Nikola Tesla Books
CHAPTER NINE U.S. Air Force. If a fireball indeed contains a very high-temperature reaction which can hold itself together for several minutes, then it could contain an important clue for thermonuclear power development. Thermonuclear power, or nuclear fusion, is one of the power sources projected for the future. Fusion can generate far more energy than conventional nuclear power (fission) and its raw material is abundant - hydrogen from sea water. It is not too difficult to begin the fusing reaction but the problem is that of containing it and preventing the hot reacting gases from flying apart. Most research has been focused on keeping the high-temperature gases together for a fraction of a second using 'magnetic bottles'. But despite the money pumped into the project both in the U.S. and U.S.S.R., actual energy production lies far into the future. The problem of containment or stability was proving far too difficult. But supposing that nature had discovered a way to control such an intense reaction? I could see not only the U.S. Air Force becoming interested in fireballs, for they could be a living example of a new field of physics. I realized that in one sense Tesla's invention had proved a great success. It enabled very high voltages to be generated, sufficient to study this new and curious phenomenon of nature. But the success of the Tesla transmitter in generating fireballs was still a far cry from anything to do with power transmission. After I had finished making notes on my conversation with Golka I began to read about Tesla's first years in the States and realized that I was seeing yet another facet of his character - Nikola Tesla, businessman. Towards the end of the century Thomas Edison had cornered the market in the commercial development of electrical power. With the opening of his public power station on September 4, 1882, in New York City, the Edison system seemed destined to be installed in every American town. Edison himself had developed a power generation and supply system which was based on low-voltage direct current and even in the face of Tesla's new invention he was to cling stubbornly to his original ideas. The main problem with direct current supply at the turn of the century was that it could only be generated at low voltages. Unlike alternating current, which can be stepped up by transformer, DC could not be increased in voltage. 82
