Major Tesla Documentary On PBS

This item is being written in late October so it will be old news by the time you read it. An advance notice received here announced the scheduling of Robert Uth's long awaited Tesla documentary: TESLA, MASTER OF LIGHTNING on PBS for December 12, 2000. If by now you do not have this documentary, you may obtain more information about its availability by phoning Mike Noble of New Voyage Communications at 202, 234-0608, or e-mail: [email protected]. Photos and all print materials will be accessible at www.pbs.org/pressroom and additional photos at www.newvoyagepublishing.com. I expect that this documentary will be available through the PBS Video Catalog at some future time.

'The Mystery of Genius (Masters & Madmen)'

The A&E Channel ran a 100 minute documentary on people who demonstrated to have an extraordinary mind (irregardless as to whether it was used for good or evil). Among the inventors featured are Edwin H. Armstrong (FM & radio circuitry), Lee De Forest (triode vacuum tube), and Nikola Tesla (father of our system of alternating current). Although each was given but a brief description, Tesla was presented in a good light (for a change).

Particularly interesting is the fact that the Tesla section was prefaced with a very brief clip from one of Hollywood's mad scientist's electrical laboratories (is this a coincidence?). I immediately recognized the apparatus as having been constructed and used by Kenneth Strickfaden. The clip served to strengthen my contention that one or more of Strickfaden's lectures may exist on motion picture film. The A&E documentary is available on video for $29.95 + shipping (1-888-423-1212).

'Profiles of Power & Success (Fourteen Geniuses Who Broke the Rules)'

How do creativity and entrepreneurial genius emerge? Are they acquired or inherited? In PROFILES OF POWER & SUCCESS, psychologist Gene Landrum presents a psychobiographical analysis of fourteen individuals who rose to the top of their professions while changing the world in the process. Among the visionaries analyzed is one Nikola Tesla. Anyone with an interest in delving into Tesla's mind will find Chapter 8 “Obsessive Will & Manic Energy: Nikola Tesla & Adolf Hitler” captivating reading (Prometheus Books 1916, ISBN 1-57392-052-5. Editor's comment: Some errors do exist in regard to historical fact.

'Strange Brains & Genius (The Secret Lives of Eccentric Scientists & Madmen)'

Clifford A. Pickover, a prolific writer on technical matters, has included Nikola Tesla in his analysis of the lives of eccentric scientists. Particularly interesting is the comparison of analytical data between the Landrum and Pickover books. Some of the personality disorders attributed to Tesla in the two books differ. But the authors agree that Tesla both benefited and suffered from one or more forms of personality disorders. Plenum Publishing Corp. 1998 ISBN 0-688-16894-9.

'Non-Academics Get Nobel Cold Shoulder'

A letter in the October 17 issue of The Wall Street Journal regarding the overlooking of non-academic scientists by the Swedish Academy's Nobel Prize committee prompted another letter by Dr. James P. Siepmann, head of R&D of the high tech company LightTime (The Wall St. Journal, October 23). “Probably the greatest inventor of the past century is “the likewise academically ignored Nikola Tesla, who invented the AC electric motor, the radio (not Marconi, as most believe), the electric turbine, and numerous other inventions that we would be lost without. He fought Thomas Edison...as Edison wanted the inefficient DC, which would have kept us from having the technological revolution we had this past century.” (tip from Robert W. Schiemel)