Tesla's Lecture in Paris

It appears sometimes as though there was an opinion abroad that Americans, though practical, are not patient, scientific investigators. It is true we do not spend our time with such matters as calculating π to 300 decimal places, a thing which we understand one of our European cousins has accomplished, and if he expects praise from us he will be disappointed, as we can admire nothing but his patience. Nor do we spend our time in working out with great care abstruse matters that do not promise some useful results. There is generally to be seen in the work of our investigators the desire to get at some practical result which can be turned to use in the industries, and it is therefore probably often the case that such investigations are not made public until some practically useful results have been arrived at. Mr. Tesla's researches are a good illustration of the nature of the work done by one of our investigators, and they certainly may be classed with the most useful and novel researches made abroad. Judging from the great interest which they have awakened abroad, they are regarded there also as among the most novel, interesting and promising of all recent investigations. They differ from many European researches in that they open up a new field in which it certainly looks as if some highly useful and practical results could be attained. There are difficulties in the way, but, though great, they are apparently not regarded as discouraging to this indefatigable investigator. That our present method of generating light is even less economical than the generation of power by means of the steam engine is well known to those who have studied the efficiencies of our light-producing devices. The arc light is at present the most economical method known, of those commercially in use, but even this leaves a tempting field for the investigator to discover improvements. The firefly and other organic generators of the "ideal" light have shown us that there is a way of generating light economically and without the accompaniment of useless and expensive heat. Mr. Tesla's researches appear to point out the direction in which we may approach this ideal; he has, in fact, already produced a bright light by a new method. How efficient it is does not seem to have been determined yet, but as it appears to approach the ideal "cold light," it probably will prove to be much more economical than the forms used at present. It remains, still, to make it practically applicable. Let us hope he will soon accomplish this also.