Outshone Archimedes, Edison and Faraday

Dr. Nikola Tesla's Last Patent Was Issued By United States Back In 1928

High Tension Current Transmission Due To Genius Of World's Greatest Inventor

By Adam Sudetic, Member, Lodge 519

DETROIT, Mich. — One of the numerous friends and great admirers of the late Dr. Nikola Tesla was Mr. Hugo Gernsback, editor and publisher of the famous, widely read publication "Electrical Experimenter."

To the best of the writer's knowledge, this publication was the only one which succeeded in gaining Tesla's consent to publish his autobiography. He also cooperated with the publishers in the undertaking and eventually saw the famed work appear under the title "My Inventions."

With the consent and cooperation of Mr. Gernsback, I translated this work into the Croatian language and published it in "Slobodna Misao" in 1926 on the occasion of Dr. Tesla's 70th birthday.

The translation proved to be quite a task, but the pleasure I derived from the end result more than repaid me for the hours spent in the translating.

Tribute Paid In 1919

In his announcement in "Electrical Experimenter" in January of 1919, which introduced the publication of "My Inventions," Mr. Gernsback said:

"Ninety percent of the entire electrical industry pays tribute to his (Tesla's) genius. All electrical machinery using or generating alternating current is due to Tesla.

"High tension current transmission, without which our long distance trolley cars, our electrical lines, our subways would be impossible, is due to the genius of Tesla. The Tesla Induction Motor, the Tesla Rotary Converter, the Tesla Phase System of Power Transmission, the Tesla Steam and Gas Turbine and the Tesla Coil and Oscillation Transformer are perhaps his better known inventions."

Greatest Of Them All

In that same issue of 1919 one will find the following tribute:

"Nikola Tesla, in the opinion of authorities, today is conceded to be the greatest inventor of all time.

"Tesla has more original inventions to his credit than any other man in history. He is considered greater than Archimedes, Faraday, or Edison.

His basic, as well as revolutionary, discoveries for sheer audacity have no equal in the annals of the world. His master mind is easily one of the seven wonders of the intellectual world."

Why Is Name Missing?

To scientists, technicians, particularly in the field of electricity, electronics, etc., as well as to students, the great name of Dr. Nikola Tesla is well known and they are familiar with his discoveries and inventions.

But what puzzles the average person is: Why is it that Tesla's name is not seen anywhere on his inventions? For example, why is it that his name is not engraved on a little brass or copper plate attached to a motor, such as one may find the name of Edison or Westinghouse, or some other firm, in industry?

This I cannot answer. But we all know that Tesla's discoveries and inventions are almost endless. Permit me to enumerate here only a few of them.

The Tesla two-phase, three-phase, multi-phase, poly-phase system of power transmission; the Tesla principle; the Tesla rotating magnetic field; and the Tesla rotating magnetic field transformer.

Then there is the Tesla induction motor, the Tesla split-phase motor, the Tesla system of distribution, the Tesla rotary transformer, the Tesla system of transformation by condenser discharges, and the Tesla coil.

Efforts Almost Endless

Continuing, there is the Tesla oscillation transformer, the Tesla electrical oscillator, the Tesla mechanical oscillator, and Tesla high frequency machines.

And the Tesla dynamoelectric oscillator, the Tesla tube, the Tesla lamp, the Tesla high-potential methods, the Tesla inductor, the Tesla marvels, the Tesla impendence phenomena, the Tesla electrotherapy, the Tesla electrical massage, the Tesla currents, the Tesla transmission, the Tesla experiments and the Tesla capacity.

Not to mention the Tesla arc light system, the Tesla third brush regulation, the Tesla devices, the Tesla sparks, the Tesla arrangements, the Tesla theory, the Tesla point, the Tesla steam turbine, the Tesla gas turbine and the Tesla water turbine.

Nor to forget the Tesla pump, the Tesla compressor, the Tesla igniter, the Tesla condensers, the Tesla electrostatic field and the Tesla effects.

Last Official Patent

Then there is the Tesla wireless system, a great thing in itself.

And the Tesla methods of wireless transmission, the Tesla magnifying transmitter, the Tesla Telautomata, Tesla insulation, Tesla underground transmission, etc., etc.

Tesla's last patent, issued by the United States Patents Office, as listed in the "Bibliography" compiled by Mr. Leland I. Anderson and published by the Tesla Society in January, 1954, is: Apparatus for Aerial Transportation — No. 1,655,114. Date: January 3, 1928.

That was exactly fifteen years prior to the passing of this genius.