet—and even through his body—without any harm. To explain: direct currents carry an electric charge along a conductor that travels in a single direction, while the charge in AC alternates back and forth in waveform. Both are extremely dangerous! Static currents, on the other hand, are stationary, with no movement. Tesla would speed up his AC so fast that it would transform into a static current, allowing him to create an electrostatic field capable of lighting his wireless bulbs.
Tesla even showed how his system of alternating current was harmless. He passed a quarter of a million volts of electricity over his own body via the skin effect and felt nothing—in front of an audience. Shocking the fascinated crowd of spectators, he held a vacuum tube in one hand, touched his terminal with the other—which, according to the collective comprehension of electricity at that time, should have theoretically killed him. Tesla grabbed onto the terminal and made himself a conduit of electricity—and illuminated his vacuum tube. He also held balls of flame in his hands and shot bolts of electricity out of his fingertips. These experiments ironically showed that the greater the speed and strength of the electricity, the less it affects the human organism. Certain members of the crowd genuinely suspected he was doing the devil's work—and actually ran out of the building!
These amazing demonstrations dramatically set Tesla apart from the rest of the scientific world, and the inventor would be showered with various awards and invitations from all around the globe, persuading him to further share his work with an international audience.
(Copyright: Dr. Nikola Tesla)
