Edison v/s Tesla: The War of Currents

6^th August, 1890 — a very bright, early morning in Auburn prison, U.S.A., a man of the name of William Kemmler was to be given the death penalty by using the most novel way of that time. He was to become the first and also the last person to be awarded death by this method. The method was electrocution. Kemmler was strapped to the electric chair, developed by an inventor Harold Brown, who was allegedly funded by an illustrious scientist of that time, and the chair was wired to an AC dynamo. When the current hit him, Kemmler’s fist clenched so tight that blood began to trickle from his palm down the arm of the chair. His face contorted, and after 17 seconds, the power was shut down. But as the power receded, everyone observed to their horror that Kemmler began to shriek for air. The current was turned on again, but the dynamo needed time to build its current, and Kemmler wheezed and gasped before the horrified witnesses as the electricity began to course through his body. Some witnesses fainted while others vomited, as it appeared that Kemmler was on the verge of regaining consciousness. The back of his coat briefly caught fire. Minutes passed until Kemmler finally went rigid. The current stopped and he was pronounced dead by Dr. Edward Spitzka, who predicted, “There will never be another electrocution.”

This atrocious incident was probably the pinnacle of the greatest feud between two of the most glorified scientists of their time, Thomas Alva Edison, who was the one to have allegedly funded the development of the electric chair and a staunch supporter of DC current and Nikola Tesla, the pioneer of AC current. This “cold-war” started from the time Tesla left his job as an assistant to Edison as he believed he was not given the recognition for his work, till Edison’s death in 1931. The main cause of this war was the strong allegiance of both the scientists to their respective philosophy regarding “current”, with Edison supporting DC power systems and Tesla backing up the then revolutionary AC power system. Hence, this feud is well known in history as the “War of Currents”.

In the 1860’s one of the leading bankers of US, J.P. Morgan decided to get into the power business and partnered with a budding inventor of that time, Edison, thus establishing the Edison Electric Company, now famously known as General Electric (GE). Edison designed power systems for various cities in US such as New York, Boston, etc. on the basis of DC power. At the same time, Tesla, a Serbian Mathematician and Engineer, was employed by Edison for his research work. Tesla, with his engineering background, depended highly on theoretical calculations and had a photographic memory, could memorize entire books, and used to have literal flashes of genius where he’d conceive the solution to a problem, or visualize the detailed schematics of a device he’d yet to invent, while Edison depended more on experimentation of his inventions. This contrasting work ethics gave rise to their differences.

Fuelling this quarrel further, Edison backed out of paying Tesla $50,000 to fix his DC motor – which Tesla did with great ease. He managed to turn an inefficient device into something incredibly efficient that saved Edison all sorts of money (well more than he agreed to pay Tesla). All he said was that Tesla failed to “understand the American sense of humor” (Tesla was a Serbian immigrant). More like he failed to realize how much of a stingy two-timer Edison was. Edison offered to up his pay from $18 a week to all of $25. Tesla, tired of this indifferent attitude towards him, resigned and set up his own company from the little money he had. Tables then turned on Tesla’s side. George Westinghouse, another leading industrialist of that time, had full faith in AC power systems and brought Tesla’s patents for AC power distribution for a whooping $1 million.

Owing to the precocious business acumen of Westinghouse, Edison Electric began to lose their clients. One of the major disadvantages of DC power distribution was that it was inefficient and costly though it operated at a lower voltage than AC. Westinghouse pounced on this disadvantage, thus flourishing his business. Morgan warned Edison of this impending danger, and Edison (which he expressed publicly only 2 months before his death in 1931) knew somewhere inside his mind that AC power was better than DC. In this desperation, he decided to use spineless scare tactics against to convince the public of the danger of using AC power and to turn the tide in his favour.  In order to “prove” this “fact,” he had a number of animals electrocuted, including a circus elephant (which was to be put to death for killing some people).  And his intimidation tactics reached its summit when he funded the design of the electric chair working on AC power source. He thought he would successfully turn people against AC current, but it happened the other way around. The public, instead of criticising Tesla, criticised the inventors of the chair i.e., Harold Brown and Thomas Edison. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t succeed in belittling Tesla. The major jolt for Edison came when Westinghouse grabbed the order for lighting the Chicago World Fair in the year 1893 and also the contract for lightning up New Orleans.

The demise of Edison’s company had begun; J.P Morgan, frustrated with the bitter criticism Edison faced from the public and the high losses his company incurred, decided to remove Edison as his partner and re-established the company under the new name of “General Electric”.

It was a very simple fact that Edison failed to understand; no matter what he did, AC system was just better than the DC one. It was inexpensive, more efficient, and more importantly could be used for wide range power transmission. In the end, as expected, Tesla’s technology prevailed. His revolutionary idea had profoundly beaten the system developed by a scientist who had over 1000 patents in his name. Edison never accepted Tesla’s technology as superior to him till 2 months before his death. He repented for using menacing scare tactics against Tesla. Tesla, too, never left an opportunity to show his despise for his former employer publicly. Tesla once criticized Edison by saying in a New York Times interview,

“He had a veritable contempt for book learning and mathematical knowledge, trusting himself entirely to his inventor’s instinct and practical American sense.” 

The feud, which started on the basis of differing work ethics and due to the egoistic nature of both the scientists, culminated into a ghastly and nasty public spat, accounting for numerous animals and a human life, between two of the most celebrated scientist in the world history.

“The Midnight Ride”: The Trigger to America’s Independence

July, the 4^th, 1776, the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence of the 13 colonies from the British rule to form the United States of America. Noted people, like General George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, along with many others, signed this Declaration and are popularly known as the “Founding Fathers”. Skirmishes between both sides had started in late 1760’s, but in April 1775 it suddenly sprang up into a revolutionary war. But what exactly had happened in that month that suddenly aggravated the feeling of hatred in Americans against the British rule? This was the incident that tipped the revolutionists, that turned a storm into a fierce hurricane and that set off the American Revolution. It was the “Midnight Ride” by a man named Paul Revere; it was literally the Tipping Point of the American Revolution.

Paul Revere was a multi talented personality; he was a silversmith, engraver, writer, and a local politician. He had been assigned the task by the revolutionaries in Boston to convey messages of any imminent British activity to the neighborhood towns. On April 7^th 1775, suspecting military activity, he was sent, by one of his friends, Joseph Warren, to warn the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in Concord, of the impending danger and the suspicion that the British troops were coming to confiscate the ammunition from the revolutionaries in Concord. After receiving the warning, Concord residents duly began moving the military supplies away from the town.

11 days after, on the afternoon of April 18, 1775, a young boy who worked at a livery stable in Boston overheard one British army officer say to another something about “hell to pay tomorrow.” The stable boy ran with the news to Boston’s North End to the home of Paul Revere. Revere listened gravely; this was not the first rumor to come his way that day. Earlier, he had been told of an unusual number of British officers gathered on Boston’s Long Wharf, talking in low tones. British crewmen had been spotted scurrying about in the boats tethered beneath the HMS Somersetand the HMS Hoyne in Boston Harbor. Several other sailors were seen on shore that morning, running what appeared to be last-minute errands. As the afternoon wore on, Revere and his close friend Joseph Warren became more and more convinced that the British were about to make the major move that had long been rumored — to march to the town of Lexington, northwest of Boston, to arrest the colonial leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams, and then on to the town of Concord to seize the stores of guns and ammunition that some of the local colonial militia had stored there.

At ten o’clock that night, Warren and Revere met. They decided they had to warn the communities surrounding Boston that the British were on their way, so that local militia could be roused to meet them. Revere was spirited across Boston Harbor to the ferry landing at Charlestown. He jumped on a horse and began his “midnight ride” to Lexington. In two hours, he covered thirteen miles. In every town he passed through along the way — Charlestown, Mcdford, North Cambridge, Menotomy — he knocked on doors and spread the word, telling local colonial leaders of the oncoming British, and telling them to spread the word to others. Church bells started ringing. Drums started beating. The news spread like a virus as those informed by Paul Revere sent out riders of their own, until alarms were going off throughout the entire region. The word was in Lincoln, Massachusetts, by one A.M., in Sudbury by three, in Andover, forty miles northwest of Boston, by five A.M., and by nine in the morning had reached as far west as Ashby, near Worcester. When the British finally began their march toward Lexington on the morning of the nineteenth, their foray into the countryside was met — to their utter astonishment— with organized and fierce resistance. In Concord that day, the British were confronted and soundly beaten by the colonial militia.

There were other men too, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, who were assigned the task to spread the message to the neighborhood about the attack. But Paul Revere was a “connector”, i.e., he knew a lot of people in the neighboring towns, and he knew as to whom the message must be conveyed so that its effect would be widespread and every citizen would know of it till dawn. The other two didn’t convey the message properly and effectively. And that’s why Paul Revere is considered to be the pioneer, the man who successfully and efficiently implemented the sole purpose of the midnight ride.

After the British were bitterly disgraced in Concord, they sought to take revenge of the attack. With additional military and improved ammunition, they attacked the major cities in the colonies. Common people too, now wholeheartedly supported the revolutionaries and took up arms against the British. The war was fought for almost a year and a half, till Americans gained what they wanted – Liberty, Freedom and Enfranchisement.

Among the stalwartly presence of leaders like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin to name a few, the contributions of Paul Revere were forgotten for some years. But in 1861, over 40 years after Revere’s death, a poet of the name of Henry Longfellow made the famous ride the subject of his poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride” and truly acknowledged the contributions of the man to the American Independence. The poem starts as:

 

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year…

Since then, the Midnight Ride has become a part of curriculum for the subject of American history in schools in America. Truly, American Independence wouldn’t have been achieved if not for Revere and his horse, galloping in the darkest hours of the night, waking up the folks, warning them about the grave danger, and mutinying people to take up arms against the colonists, defend themselves to fight for their rights, which they were entitled to, by birth and most importantly, planting seeds of nationalism in them, which within a year and a half, became a colossal tree in the form of the American Independence Movement and bore the fruit called “The United States of America”.

Nostradamus: The Ultimate Prophet or Outrightly Misinterpreted?

Probably, the most revered soothsayer in the world – every one of you may have heard the name of the great Michel de Nostradamus, famously know as just Nostradamus at least one time. If, by chance, you have not, let me just give a brief, and those of you who have heard, refresh your memories!!

Michel de Nostradamus was a French apothecary, or a pharmacist, and a reputed seer who published a collection of prophecies which have become famous worldwide. Nostradamus’ “alleged” claim to fame is that he has foretold or prophesized many major events in the world history, including the rise of Hitler and the Holocaust that followed, 1986 Challenger space shuttle debacle and probably the most famed of those, the 9/11 attacks. Born in 1503 in a small district in France, Nostradamus entered the University of Avingon but left it due to plague. Then, he roamed about France as an apothecary for almost 25 years. Then, in 1550, he wrote an almanac and as it got famous, he made it his profession to write almanacs. Then, slowly, he started writing prophecies. His most famous book, “Les Propheties” or The Prophecies appeared in 1555 in 3 editions. His prophecies were written in the form of quatrains and each part contained 100 prophecies, named as a “Century”.  Nostradamus died in 1566 following a long illness of his gout.

The prophecies of Nostradamus have since become popular among people.  But, the most ironic thing about these prophecies is that Nostradamus does not specify any dates for the events he predicts and even the translation of these quatrains is also not very clear. There exist numerous translations for just one quatrain. The irony is that we can’t predict the disaster or the event happening before it occurs based on his prophecies. People try to relate any major natural calamity or a major event with his prophecy after the event has happened. Then, what is the use of his soothsaying?

There have been debates for long time on whether his prophecies were really true or we have just misinterpreted them to fit them into the context. Let’s take a look at some of the major events and Nostradamus’ predictions and how we have translated it.

1. JFK Jr.’s death:

Nostradamus’ quatrain:

The year 1999 seven months

From the sky will come the great King of Terror.

To resuscitate the great king of the Mongols.

Before and after Mars reigns by good luck.

            Now, it is said that this quatrain refers to the death of John. F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife in a plane crash in the month of July in the year 1999. Now, nobody, not even the most fanatic Nostradamus supporters would have had the idea that it would refer to this event. And in this case, the first two lines do match the event, but the mention of Mongols??? No use of the last two lines in this context. So, is it really plausible that it was the plane crash he spoke of??

2. The 1986 Challenger Space Disaster:

Nostradamus’ quatrain:

From the human flock nine will be sent away,

Separated from judgment and counsel:

Their fate will be sealed on departure

Kappa, Thita, Lambda the banished dead err

This quatrain is believed to have referred to the 1986 Challenger  Space Shuttle Disaster. Of course, they didn’t decipher the prophecy until it was too late!! Here, the main reason of the disaster was the malfunctioning of the O-ring in the space shuttle which was designed by a scientist named, Thiokol. Also seven, and not nine as is said, died in this incident. Now, there is a very vague explaination for the occurrence of thita, lambda and kappa. Fanatics say that the word “Thiokol” has the first letter of all 3 words, “Th”, “K” and “L”. Now that’s really absurd, isn’t it??

 

3. Hitler’s rise to power:

Nostradamus’ quatrain:

In the place very near not far from Venus,

The two greatest ones of Asia and of Africa,

From the Rhine and Hister they will be said to have come,

Cries, tears at Malta and the Ligurian side.

This is one of the more popular quatrains; it is said to describe Hitler (Hister) at a meeting with Mussolini in which they made plans for Italy for formally enter the Second World War. The problem here is that Hister is a term used in the time of Nostradamus to describe the Danube river. It does seem to describe a war that has some relation to Germany, but there is no way of connecting this to Hitler or the Second World War.

 

4. Prophecy about Louis Pasteur:

Nostradamus’s quatrain:

Lost, found, hidden for so long a time,
the pastor will be honored as a demigod:
Before the Moon finishes its full period
he will be dishonored by other winds.

This is often cited as a prediction for the coming of Louis Pasteur and his work with microbes. The confusion is partly exacerbated by the fact that the French word for Pastor was Pasteur, but as Nostradamus never quoted anyone by name from the future, it is unlikely that he did so here – and the reference to a demigod in the same sentence suggests the religious interpretation of a religious Pastor. It is possible that Nostradamus may have been accurate with the date, however: Roussat, a Jewish Astrologer who work was known to Nostradamus put the end of the Moon cycle at 1887 – by which time Pasteur was applying his immunization technology.

 

5. The 9/11  Attacks:

Nostradamus’ quatrain:

Volcanic fire from the center of the earth
will cause trembling around the new city:
Two great rocks will make war for a long time.
Then Arethusa will redden a new river.

This quatrain has been so distorted that some examples barely resemble the real text. Some go so far as to mention New York city by name, and others describe flying metal machines. As you can see – neither of these things are actually mentioned in the true text. Many people say that the two great rocks are a reference to the planes used in the attack. Arethusa is a mythological Nymph who turned in to a fountain. Nostradamus knew this as can be seen clearly in the last sentence. A casual search on the internet will lead you to some of the most bizarre translations of this quatrain. For example, one site says this for line 2: “Will create trembling in the towers of the City of New York.”; and this for line 4: “This is when air-vessels spin-round to a new course.”

 

6. The London Fire of 1666:

Nostradamus’ quatrain:

 

The blood of the just will commit a fault at London,
burnt through lighting of twenty threes the six:
The ancient lady will fall from her high place,
several of the same sect will be killed.

The great fire of London was in 1666, so twenty threes the six could be taken to mean 20 X 3 + 6, however, regardless of the accuracy of the date, the fire was started accidentally in a bakery – so no one committed a fault. In addition, while it is true that many Dutch people were blamed and killed, it would seem that the Ancient Lady is a reference to London herself, in which case the sect would be either Londoners (which did not happen) or members of the sect that caused the fire (and none did). It seems very obscure to base a prediction on one interpretation of the numbers in the second line – the rest must be simply distorted to make a connection.

These are just some of the many misinterpretations which have occurred out of his prophecies. The end result, I think, is that we can see that most of these predictions are so broad that they really can be made to mean anything we want. Nevertheless, many people consider these to be authentic predictions of real events.

So, in a nutshell, we can tell that most of the predictions of Nostradamus have been manipulated. Occasionally, experts and staunch supporters of Nostradamus have successfully used a process of free interpretation of the facts and have twisted his words to relate it to an imminent event. Most academic sources maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus’s quatrains are largely the result of misinterpretations or mistranslations, sometimes deliberate, or else are so tenuous as to render them useless as evidence of any genuine predictive power.

A significant trivia, which I would like to add here is that Nostradamus himself told that he had written prophecies from the year 1555 to 3397. He also said that while writing these, he had lost his conscious and his mind wavered in a mystic world.

So, Friends, decide for yourself whether you really think that Nostradamus was really a genius seer, a man with psychic power who could see the future of over 2000 years,an Ultimate Prophet,  or he was just a phony personality, who wrote these quatrains just for pleasure, or is it the fault of the generations after him, who have utterly misinterpreted his prophecies!!!