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"The Oatmeal" is building a Tesla Museum

Orphia Nay

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Orphia Nay
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"In 9 days, we managed to raise over 1 million dollars to go towards buying back Tesla's old laboratory, and with the $850,000 matching grant from NY state this puts us at 1.85 million bucks."

"Even though we've already hit our goal, I plan on letting the campaign run the full 45 days. Every extra penny we earn will go toward restoring the property, building exhibits, and turning this land into something worthy of Tesla's awesomeness. The original goal of $850k was enough money to bid on the property, but it's going to take a lot more to turn it into an actual museum."

http://theoatmeal.com/blog/tesla_museum_1m

An amazing achievement.


The Oatmeal's tribute to Tesla:

Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived

I've heard many stories about Tesla over the years. Is all that true?
 
Orphia Nay said:
"In 9 days, we managed to raise over 1 million dollars to go towards buying back Tesla's old laboratory, and with the $850,000 matching grant from NY state this puts us at 1.85 million bucks."

"Even though we've already hit our goal, I plan on letting the campaign run the full 45 days. Every extra penny we earn will go toward restoring the property, building exhibits, and turning this land into something worthy of Tesla's awesomeness. The original goal of $850k was enough money to bid on the property, but it's going to take a lot more to turn it into an actual museum."

http://theoatmeal.com/blog/tesla_museum_1m

An amazing achievement.


The Oatmeal's tribute to Tesla:

Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived

I've heard many stories about Tesla over the years. Is all that true?
Click to expand...

NPR storied this this morn a little after 6 this AM. Without reading it, I can assure you it is almost certainly true. Tesla was Grade A cool.:D:D:D
 
Orphia Nay said:
The Oatmeal's tribute to Tesla:

Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived

I've heard many stories about Tesla over the years. Is all that true?
Click to expand...

Well, in a stylized self-promoting sort of way, maybe. But notice, for example, how others are derided for "stealing" Tesla's ideas, yet no mention is made of how much Tesla "stole" from Faraday and others.

Some of his nuttier ideas were truly loony, too.

But no matter what, this is cool:
 
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Please remember to be skeptical when evaluating the more "extraordinary" claims about Tesla's inventions.
 
Orphia Nay said:
Indeed. Is The Oatmeal's story about him accurate?
Click to expand...

I agree that Tesla's science contributions outweighed those of Edison. That being said, the page does overstate or paint in a false light some of Tesla's contributions.

For instance, Tesla correctly asserted the concept of RADAR at the turn of the century. However, Hertz and Marconi had already hypothesized the concept as well. Huelsmeyer, a German inventor, had already demonstrated a detection device using radio waves some 20 years before WWI. Radio ranging would have to wait for technological developments in the interwar period to become reality, becoming perfected by the British on the eve of the second war and under the threat of German bombers.
 
Tesla would have a brilliant idea one day, and then put forward pure crackpottery the next.

Frankly, The Oatmeal could have made a stronger case for Tesla if they had not indulged in so much over the top Edison bashing some of which amount to cheap ad hominem attacks..
Tesla was probably the more brilliant scientest,but Edison was better at practical applicatations.It's sad they had the feud, together they would have one hell of a team.
Both were brilliant but flawed human beings.
I think a lot of the blind Tesla worship comes from seeing Edison as being "THe Establishment" and Tesla as"The Rebel".
I don't find the Oatmeal's refutation of the Forbes article very convincing.
 
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Orphia Nay said:
Thanks.

Here is The Oatmeal's response:

http://theoatmeal.com/blog/tesla_response

I'm learning things today, thanks JREF!
Click to expand...

The Oatmeal's response is basically that he's a comedian so he's allowed to sacrifice truth to make a humor. I suppose that's true, but then why does he get so upset at people who merely attempt to set the record straight?

ETA: in my high school, the textbook taught that Tesla invented alternating current, but never mentioned Faraday.
 
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Checkmite said:
The Oatmeal's response is basically that he's a comedian so he's allowed to sacrifice truth to make a humor. I suppose that's true, but then why does he get so upset at people who merely attempt to set the record straight?
Click to expand...

Because it means he wasn't funny.
 
It's Oatmeal blasting every mistake that Edison made but ignoring all the mistakes that Tesla made that made be put it into the "Not To Be Taken Seriously" section
 
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dudalb said:
It's Oatmeal blasting every mistake that Edison made but ignoring all the mistakes that Tesla made that made be put it into the "Not To Be Taken Seriously" section.
Click to expand...

Or excusing them with "but by that time he was probably crazy so it doesn't count".
 
dudalb said:
Tesla would have a brilliant idea one day, and then put forward pure crackpottery the next.
Click to expand...

This is one of the hallmarks of a genius. If you wait around to have the perfect idea, you wait a long time. If you're willing to pursue any idea and you have lots of ideas then some of them will be worthwhile. I've seen the same thing in lots of fields. I've known artists who would get blocked because they were afraid that their drawing wouldn't look good enough, and seen the difference between how a student jeweler approaches a bar of copper and a bar of silver. If you can forge a bar of copper into beautiful shapes, you should be able to do the same thing with a bar of silver, right? Turns out if you keep reminding yourself that it's expensive and you can't afford to screw up, then you really can't. You've got to be willing to give yourself permission to fail (or permission to spend time entertaining ideas that might turn out to be total ********) and be willing to try anyway.
 
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