Tesla coil explanation?

[LRW]

Hi.
A couple of years ago I saw, I think it was an A&E Biography on Tesla.
I was fascinated! I had no idea he was responsible for so much, and so
forgotten despite all he did and the ideas he had that seem
revolutionary.

Anyway, I remember something about an idea for using Tesla coils to
transmit electricity safely through the air long distances, instead of
using powerlines. I tried to explain it to someone, and completely
fell on my face because I don't quite remember what it was about.

If this sounds familiar to anyone, could someone point me to a Web
site that might explain this? I did a Google search, and came up with
some interesting tidbits (like the Tesla-Westinghouse AC vs. Edison's
DC,) and general info on Tesla coils...but nothing about his ideas for
using it to power cities.

Thanks for any help!!
Liam
druid at celticbear dot com

 

[Don Bruder]

Hi.
A couple of years ago I saw, I think it was an A&E Biography on Tesla.
I was fascinated! I had no idea he was responsible for so much, and so
forgotten despite all he did and the ideas he had that seem
revolutionary.

Anyway, I remember something about an idea for using Tesla coils to
transmit electricity safely through the air long distances, instead of
using powerlines. I tried to explain it to someone, and completely
fell on my face because I don't quite remember what it was about.

If this sounds familiar to anyone, could someone point me to a Web
site that might explain this? I did a Google search, and came up with
some interesting tidbits (like the Tesla-Westinghouse AC vs. Edison's
DC,) and general info on Tesla coils...but nothing about his ideas for
using it to power cities.

Thanks for any help!!
Liam
druid at celticbear dot com

You didn't find anything 'cause you're basically looking for hen's
teeth...

Tesla never told anybody (or if he did, they aren't talking about it,
even today) the precise "how it's supposed to work" of his wireless
power system. He went broke before the prototype tower was completed,
and after his death, with nobody knowing how it was supposed to work,
the tower was dismantled and sold for scrap. All we know *FOR CERTAIN*
is that the system involved a bizarre-looking copper-domed tower for
transmitting. Only Tesla himself knew exactly what was intended to go
into the tower, and since he ran out of money before the tower was to
the point where the gear could be moved in, let alone hooked up, nobody
(to my knowledge) ever even saw what he had planned for the innards of
the thing.

One speculation says that the Tunguska Blast *MAY* have been caused by
Tesla's initial testing of a new weapon based on the same "wireless
power" technology, but that one's rather a stretch, at least based on
the "evidence" I've seen put forward to support it. At least one
"sub-theory" of this particular speculation says that the blast happened
because he aimed the device incorrectly - Supposedly, he was shooting at
the north pole, with the goal of cracking the polar ice cap as a "high
visibility, low actual damage result", but overshot into Russia and
leveled hundreds, even thousands, of acres of forestland (and probably a
few reindeer) in a kaboom literally heard 'round the world.

 

[R]

One speculation says that the Tunguska Blast *MAY* have been caused by
Tesla's initial testing of a new weapon based on the same "wireless
power" technology, but that one's rather a stretch, at least based on
the "evidence" I've seen put forward to support it. At least one
"sub-theory" of this particular speculation says that the blast happened
because he aimed the device incorrectly - Supposedly, he was shooting at
the north pole, with the goal of cracking the polar ice cap as a "high
visibility, low actual damage result", but overshot into Russia and
leveled hundreds, even thousands, of acres of forestland (and probably a
few reindeer) in a kaboom literally heard 'round the world.

Hehehehe.... ROFLMAO... this really made my day. Surely this is some strange
mix-up with Jules Verne though

 

[Don Bruder]

Hehehehe.... ROFLMAO... this really made my day. Surely this is some strange
mix-up with Jules Verne though

Nope... zero Jules Verne involved. In the speculation, that is... Tesla
himself made claims that he had a new weapon system that would eliminate
the very possibility of war, it was so overpowering. One shot, and any
agressor would basically vanish from the map. From commentary on some
equations in the fragments of his notes (equations which may or may not
have actually pertained to the device in question - Again, nobody seems
to know for sure) it's been estimated that the energy output of a hit
from this thing would make Little Boy and Fat Man (The two nukes that
we dropped on Japan) TOGETHER look like a single kitchen match being
struck at the bottom of a lake. He definitely had *SOMETHING*
weapon-like, but to the best of my knowing, he never actually "went
public" with either the device, or the details involved. Best guess that
anybody has is that it was in his Colorado Springs facility. Nobody
seems to be at all sure, though. Certainly, his Colorado Springs lab
produced a whole bunch of "interesting toys". Unfortunately (or maybe
fortunately?) it's my understanding that his creditors descended on the
lab after his death like buzzards on a carcass, and basically dismantled
things without any kind of concern for what devices might have been in
it, including his "big gun" coil (the 20-something footer that would
throw lightning bolts several hundred feet) then sold the stuff off for
junk, forever bollixing any hope of knowing for certain what he had
actually come up with. The man was a genius, and secretive to the point
of paranoia, but if he actually cooked up a weapon that could make a
nuke look tame, I guess it isn't really paranoia to want to keep it on
the quiet...

 

[R. Steve Walz]

Nope... zero Jules Verne involved. In the speculation, that is... Tesla
himself made claims that he had a new weapon system that would eliminate
the very possibility of war, it was so overpowering. One shot, and any
agressor would basically vanish from the map. From commentary on some
equations in the fragments of his notes (equations which may or may not
have actually pertained to the device in question - Again, nobody seems
to know for sure)

-----------
OH yes we do, Tesla became a fruitcake in his later years, producing
nothing that worked and blathering delusions.

it's been estimated that the energy output of a hit
from this thing would make Little Boy and Fat Man (The two nukes that
we dropped on Japan) TOGETHER look like a single kitchen match being
struck at the bottom of a lake. He definitely had *SOMETHING*
weapon-like, but to the best of my knowing, he never actually "went
public" with either the device, or the details involved. []
Don Bruder

 

[Modat22]

Nope... zero Jules Verne involved. In the speculation, that is... Tesla
himself made claims that he had a new weapon system that would eliminate
the very possibility of war, it was so overpowering. One shot, and any
agressor would basically vanish from the map. From commentary on some
equations in the fragments of his notes (equations which may or may not
have actually pertained to the device in question - Again, nobody seems
to know for sure)

-----------
OH yes we do, Tesla became a fruitcake in his later years, producing
nothing that worked and blathering delusions.

it's been estimated that the energy output of a hit
from this thing would make Little Boy and Fat Man (The two nukes that
we dropped on Japan) TOGETHER look like a single kitchen match being
struck at the bottom of a lake. He definitely had *SOMETHING*
weapon-like, but to the best of my knowing, he never actually "went
public" with either the device, or the details involved. []
Don Bruder

---------------
That's nothing but insane schizophrenic asinine Tesla-worship.
It's garbage anti-science, and nothing else.

-Steve

Didn't Telsa come up with the idea of using rarified air (excited with
UV) as a method of transmitting energy wirelessly? There is
experimenting happening now with the use of UV lasers in wireless stun
guns (currently the size of a suit case)

From what I remember reading about Telsa his weapon idea was based on
building up a charge in the upper atmosphere and releasing it using a
rarified air streamer to the ground.

I'm babbling. Still I've never seen any proof of this stuff so its SCI
FI

 

[exxos]

Hi.
A couple of years ago I saw, I think it was an A&E Biography on Tesla.
I was fascinated! I had no idea he was responsible for so much, and so
forgotten despite all he did and the ideas he had that seem
revolutionary.

Anyway, I remember something about an idea for using Tesla coils to
transmit electricity safely through the air long distances, instead of
using powerlines. I tried to explain it to someone, and completely
fell on my face because I don't quite remember what it was about.

If this sounds familiar to anyone, could someone point me to a Web
site that might explain this? I did a Google search, and came up with
some interesting tidbits (like the Tesla-Westinghouse AC vs. Edison's
DC,) and general info on Tesla coils...but nothing about his ideas for
using it to power cities.

Thanks for any help!!
Liam
druid at celticbear dot com

Tesla firstly used tubes filled of gas instead of wires to transmitt power,
though the word "Transmit" is really the wrong word for it. Latter Tesla
moved to "high grounds" and found that the air itself broke down under the
correct conditions. Tesla did "transmitt" the power, though not by what we
would think, it was "conduction" though the air not "transmitt though the
air". A common mistake.

Chris

 

[LRW]

I'm babbling. Still I've never seen any proof of this stuff so its SCI
FI

Wow, some pretty cool stuff.
But so, I assume, there's really no info on the theory/plans to power
towns by using wireless electricity streams, or something like that?
I could have sworn A&E's Biography mentioned it.
Guess I'll have to go buy the tape or something.
=)
OK, carry on. Now about this laser-like weapon using a rareified air
stream?

 

[Harry Conover]

"Modat22" wrote ...

Not clear that if it was ever "practical", it would have been compatible
with electro-magnetic (RF) communication as we use it extensively
today.

Sadly, it is pretty well documented that Tesla was a genius during his
youth, but lost it and went arguably insane in his later years. More
sad still is the fact that many of his fans tend to focus, not on his
productive years, but on his more silly ideas that reflect on his
profound lack of knowledge of electromagnetic field theory.

Harry C.

 

[Charles Schuler]

Hi.
A couple of years ago I saw, I think it was an A&E Biography on Tesla.
I was fascinated! I had no idea he was responsible for so much, and so
forgotten despite all he did and the ideas he had that seem
revolutionary.

Anyway, I remember something about an idea for using Tesla coils to
transmit electricity safely through the air long distances, instead of
using powerlines. I tried to explain it to someone, and completely
fell on my face because I don't quite remember what it was about.

If this sounds familiar to anyone, could someone point me to a Web
site that might explain this? I did a Google search, and came up with
some interesting tidbits (like the Tesla-Westinghouse AC vs. Edison's
DC,) and general info on Tesla coils...but nothing about his ideas for
using it to power cities.

Tesla has a following of pseudo science groupies. The inverse square law
and other physical constraints make this form of energy transfer far less
than practical for high power applications. As we know, it works great for
radio, TV, GPS, etc. He was a weird genius (redundant ?) and often at odds
with folks like Edison and perhaps said some strange things in public while
embroiled in bitter battles. Unfortunately, it seems that we are stuck with
50/60 Hz and transmission lines on high towers for the foreseeable future.

 

[R. Steve Walz]

On Monday 15 September 2003 19:45, Don Bruder wrote:

One speculation says that the Tunguska Blast *MAY* have been caused by
Tesla's initial testing of a new weapon based on the same "wireless
power" technology, but that one's rather a stretch, at least based on
the "evidence" I've seen put forward to support it. At least one
"sub-theory" of this particular speculation says that the blast happened
because he aimed the device incorrectly - Supposedly, he was shooting at
the north pole, with the goal of cracking the polar ice cap as a "high
visibility, low actual damage result", but overshot into Russia and
leveled hundreds, even thousands, of acres of forestland (and probably a
few reindeer) in a kaboom literally heard 'round the world.



Hehehehe.... ROFLMAO... this really made my day. Surely this is some strange
mix-up with Jules Verne though

Nope... zero Jules Verne involved. In the speculation, that is... Tesla
himself made claims that he had a new weapon system that would eliminate
the very possibility of war, it was so overpowering. One shot, and any
agressor would basically vanish from the map. From commentary on some
equations in the fragments of his notes (equations which may or may not
have actually pertained to the device in question - Again, nobody seems
to know for sure)

-----------
OH yes we do, Tesla became a fruitcake in his later years, producing
nothing that worked and blathering delusions.

it's been estimated that the energy output of a hit
from this thing would make Little Boy and Fat Man (The two nukes that
we dropped on Japan) TOGETHER look like a single kitchen match being
struck at the bottom of a lake. He definitely had *SOMETHING*
weapon-like, but to the best of my knowing, he never actually "went
public" with either the device, or the details involved. []
Don Bruder

---------------
That's nothing but insane schizophrenic asinine Tesla-worship.
It's garbage anti-science, and nothing else.

-Steve

Didn't Telsa come up with the idea of using rarified air (excited with
UV) as a method of transmitting energy wirelessly? There is
experimenting happening now with the use of UV lasers in wireless stun
guns (currently the size of a suit case)

From what I remember reading about Telsa his weapon idea was based on
building up a charge in the upper atmosphere and releasing it using a
rarified air streamer to the ground.

I'm babbling. Still I've never seen any proof of this stuff so its SCI
FI

 

[R. Steve Walz]

Sadly, it is pretty well documented that Tesla was a genius during his
youth, but lost it and went arguably insane in his later years. More
sad still is the fact that many of his fans tend to focus, not on his
productive years, but on his more silly ideas that reflect on his
profound lack of knowledge of electromagnetic field theory.

Harry C.

--------------
Yup. A real nutcake late in life, and the insane paranoid conspiracy
fixated antiscientific-schizophrenic fruit and nutcake Tesla-ites are
attracted to him like bugs to a light. It's like these cranks can
find each other's craziness wherever they are like a funny smell only
they can smell. They can sense other crazies and it attracts them
beyond their ability to decipher and separate truth from delusion.

-Steve

 

[R. Steve Walz]

Wow, some pretty cool stuff.

-------------
No, delusion and insanity.

But so, I assume, there's really no info on the theory/plans to power
towns by using wireless electricity streams, or something like that?

-------------------------
Doesn't exist, go learn real physics so you'll know better. There aren't
any "conspiracies" in science, it's too wide open.

I could have sworn A&E's Biography mentioned it.

---------------
Stop believing shit you see on TV, it is meant to attract little nuts
like you for ratings, it isn't true.

Guess I'll have to go buy the tape or something.
=)
OK, carry on. Now about this laser-like weapon using a rareified air
stream?

-------------------------
Garbage. The problem with sci-fi is that it halfways sounds like the
stuff they discover later actually works, and it makes paranoid fools
think that anything vaguely real-sounding is a "great discovery" that
is being suppressed by "the powers that be"!

Ever hear of the flux capacitor? Go watch 'Back to the Future'.
-Steve

 

[LRW]

-------------
No, delusion and insanity.

-------------------------
Doesn't exist, go learn real physics so you'll know better. There aren't
any "conspiracies" in science, it's too wide open. -snip-
Stop believing shit you see on TV, it is meant to attract little nuts
like you for ratings, it isn't true. -snip-
-------------------------
Garbage. The problem with sci-fi is that it halfways sounds like the
stuff they discover later actually works, and it makes paranoid fools
think that anything vaguely real-sounding is a "great discovery" that
is being suppressed by "the powers that be"!

Ever hear of the flux capacitor? Go watch 'Back to the Future'.
-Steve

Whoa, Steve! Chill. I think you're confusing me with a zealot or
something. I simply asked about something I saw on TV not proporting
its truth, but to ask if it's true and if so, to get some real info on
it. If the info I get here leads me to the conclusion it's simply
"shit I saw on TV", then this "little nut" (who is just CRRAAAZY
enough to try to get actual info on something, wow, that's just NUTS!)
will not believe in it.

I unfortunately squandered my education on BA's and my career in Web
design, so not being a trained physicist the best I can do is hear
something on TV or read about it in a book or online, and then go out
and look for more information.
I'm not trusting A&E's Biography, that crazy insane show for
conspiracy theorists that 100% wrong, (sarcasm, Steve,) for all my
news and education. I came on here asking about it so educated people
(note I came to sci.electronics.misc and not
alt.crazy.ideas.that.are.wrong) hoping to get good info from
knowledgeable people in the field of electronics to explain to me why
it's right or wrong and possibly where to go for more info.

Are the personal insults really necessary?

And I'll admit in text my "OK, carry on. Now about this laser-like
weapon using a rareified air stream?" didn't sound as light-hearted as
it was meant and I don't blame you for taking it like I really wanted
more info on it as if I believed it to be fact. I forgot the smillie
at the end, I guess.
But it does sound interesting from a sci-fi scense, which isn't a bad
thing.
Remember, sci-fi can be very entertaining. Asimiov and Arthur C. Clark
and even Carl Sagan who's had his hand in writing some sci-fi would
probably have some issues with your implication that sci-fi is
"garbage."

Anyway, without matching rant with flame, I hope I politely and
respectfuly expressed my shock and surprise as well as umbridge with
your rather insulting and acerbic tone regarding my quest for accurate
information, and interest in fanciful sci-fi.

Thanks!
Liam

 

[Modat22]

Whoa, Steve! Chill. I think you're confusing me with a zealot or
something. I simply asked about something I saw on TV not proporting
its truth, but to ask if it's true and if so, to get some real info on
it. If the info I get here leads me to the conclusion it's simply
"shit I saw on TV", then this "little nut" (who is just CRRAAAZY
enough to try to get actual info on something, wow, that's just NUTS!)
will not believe in it.

I unfortunately squandered my education on BA's and my career in Web
design, so not being a trained physicist the best I can do is hear
something on TV or read about it in a book or online, and then go out
and look for more information.
I'm not trusting A&E's Biography, that crazy insane show for
conspiracy theorists that 100% wrong, (sarcasm, Steve,) for all my
news and education. I came on here asking about it so educated people
(note I came to sci.electronics.misc and not
alt.crazy.ideas.that.are.wrong) hoping to get good info from
knowledgeable people in the field of electronics to explain to me why
it's right or wrong and possibly where to go for more info.

Are the personal insults really necessary?

And I'll admit in text my "OK, carry on. Now about this laser-like
weapon using a rareified air stream?" didn't sound as light-hearted as
it was meant and I don't blame you for taking it like I really wanted
more info on it as if I believed it to be fact. I forgot the smillie
at the end, I guess.
But it does sound interesting from a sci-fi scense, which isn't a bad
thing.
Remember, sci-fi can be very entertaining. Asimiov and Arthur C. Clark
and even Carl Sagan who's had his hand in writing some sci-fi would
probably have some issues with your implication that sci-fi is
"garbage."

Anyway, without matching rant with flame, I hope I politely and
respectfuly expressed my shock and surprise as well as umbridge with
your rather insulting and acerbic tone regarding my quest for accurate
information, and interest in fanciful sci-fi.

Thanks!
Liam

Often it is the person with a crazy idea or slight insanity that
discovers an amazing new discovery. I wouldn't knock any ones ideas,
though there are a few I'd call nut cakes to myself. I love telsa
coils, ion floaters, and TT Brown's stuff on the internet. The most
enjoyable part is looking at the junk and figuring out what was really
happening.

But I must say that if I see a person wearing an aluminum foil cap on
your head I might look at you funny.

 

[R. Steve Walz]

Whoa, Steve! Chill. I think you're confusing me with a zealot or
something. I simply asked about something I saw on TV not proporting
its truth, but to ask if it's true and if so, to get some real info on
it. If the info I get here leads me to the conclusion it's simply
"shit I saw on TV", then this "little nut" (who is just CRRAAAZY
enough to try to get actual info on something, wow, that's just NUTS!)
will not believe in it.

I unfortunately squandered my education on BA's and my career in Web
design, so not being a trained physicist the best I can do is hear
something on TV or read about it in a book or online, and then go out
and look for more information.
I'm not trusting A&E's Biography, that crazy insane show for
conspiracy theorists that 100% wrong, (sarcasm, Steve,) for all my
news and education. I came on here asking about it so educated people
(note I came to sci.electronics.misc and not
alt.crazy.ideas.that.are.wrong) hoping to get good info from
knowledgeable people in the field of electronics to explain to me why
it's right or wrong and possibly where to go for more info.

Are the personal insults really necessary?

And I'll admit in text my "OK, carry on. Now about this laser-like
weapon using a rareified air stream?" didn't sound as light-hearted as
it was meant and I don't blame you for taking it like I really wanted
more info on it as if I believed it to be fact. I forgot the smillie
at the end, I guess.
But it does sound interesting from a sci-fi scense, which isn't a bad
thing.
Remember, sci-fi can be very entertaining. Asimiov and Arthur C. Clark
and even Carl Sagan who's had his hand in writing some sci-fi would
probably have some issues with your implication that sci-fi is
"garbage."

Anyway, without matching rant with flame, I hope I politely and
respectfuly expressed my shock and surprise as well as umbridge with
your rather insulting and acerbic tone regarding my quest for accurate
information, and interest in fanciful sci-fi.

Thanks!
Liam

 

[R. Steve Walz]

Often it is the person with a crazy idea or slight insanity that
discovers an amazing new discovery.

------------------
No, it isn't. That's merely a delusion of the paranoid borderline
schizophrenic and white trash morons so they can comfort themselves
for their academic failure.


I wouldn't knock any ones ideas,

 

[LRW]

At risk of fanning the flames, isn't that a rather obtuse statement dripping
with hyperbole?
I'm not agreeing that ALL people who are slightly insane come up with the
crazy ideas; I'd say 99.5% of crazy people live out their lives as ...crazy.
However, I'd go so far as to say 90% of the most amazing discoveries have
come from people with a little madness.
Again, I'm not a historian or a physicist, but some ideas that come to mind
are Pasteur (sp). The idea of using mold to cure disease?? Insane! Or the
guy who invented the smallpox vaccine. He tested a potentially lethal
vaccine on himself. You'd have to be a little nuts to do that, not to
mention it's a little crazy, the idea of injecting a live virus in order to
destroy a virus? Madness!
How about Newton? He was at best a neurotic, and DiVinci was thought to be a
manic-depressive. Everyone who knew him thought that Feynman was an insane
genius, and don't forget that "Beautiful Mind" schizophrenic. And the
Curies? Playing around with radiation, for what most people thought was no
good reason? That was surely insane! And Edison was an obsessive-compulsive
who some also think was manic-depressive. And everyone here has mentioned,
including yourself, that Tesla was cookoo, but I think his place in the
history of geniuses is gaurenteed. After all, he's responsible for at leas
alternating current.

I think people who pass off the idea that great minds and great ideas don't
come from people a little off kilter, is deluding themselves blind to their
mediocrity. It takes someone who the masses see as a little nuts to go
beyond the fringes of what's "possible" in order to come up with bigger and
better.

And besides, I guess an eliteist who has no real clue about people wouldn't
realize a "white trash" person is generally white trash because they don't
care about education, and really couldn't care less about what other people
consider academic failures...but to them is nothing.

My $1.02. Keep the change. =)
Liam

 

[Mjolinor]

At risk of fanning the flames, isn't that a rather obtuse statement dripping
with hyperbole?
I'm not agreeing that ALL people who are slightly insane come up with the
crazy ideas; I'd say 99.5% of crazy people live out their lives as ....crazy.
However, I'd go so far as to say 90% of the most amazing discoveries have
come from people with a little madness.
Again, I'm not a historian or a physicist, but some ideas that come to mind
are Pasteur (sp). The idea of using mold to cure disease?? Insane! Or the
guy who invented the smallpox vaccine. He tested a potentially lethal
vaccine on himself. You'd have to be a little nuts to do that, not to
mention it's a little crazy, the idea of injecting a live virus in order to
destroy a virus? Madness!
How about Newton? He was at best a neurotic, and DiVinci was thought to be a
manic-depressive. Everyone who knew him thought that Feynman was an insane
genius, and don't forget that "Beautiful Mind" schizophrenic. And the
Curies? Playing around with radiation, for what most people thought was no
good reason? That was surely insane! And Edison was an obsessive-compulsive
who some also think was manic-depressive. And everyone here has mentioned,
including yourself, that Tesla was cookoo, but I think his place in the
history of geniuses is gaurenteed. After all, he's responsible for at leas
alternating current.

I think people who pass off the idea that great minds and great ideas don't
come from people a little off kilter, is deluding themselves blind to their
mediocrity. It takes someone who the masses see as a little nuts to go
beyond the fringes of what's "possible" in order to come up with bigger and
better.

And besides, I guess an eliteist who has no real clue about people wouldn't
realize a "white trash" person is generally white trash because they don't
care about education, and really couldn't care less about what other people
consider academic failures...but to them is nothing.

My $1.02. Keep the change. =)
Liam

Or in a nutshell they have to think "outside the box" to come up with
radical ideas, if "outside the box" doesn't mean insane then what does.

 

[Modat22]

At risk of fanning the flames, isn't that a rather obtuse statement dripping
with hyperbole?
I'm not agreeing that ALL people who are slightly insane come up with the
crazy ideas; I'd say 99.5% of crazy people live out their lives as ...crazy.
However, I'd go so far as to say 90% of the most amazing discoveries have
come from people with a little madness.
Again, I'm not a historian or a physicist, but some ideas that come to mind
are Pasteur (sp). The idea of using mold to cure disease?? Insane! Or the
guy who invented the smallpox vaccine. He tested a potentially lethal
vaccine on himself. You'd have to be a little nuts to do that, not to
mention it's a little crazy, the idea of injecting a live virus in order to
destroy a virus? Madness!
How about Newton? He was at best a neurotic, and DiVinci was thought to be a
manic-depressive. Everyone who knew him thought that Feynman was an insane
genius, and don't forget that "Beautiful Mind" schizophrenic. And the
Curies? Playing around with radiation, for what most people thought was no
good reason? That was surely insane! And Edison was an obsessive-compulsive
who some also think was manic-depressive. And everyone here has mentioned,
including yourself, that Tesla was cookoo, but I think his place in the
history of geniuses is gaurenteed. After all, he's responsible for at leas
alternating current.

I think people who pass off the idea that great minds and great ideas don't
come from people a little off kilter, is deluding themselves blind to their
mediocrity. It takes someone who the masses see as a little nuts to go
beyond the fringes of what's "possible" in order to come up with bigger and
better.

And besides, I guess an eliteist who has no real clue about people wouldn't
realize a "white trash" person is generally white trash because they don't
care about education, and really couldn't care less about what other people
consider academic failures...but to them is nothing.

My $1.02. Keep the change. =)
Liam

Yeppers I agree. People that are different from the majority are see
as living outside the majority and are usually labled in some really
interesting ways. There are still discoveries to be made, and I bet
most of them will be found by those outside the box, with a few hairs
short of a pelt.