Mad Science

Surprisingly few people these days are familiar with the life and times of one of humankind's most eccentric,  and insane scientific super-geniuses.  First off, Nikola Tesla was brilliant.  And not just like Ken Jennings brilliant, either - I mean like, "holy crap my head just exploded (from all the awesome)" brilliant. The Croatian-born engineer spoke eight languages, almost single-handedly developed technology that harnessed the power of electricity for household use, and invented things like electrical generators, FM radio, remote control, robots, spark plugs, fluorescent lights, and giant-ass machines that shoot enormous, brain-frying lightning bolts all over the place like crazy.  He had an unyielding, steel-trap photographic memory and an insane ability to visualize even the most complex pieces of machinery  the guy did advanced calculus and physics equations in his freakin' head, memorized entire books at a time, and successfully pulled off scientific experiments that modern-day technology STILL can't replicate.

Of course, much like many other eccentric giga-geniuses and diabolical masterminds, Tesla was also completely insane.  He was prone to nervous breakdowns, claimed to receive weird visions in the middle of the night, spoke to pigeons, and occasionally thought he was receiving electromagnetic signals from extraterrestrials on Mars.  He was also obsessive-compulsive and hated round objects, human hair, jewelry, and anything that wasn't divisible by three. He was also asexual and celibate for his entire life.  Basically, Nikola Tesla was the ultimate mad scientist, which is totallyawesome.   Still, J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI confiscated all his personal stuff and locked it away anyways, just to be safe. Thomas Edison gets all the glory for discovering the lightbulb, but it was his one-time assistant and life-long arch-nemesis, Nikola Tesla, who made the breakthroughs in alternating-current technology that allowed for people to cheaply use electricity to power appliances and lighting in their homes.Today, all homes and applicances run on Tesla's AC current.                           
         We now know that Tesla was interested and experimented in such "wild" ideas as free energy, antigravity, invisibility and even time travel.  Its no surprise that Tesla in his day was loathe to speak of these kinds of interests - after all, even today these areas of study still come under fire by some "mainstream" scientists, who refuse to use their imaginations and intellect, and scorn such interests with terms such as "bad science" and quackery.

 TESLA THOUGHT "OUTSIDE THE BOX"

Why don't we hear more about this man ho created the 20th century and beyond?