My Early Life
The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. It is the most important product of his creative brain. Its
ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing of the forces of nature to human needs.
This is the difficult task of the inventor who is often misunderstood and unrewarded. But he finds ample compensation in the
pleasing exercises of his powers and in the knowledge of being one of that exceptionally privileged class without whom the race
would have long ago perished in the bitter struggle against pitiless elements.
Speaking for myself, I have already had more than my full measure of this exquisite enjoyment, so much that for many years my
life was little short of continuous rapture. I am credited with being one of the hardest workers and perhaps I am, if thought is the
equivalent of labor, for I have devoted to it almost all of my waking hours. But if work is interpreted to be a definite performance
in a specified time according to a rigid rule, then I may be the worst of idlers. Every effort under compulsion demands a sacrifice
of life-energy. I never paid such a price.
On the contrary, I have thrived on my thoughts.
In attempting to give a con
myself. But I was far from being considered a stupid boy, if I am to judge from an incident of which I have still a strong
remembrance. One day the Aldermen were passing thru a street where I was at play with other boys. The oldest of these venerable
gentlemen - a wealthy citizen - paused to give a silver piece to each of us. Coming to me he suddenly stopt and commanded,
"Look in my eyes." I met his gaze, my hand outstretched to receive the much valued coin, when, to my dismay, he said, "No, not
much, you can get nothing from me, you are too smart." They used to tell a funny story about me. I had two old aunts with
wrinkled faces, one of them having two teeth protruding like the tusks of an elephant which she buried in my cheek every time she
kist me.
Nothing would scare me more than the prospect of being hugged by these as affectionate as unattractive relatives. It
happened that while being carried in my mother's arms they asked me who was the prettier of the two. After examining their faces
intently, I answered thoughtfully, pointing to one of them, "This here is not as ugly as the other."
Then again, I was intended from my very birth for the clerical profession and this thought constantly opprest me. I longed to be an
engineer but my father was inflexible. He was the son of an officer who served in the army of the Great Napoleon and, in common
with his brother, professor of mathematics in a prominent institution, had received a military education but, singularly enough,
later embraced the clergy in which vocation he achieved eminence. He was a very erudite man, a veritable natural philosopher,
poet and writer and his sermons were said to be as eloquent as those of Abraham a Sancta-Clara. He had a prodigious memory and
frequently recited at length from works in several languages. He often remarked playfully that if some of the classics were lost he
could restore them. His style of writing was much admired. He penned sentences short and terse and was full of wit and satire.
The humorous remarks he made were always peculiar and characteristic.
Just to illustrate, I may mention one or two instances.
Among the help there was a cross-eyed man called Mane, employed to do work around the farm. He was chopping wood one day.
As he swung the axe my father, who stood nearby and felt very uncomfortable, cautioned him, "For God's sake, Mane, do not
strike at what you are looking but at what you intend to hit." On another occasion he was taking out for a drive a friend who
carelessly permitted his costly fur coat to rub on the carriage wheel. My father reminded him of it saying, "Pull in your coat, you
are ruining my tire." He had the odd habit of talking to himself and would often carry on an animated conversation and indulge in
heated argument, changing the tone of his voice. A casual listener might have sworn that several people were in the room.
Altho I must trace to my mother's influence whatever inventiveness I possess, the training he gave me must have been helpful. It
comprised all sorts of exercises - as, guessing one another's thoughts, discovering the defects of some form or expression,
repeating long sentences or performing mental calculations.
These daily lessons were intended to strengthen memory and reason
and especially to develop the critical sense, and were undoubtedly very beneficial.
My mother descended from one of the oldest families in the country and a line of inventors. Both her father and grandfather
originated numerous implements for household, agricultural and other uses. She was a truly great woman, of rare skill, courage
and fortitude, who had braved the storms of life and past thru many a trying experience. When she was sixteen a virulent
pestilence swept the country. Her father was called away to administer the last sacraments to the dying and during his absence she
went alone to the assistance of a neighboring family who were stricken by the dread disease. All of the members, five in number,
succumbed in rapid succession. She bathed, clothed and laid out the bodies, decorating them with flowers according to the custom
of the country and when her father returned he found everything ready for a Christian burial.
My mother was an inventor of the
first order and would, I believe, have achieved great things had she not been so remote from modern life and its multifold
opportunities. She invented and constructed all kinds of tools and devices and wove the finest designs from thread which was spun
by her. She even planted the seeds, raised the plants and separated the fibers herself. She worked indefatigably, from break of day
till late at night, and most of the wearing apparel and furnishings of the home was the product of her hands. When she was past
sixty, her fingers were still nimble enough to tie three knots in an eyelash.
There was another and still more important reason for my late awakening. In my boyhood I suffered from a peculiar affliction due
to the appearance of images, often accompanied by strong flashes of light, which marred the sight of real objects and interfered
with my thought and action. They were pictures of things and scenes which I had really seen, never of those I imagined. When a
word was spoken to me the image of the object it designated would present itself vividly to my vision and sometimes I was quite
unable to distinguish whether what I saw was tangible or not. This caused me great discomfort and anxiety. None of the students
of psychology or physiology whom I have consulted could ever explain satisfactorily these phenomena. They seem to have been
unique altho I was probably predisposed as I know that my brother experienced a similar trouble. The theory I have formulated is
that the images were the result of a reflex action from the brain on the retina under great excitation.
They certainly were not
hallucinations such as are produced in diseased and anguished minds, for in other respects I was normal and composed. To give an
idea of my distress, suppose that I had witnest a funeral or some such nerve-racking spectacle. Then, inevitably, in the stillness of
night, a vivid picture of the scene would thrust itself before my eyes and persist despite all my efforts to banish it. Sometimes it
would even remain fixt in space tho I pushed my hand thru it. If my explanation is correct, it should be able to project on a screen
the image of any object one conceives and make it visible. Such an advance would revolutionize all human relations. I am
convinced that this wonder can and will be accomplished in time to come; I may add that I have devoted much thought to the
solution of the problem.
To free myself of these tormenting appearances, I tried to concentrate my mind on something else I had seen, and in this way I
would often obtain temporary relief; but in order to get it I had to conjure continuously new images. It was not long before I found
that I had exhausted all of those at my command; my "reel" had run out, as it were, because I had seen little of the world - only
objects in my home and the immediate surroundings.
As I performed these mental operations for the second or third time, in order
to chase the appearances from my vision, the remedy gradually lost all its force. Then I instinctively commenced to make
excursions beyond the limits of the small world of which I had knowledge, and I saw new scenes. These were at first very blurred
and indistinct, and would flit away when I tried to concentrate my attention upon them, but by and by I succeeded in fixing them;
they gained in strength and distinctness and finally assumed the concreteness of real things. I soon discovered that my best
comfort was attained if I simply went on in my vision farther and farther, getting new impressions all the time, and so I began to
travel - of course, in my mind. Every night (and sometimes during the day), when alone, I would start on my journeys - see new
places, cities and countries - live there, meet people and make friendships and acquaintances and, however unbelievable, it is a
fact that they were just as dear to me as those in actual life and not a bit less intense in their manifestations.
This I did constantly until I was about seventeen when my thoughts turned seriously to invention. Then I observed to my delight
that I could visualize with the greatest facility. I needed no models, drawings or experiments. I could picture them all as real in my
mind. Thus I have been led unconsciously to evolve what I consider a new method of materializing inventive concepts and ideas,
which is radically opposite to the purely experimental and is in my opinion ever so much more expeditious and efficient. The
moment one constructs a device to carry into practise a crude idea he finds himself unavoidably engrost with the details and
defects of the apparatus.
As he goes on improving and reconstructing, his force of concentration diminishes and he loses sight of
the great underlying principle. Results may be obtained but always at the sacrifice of quality.
My method is different. I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea I start at once building it up in my imagination. I
change the construction, make improvements and operate the device in my mind. It is absolutely immaterial to me whether I run
my turbine in thought or test it in my shop. I even note if it is out of balance. There is no difference whatever, the results are the
same. In this way I am able to rapidly develop and perfect a conception without touching anything. When I have gone so far as to
embody in the invention every possible improvement I can think of and see no fault anywhere, I put into concrete form this final
product of my brain. Invariably my device works as I conceived that it should, and the experiment comes out exactly as I planned
it. In twenty years there has not been a single exception. Why should it be otherwise? Engineering, electrical and mechanical, is
positive in results. There is scarcely a subject that cannot be mathematically treated and the effects calculated or the results
determined beforehand from the available theoretical and practical data. The carrying out into practise of a crude idea as is being
generally done is, I hold, nothing but a waste of energy, money and time.
My early affliction had, however, another compensation. The incessant mental exertion developed my powers of observation and
enabled me to discover a truth of great importance. I had noted that the appearance of images was always preceded by actual
vision of scenes under peculiar and generally very exceptional conditions and I was impelled on each occasion to locate the
original impulse. After a while this effort grew to be almost automatic and I gained great facility in connecting cause and effect.
Soon I became aware, to my surprise, that every thought I conceived was suggested by an external impression.
Not only this but
all my actions were prompted in a similar way. In the course of time it became perfectly evident to me that I was merely an
automaton endowed with power of movement, responding to the stimuli of the sense organs and thinking and acting accordingly.
The practical result of this was the art of telautomatics which has been so far carried out only in an imperfect manner. Its latent
possibilities will, however, be eventually shown. I have been since years planning self-controlled automata and believe that
mechanisms can be produced which will act as if possest of reason, to a limited degree, and will create a revolution in many
commercial and industrial departments.
I was about twelve years old when I first succeeded in banishing an image from my vision by wilful effort, but I never had any
control over the flashes of light to which I have referred. They were, perhaps, my strangest experience and inexplicable. They
usually occurred when I found myself in a dangerous or distressing situation, or when I was greatly exhilarated. In some instances
I have seen all the air around me filled with tongues of living flame. Their intensity, instead of diminishing, increased with time
and seemingly attained a maximum when I was about twenty-five years old. While in Paris, in 1883, a prominent French
manufacturer sent me an invitation to a shooting expedition which I accepted. I had been long confined to the factory and the fresh
air had a wonderfully invigorating effect on me. On my return to the city that night I felt a positive sensation that my brain had
caught fire. I saw a light as tho a small sun was located in it and I past the whole night applying cold compressions to my tortured
head. Finally the flashes diminished in frequency and force but it took more than three weeks before they wholly subsided. When
a second invitation was extended to me my answer was an emphatic NO!
These luminous phenomena still manifest themselves from time to time, as when a new idea opening up possibilities strikes me,
but they are no longer exciting, being of relatively small intensity.
When I close my eyes I invariably observe first, a background
of very dark and uniform blue, not unlike the sky on a clear but starless night. In a few seconds this field becomes animated with
innumerable scintillating flakes of green, arranged in several layers and advancing towards me. Then there appears, to the right, a
beautiful pattern of two systems of parallel and closely spaced lines, at right angles to one another, in all sorts of colors with
yellow-green and gold predominating. Immediately thereafter the lines grow brighter and the whole is thickly sprinkled with dots
of twinkling light. This picture moves slowly across the field of vision and in about ten seconds vanishes to the left, leaving
behind a ground of rather unpleasant and inert grey which quickly gives way to a billowy sea of clouds, seemingly trying to mould
themselves in living shapes. It is curious that I cannot project a form into this grey until the second phase is reached. Every time,
before falling asleep, images of persons or objects flit before my view. When I see them I know that I am about to lose
consciousness. If they are absent and refuse to come it means a sleepless night.
To what an extent imagination played a part in my early life I may illustrate by another odd experience. Like most children I was
fond of jumping and developed an intense desire to support myself in the air. Occasionally a strong wind richly charged with
oxygen blew from the mountains rendering my body as light as cork and then I would leap and float in space for a long time. It
was a delightful sensation and my disappointment was keen when later I undeceived myself.
During that period I contracted many strange likes, dislikes and habits, some of which I can trace to external impressions while
others are unaccountable. I had a violent aversion against the earrings of women but other ornaments, as bracelets, pleased me
more or less according to design. The sight of a pearl would almost give me a fit but I was fascinated with the glitter of crystals or
objects with sharp edges and plane surfaces. I would not touch the hair of other people except, perhaps, at the point of a revolver. I
would get a fever by looking at a peach and if a piece of camphor was anywhere in the house it caused me the keenest discomfort.
Even now I am not insensible to some of these upsetting impulses. When I drop little squares of paper in a dish filled with liquid, I
always sense a peculiar and awful taste in my mouth. I counted the steps in my walks and calculated the cubical contents of soup
plates, coffee cups and pieces of food - otherwise my meal was unenjoyable.
All repeated acts or operations I performed had to be
divisible by three and if I mist I felt impelled to do it all over again, even if it took hours.
Up to the age of eight years, my character was weak and vacillating. I had neither courage or strength to form a firm resolve. My
feelings came in waves and surges and vibrated unceasingly between extremes. My wishes were of consuming force and like the
heads of the hydra, they multiplied. I was opprest by thoughts of pain in life and death and religious fear. I was swayed by
superstitious belief and lived in constant dread of the spirit of evil, of ghosts and ogres and other unholy monsters of the dark.
Then, all at once, there came a tremendous change which altered the course of my whole existence. Of all things I liked books the
best. My father had a large library and whenever I could manage I tried to satisfy my passion for reading. He did not permit it and
would fly into a rage when he caught me in the act. He hid the candles when he found that I was reading in secret. He did not want
me to spoil my eyes. But I obtained tallow, made the wicking and cast the sticks into tin forms, and every night I would bush the
keyhole and the cracks and read, often till dawn, when all others slept and my mother started on her arduous daily task. On one
occasion I came across a novel entitled "Abafi" (the Son of Aba), a Serbian translation of a well known Hungarian writer, Josika.
This work somehow awakened my dormant powers of will and I began to practise self-control. At first my resolutions faded like
snow in April, but in a little while I conquered my weakness and felt a pleasure I never knew before - that of doing as I willed. In
the course of time this vigorous mental exercise became second nature. At the outset my wishes had to be subdued but gradually
desire and will grew to be identical. After years of such discipline I gained so complete a mastery over myself that I toyed with
passions which have meant destruction to some of the strongest men. At a certain age I contracted a mania for gambling which
greatly worried my parents. To sit down to a game of cards was for me the quintessence of pleasure. My father led an exemplary
life and could not excuse the senseless waste of time and money in which I indulged. I had a strong resolve but my philosophy
was bad.
I would say to him, "I can stop whenever I please but is it worth while to give up that which I would purchase with the
joys of Paradise?" On frequent occasions he gave vent to his anger and contempt but my mother was different. She understood the
character of men and knew that one's salvation could only be brought about thru his own efforts. One afternoon, I remember,
when I had lost all my money and was craving for a game, she came to me with a roll of bills and said, "Go and enjoy yourself.
The sooner you lose all we possess the better it will be. I know that you will get over it." She was right. I conquered my passion
then and there and only regretted that it had not been a hundred times as strong. I not only vanquished but tore it from my heart so
as not to leave even a trace of desire. Ever since that time I have been as indifferent to any form of gambling as to picking teeth.
During another period I smoked excessively, threatening to ruin my health. Then my will asserted itself and I not only stopt but
destroyed all inclination. Long ago I suffered from heart trouble until I discovered that it was due to the innocent cup of coffee I
consumed every morning. I discontinued at once, tho I confess it was not an easy task. In this way I checked and bridled other
habits and passions and have not only preserved my life but derived an immense amount of satisfaction from what most men
would consider privation and sacrifice.
After finishing the studies at the Polytechnic Institute and University I had a complete nervous breakdown and while the malady
lasted I observed many phenomena strange and unbelievable.
Abstract from: TESLA - Unraveling the Genius of Nikola Tesla
