Tesla's Black Box, fact or fantasy

[lighty]

There's one of the problems I have with the story. Since when did Tesla have a nephew?

Since always. Tesla had three sisters.

[boguslaw]

Did Tesla has children ?

[lighty]

Not officially. There is some indication in the FBI files on Tesla released under FOIA that there was a person indicated as Tesla's son. However it's all unsubstantiated rumors. The fact is that most of his student days Tesla spent with his friends in Budapest where he enjoy long nights, alcohol and gambling. Most likely he enjoyed a company of girls. Or not.

There is a lot of BS written on Tesla. I've read most of his personal corespondence available to public and he was not so holly and perfect as one might think reading Cheney's book. His attitude toward women was conservative (one should really read his letters to his widowed sister). His political views were conservative as well. He was also a compulsive gambler in his youth and the only reason he came to US broken was the fact that he gambled most of his earnings during his voyage.

As I said, people in FE community made him into some sort of all knowing godlike-engineer. He was extremely talented and knowledgeable but he was also wrong in number of things regarding physics. Especially in his later years. People connect them to everything- they even connect him with so called "Philadelphia experiment". Most of it is pure BS.

That doesn't mean one should not respect him. Hell, if I was not admiring his work I wouldn't produce all the stuff I did for the Tesla memorial center in Smiljan. Nevertheless, one should be discriminate when evaluating his work and claims. He was but a mortal like you and I.

[Stealth]

Sometimes I think we try to overcomplicate the things others do. In Tesla's case this may also be true. He may have operated his car on pure radiant energy as was claimed. But could he not have had a trunk full of batterys and his black box was a converter/charger. Tesla switch? He may have deveolped a more advanced unit then was in his patent. Did his nephew look in the trunk? He stated the motor HP,RPM,and voltage. If he knew all that, then he definitely had looked under the hood, but he may not have been shown anything else. Tesla probably didn't reveal any more details as to the operation of the vehicle for fear of having it revealed to other scientists or the media. It's just a theory I have, and another possiblity.
Stealth

[Aromaz]

Tesla - The Man of the Day

As for the complete story about the car - I think it was a hoax by someone else than Tesla. To date I never saw anything mentioned by himself regarding such car - and for sure he would have talked about it. Tesla was always serious in persuit of vanity.

There is no doubt that N. Tesla was a genius, far ahead of his time. Yes, he was also somewhat of a mean person - not the softhearted gentle person often reflected. I am the first to say that I which I had some of his abilities, but I am also happy to know there are some of his traits I do not have.

However, there is one critically important mistake we all do today. We are seeking to copy Tesla’s work and we are seeking to understand how he did things. What we miss is an important reference Tesla himself often made:

“ I saw things” “It came to me in a dream”

This alone is indication to us that whatever Tesla did originally was conceived elsewhere and he was only the instrument to make it a reality. How far we can take this, I do not know. But I am sure we should seek access to the powers that was behind the man Tesla.