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I think I may have mentioned it before,
but I am an avid Dr Who follower. Some complained when, after his last
regeneration, he became female for the first time in the series’ history. I
like Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor, and think she does a remarkable job. She
brings just the right amount of humour to the role. As is usual practice on
social media, rumours have been swirling that she is about to give up the
role—which apparently has proven to be just unfounded rumours.
A week or so ago the episode that sent
me off on my random
Tesla’s archenemy Thomas Edison was
there too, annoying Tesla as apparently he did in life. A mysterious being is
about to shut down Tesla’s generator plant at Niagara Falls, and to add to that
Tesla has intercepted a message from Mars. Scarier, is that these huge metallic
creatures interfere with the whole procedure. (I often get a bit confused with
the monsters in the series, but they frequently appear in differing shapes and
sizes). Obviously they come from somewhere far out in space to put a spanner in
the works.
Anyway, it sparked my interest and
influenced my search for more information on the renowned genius. Nikola Tesla
was born in modern day Croatia (Serbia) in 1856. Doctor Who portrayed the man
as a hero who did not fully receive the recognition he deserved. Among Tesla’s
scientific achievements was his research findings that led to the Tesla coil,
and his contribution to the alternating current electricity Supply system.
Unfortunately, there was a dark side to
his personality, which is mostly underplayed. He was a firm believer in the
study of arranging reproduction with the human population so as to increase the
occurrence of heritable characteristics thought of as desirable. He was a believer
in eugenics. In 1935 his beliefs were published and these reports were
uncovered by The Smithsonian a few years back.
His belief was
that eugenics would be universally established by 2100, aimed primarily at
weeding out the less desirable strains of humanity. Rings a bell does it not
with another power hungry maniac. Nonetheless, we cannot ignore the fact that
he had an amazing mind. He designed and tested his inventions using just the
power of concentration. He never made a sketch, yet could build precise models
of his inventions. Sadly, his intelligence was sharpened by this intense power
of concentration, which tortured him from childhood. There is little doubt he
suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder.
In late life, he claimed that he
contacted superior intelligent beings from Venus. There is no getting away from
the fact that Tesla’s inventive mind improved the lives of billions of humans
around the world.
Perhaps to be a
genius one also has to be tagged a mad scientist.
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