Nikola Tesla and His Works - On the Occassion of the Eightieth Anniversary Page 18

Then a long, well-shaped nose that reveals a scientist.” [17].

Tesla is a unique inventive genius. Endowed with creative imagination, great intuition, and the instinct to sense and grasp truths on one hand, unusually skillful and adept to technically implement them on the other hand, Tesla has contributed invaluable works to humanity. In his work, he had no assistance from any side. He did not have a secured existence, nor laboratories available for peaceful work. He did not even have the support of the nation, as his homeland was under foreign rule at that time. Everything he needed, he had to procure for himself. Tesla carried the idea of the rotating magnetic field within him for five full years, lacking the means to apply it and build a new motor. After numerous attempts, in which he invested an incredible amount of effort, he finally found a way to give humanity the most perfect electric motor. Tesla is a divinely gifted inventor. An idealist as well. He worked with love for technology, selflessly and for the common good. For his discoveries, he received over a million dollars, and he spent all that money on further research. “We cannot,” says Yugoslav professor Vidmar, “classify Tesla as a normal, successful, great electrical engineer. Tesla is a poet of electrotechnics, an artist if you would like. Tesla was overflowing with ideas, to the point that he could not perform the ordinary duties of an engineer. His intuition is enormous, his insight into natural mysteries is dreadful. His head - the world was too small for it, his fantasy - for it, the enterprise of America was too small!” [18].

During his visit to Belgrade in 1892, Tesla, in a banquet organized in his honor by the Belgrade municipality, said: “In me, there is something that may be deceiving, as is often the case with enthusiastic young people; but if I am fortunate enough to realize some of my ideals, it will be a benefit for all humanity. If my hopes come true, the sweetest thought for me will be that it was the work of a Serbian...”

Tesla realized the dreams of his youth. Tesla gave humanity great works that amazed the whole world. His deeds fill us, Yugoslavs, with pride because through them, the Yugoslav people paid their worthy tribute to the construction of today’s science and technology.

Belgrade,

Vladislav Đ. Jovanović