The 1994 International Tesla Symposium

The International Tesla Symposiums are held on even-numbered years in Colorado Springs, sponsored by the International Tesla Society headquartered there. The symposiums began in 1984 - the 100th anniversary of Tesla’s arrival in America. This year’s Symposium, running from July 21-24, was a bubbly affair. At the opening session, Drenka Dobrosavljevic, a journalist from Novi Sad covering the Symposium, was introduced.

The first speaker, James Hardesty, spoke on static machines, the development of vacuum technology, and the discovery of X-Rays. He mentioned a book to be published this fall on Tesla’s unpublished work in early X-Ray research. At this session, Hardesty donated an early Wimshurst static machine demonstrated in his talk to the ever-growing Tesla Museum of Science and Technology operated by the Society.

Dr. Marc Seifer spoke on Tesla’s “lost years” - the last 25 years of his life for which very little has been written. Seifer is the author of a three-volume biographical study on Tesla, entitled the Tesla Trilogy, which will soon be published.

Professors Franz Pichler and Augustinus Asenbaum from Austria spoke on Tesla’s studies at the Polytechnical Schools of Graz and Prague and showed slides of the high grade reports that Tesla achieved in physics, mathematics, philosophy, and engineering.

Dr. James Corum and his brother, Kenneth, together with Dr. J.F.X. Daum presented a series of papers on Tesla’s early experimental work. The detectors that Tesla designed and used at his experimental station in Colorado Springs in 1899 were reconstructed from Tesla’s Colorado Springs Notes and demonstrated at the Symposium showing that he was a leader in the invention of radio detectors later “rediscovered” by others.

Richard Hull talked about “Tesla magnifiers,” producing the extraordinary results that Tesla achieved at this experimental station, which has taken engineers studying Tesla’s work the past 85 years to provide an operational analysis. After Hull’s presentation, the bookstore immediately sold out its stock of his new book, The Tesla Coil Builder’s Guide to The Colorado Springs Notes of Nikola Tesla.

Dr. Rastko Maglic, who was visiting professor at Novi Sad until May of this year, presented a paper on optical computer technology. It was in Novi Sad that he met Drenka Dobrosavljevic and encouraged her to cover the Symposium for the news media in Serbia.

These were some of the 24 varied papers presented at the Symposium which are all available on video cassette as well as in the Symposium Proceedings.

What started out to be the best Symposium that has been held to date, with the largest attendance, ended in disappointment. Bill Wysock’s “Great American Electric Show,” with his large magnifier coil system capable of throwing 50-foot discharges, was canceled because of an intense, sudden hail storm that filled the electrical switchgear cabinet with water as well as damaging some portions of the coil system. The coil system was shipped from California in a larger 18-wheeler, and cranes were used to set up the system components at a local outdoor arena. It was impossible to repair the damage for Sunday evening (July 24) following the conclusion of the Symposium.

For those interested in further information about the International Tesla Society, contact:

Mr. J. W. McGinnis, President
International Tesla Society P.O. Box 5636
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80931
Phone: (719) 475-0918