Talk:Nikola Tesla

bizarre claims?

I feel the following statement should be removed from the introduction: and his seemingly unbelievable and sometimes bizarre claims about possible scientific and technological developments. Unbelievable? Bizarre? I will examine whether the corresponding reference (Robert Lomas) really justifies the statement. --Xabadiar (talk) 09:46, 19 January 2012 (UTC)

The source is available here, and does not support the tone, nor the content of the statement. I guess the entire sentence should be removed. Also note that this is a self published source. DVdm (talk) 11:43, 19 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for your quick answer. --Xabadiar (talk) 14:36, 19 January 2012 (UTC)

Not sure why the sentences were removed[1] based on a bad source, especially when there is ample source for some form of the statements being made[2][3]. I have restored and reworded the deletion. This aspect seems to be missing in the article proper so we may need it to "follow the lead". Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 22:00, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Unreliable sources

A number of the sources cited here, especially in the "death" section, do not meet the requirements of Wikipedia's Reliable Sources policy.

Specifically William R. Lyne, Pentagon Aliens, is cited numerous times. This book is published by "Creatopia Productions," which is clearly a vanity press by Lyne. The book itself seems highly unreliable from its Amazon description (basic thesis: UFOs were created from the Pentagon by pirating Tesla technology).

Until this gets fixed — as in, the lines referencing this source are removed or replaced with reliable sources that say the same thing — the tag should remain.

The Lomas source mentioned above falls in the same category. In general I think this article needs someone to go over the sources very carefully and get rid of the obvious crackpot stuff. --Mr.98 (talk) 23:27, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

Feel free to delete and mention the talk page in your edit summary. If someone thinks something should be kept because they have an alternative but reliable source, or if they think the old source is reliable after all, they can come to the talk page and discuss. - DVdm (talk) 09:34, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

Tried a little cleanup just of the "Directed-energy weapon" section along these lines and... wow... all I am seeing is bad. All the major claims are single source (Marc J. Seifer).... and almost all the rest are WP:OR, citations/observations of primary source source newspaper clips, some presented as fact. Conflicting primary (Dr. John G. Trump) and secondary (^ O'Neill, John J.. "Tesla Tries To Prevent World War II (unpublished Chapter 34 of Prodigal Genius)". PBS.) sources about this being more of a nebulous concept in Tesla's mind are totally ignored. Chasing it down also shows how the above mentioned Lyne source is used in a POVPUSH: it is used tit-for-tat re: Trump, engaging in the dispute instead of describing the dispute (WP:NPOV - Impartial tone). Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 15:19, 23 January 2012 (UTC) Add ((Dubious|Unreliable sources)) tag. Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 15:43, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

Tesla and Maglev

In this documentary on 5:30 minut [4] i noticed an Tesla experiment with electromagnetic fields and levitation of aluminium objects. Did this tehnology use Maglev today?--Свифт (talk) 01:01, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Curator in the documentary claims that trains use that technology, including and the Tesla′s linear induction motor.--Свифт (talk) 01:43, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

I don't think that this youtube clip qualifies as a reliable source, and I don't know whether you used it to make these edits. As these edits are entirely unsourced, I have removed them. Please find some detailed reliable sources for this. - DVdm (talk) 15:51, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Remote Controle

At the beginning of the article is written: "He was an important contributor to the birth of commercial electricity, and is best known for developing the modern alternating current (AC) electrical supply system. His many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were based on the theories of electromagnetic technology discovered by Michael Faraday."

What is commercial electricity?

What is electromagnetism?

People who read this do not understand because it is general.

Thus, it is important that its inventions are at the very beginning of this article

For example, I wrote “Tesla laid the foundation for remote control, when in New York City on 1898 demonstrated the ability to control on wireless way mechanical devices (model boat in the pool) “

In article the remote control is written about Tesla's contribution!

As you see I'm not using the source youtub!--Свифт (talk) 16:49, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Anything you want to add to the article should be verifiable (see wp:V), and when challenged, needs sources to back it up. Also note that what might be written in article Remote control about Tesla, is irrelevant, since Wikipidedia is not a reliable source for itself — see wp:CIRCULAR. So, if you want to add something about remote controls in this article, you need to provide a proper source. - DVdm (talk) 17:35, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Is this a reliable source for Tesla's contribution for the foundation remote control or not [5] ?--Свифт (talk) 19:26, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

What does it say about Tesla? - DVdm (talk) 19:35, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

He is the pioneer or founder, he is the first in this tehnology [6]-- Свифт (talk) 20:13, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Where on this particular page is it written that "Tesla is the first in this technology"? Can you cite the sentence? Do you see where we are going? If not, please have a look at the policies wp:SYNTH and wp:NOR. - DVdm (talk) 20:21, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

I just want to write this: "Tesla laid the foundation for remote control, when in New York City on 1898 demonstrated the ability to control on wireless way mechanical devices (model boat in the pool)." Another sources [7] [8] [9]

I do not want to write: He is the first!--Свифт (talk) 20:38, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Ok, that's about what's already on the article Remote control. The first source (A. Marincic) seems OK. The third source could go along with it, but the second could be problematic. Anyway, two sources will do. It's also better not to point to the google patent page as there seems to be no direct support for this addition. So, go ahead! - DVdm (talk) 20:56, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Ok. Thanks.--Свифт (talk) 21:53, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

I have removed the wording about Tesla "laid the foundation for remote control[1] and robotics" since it is not an important summary of Tesla's life that he made a wireless controlled boat (he made allot of things, please also see WP:LEAD). Also the wording is incorrect, it doesn't seem to be reliably sourced, and little WP:PEACOCK-y. Tesla demonstrated "wireless control", not the first remote control... wired remote control was already being demonstrated in torpedoes by 1891[10]. In the linked article Robotics there is nothing about Tesla "laying the foundation" for anything, he is pretty much a trivial mention. Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 23:21, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

This makes sense. Agreed. - DVdm (talk) 18:28, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Public of demonstrated the ability to control mechanical way on wireless devices (model boat in the pool) in New York City on 1898 is very important, because it is an example of earliest radio transmission, wireless remote controle and robotics (remote controle + vehicles; an today example Foster-Miller TALON)

Sources for robotics [11][12][13][14][15][16]

In article the robot is written about Tesla's contribution!--Свифт (talk) 21:19, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

The problem is not that Tesla did not do this (he did and it is already stated in the article). The problem is WP:V, WP:LEAD, and WP:PEACOCK - "laid the foundation" is un-referenced puffery and singling one area of invention/investigation (out of hundreds listed?) to be in the lead falls well outside the guideline of "summary". Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 22:38, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Ok. We can change "laid the foundation" in "the earliest or pioneering work". Source [17] Computational Principles of Mobile Robotics, Gregory Dudek and Michael Jenkin, Cembrigde University Press 2010, ISBN 978-0-521-87157-0: "Autonomous vehicles built by Nikola Tesla in the 1890s are probably the earliest electrical mobile robots." Same [18]. I think it must be on the top of article: "Tesla was public of demonstrated the possibilities to control on wireless way mechanical devices (model boat in the pool) in New York City on 1898 who was pioneering (the earliest) practical work wireless remote controle and robotics."--Свифт (talk) 11:55, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

The first radio patent and the radio-controlled boat are already mentioned in the article. Providing more detail would put wp:UNDUE weight on the matter and could bring the article out of balance. - DVdm (talk) 13:41, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

A simple mention in the body of the article (not the lead) still seems appropriate. Of the sources Свифт provided (some are unreadable/in Russian) the word "probably" comes up allot (I can now see why since "remote control" predates Tesla, he only added "wireless") and one source[19] says flat out this was not a robot. Just looking through the books written on robotics that come up in Google books[20] brings up either no mention of Tesla or a trivial mention, nothing to support "earliest or pioneering work". Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 14:16, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Niagara Falls

Also, I think that must be write "He was a key figure in building the first hydroelectricity plant at Niagara Falls."--Свифт (talk) 21:53, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Sure, if you can provide a hard source of similar quality that supports that. - DVdm (talk) 21:56, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Only if "key figures" never actually show up at the site till years after first power, and instead of participating in the debate between compressed air, DC, single-phase AC and polyphase AC, spend their time making big sparks in Colorado. Once Westinghouse paid Tesla for his patents, he lost all interest in anything as mundane as sending electricity over mere *wires*. --Wtshymanski (talk) 22:22, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

We have articles on wiki Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant and War of Currents. Sources [21] [22]--Свифт (talk) 22:23, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Tesla's philosophy?

Removed this paragraph because it is original research derived from a primary source. Tesla does not state this was "One of his main philosophical beliefs", it is two different paragraphs merged (about his search for an idea and his Mom's philosophy respectively), and it is an autobiography - a reliable source about Tesla would have to make these observations about his philosophy. Any interpretation that this was one of Tesla's "main philosophical beliefs" needs a secondary source. Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 01:37, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

The Supreme Court Opinion

Ummm... "Nine months after Tesla's Death..."?????

Who came up with that??

320 US 1 was argued on April 9-12, 1943, and finally decided on June 21, 1943.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=320&invol=1

Change it to "Six months after"...

63.230.156.31 (talk)

Edit request on 9 February 2012

Hi - there is a typo in the Death section about Tesla's funeral. Please change "in the cathedral of Cathedral of Saint John the Divine" to

"in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine"

(Not sure what proper punctuation on Cathedral should be.)

Thanks! Vogelbacherr (talk) 22:09, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Y Done. Good catch. - DVdm (talk) 22:15, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Original letter or DELETE please

""equally proud" of his "Serbian origin and Croatian homeland""... show the original letter that Tesla wrote it or delete this lie sentence! Quoting the text of Croatian newspapers as a "proof" is so funny and not serious. Stupid propaganda. Just show letter written by Tesla that he writes this stupidity that he is proud of "Croatian homeland" thou he was born in military frontaire in Serb family into Austro-Hungary, later Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes... no "Croatia".77.105.27.32 (talk) 17:44, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

NO he was Croat not a serb...I dont believe that he is a serb...I will go to UN and comfront you if I have! (edit added by XxFoxX5 10:39, 21 February 2012[23])

interesting interview

please add some info from here: [24] - (edit added by 178.148.216.119 01:45, 20 February 2012 [25])

Edit request on 21 February 2012

I want to edit text about Nikola Tesla because it is incorrect. Nikola Tesla (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Тесла; 10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer. NEEDS to change in croatin-american inventor,mehanical engineer etc..Because everybody in world must know that he is from Croatia,As he said I'm glad me and Croats consider their ancestors as my Croatian koljenovići Draganići from Zadar. As the Croatian nobility in the 16th Century came to Lika and the others. In the image of my obstacle came through New Vinodol. The ancestors of my mother, Kalinic, also Croatian nobility from New Vinodol. My great-grandfather of circumstances he had to go in the Bosnian Krajina (Turkish Croatia), and there married a Christian woman and converted to Orthodoxy.

XxFoxX5 (talk) 10:36, 21 February 2012 (UTC) You must correct this error in text because all Croats are hurt because of it, and I want to correct this fow wikipedia and other people because the truth is that he is Croat and proud of that.

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Celestra (talk) 15:12, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

Did Ford along with Tesla built several Model T's with Tesla electric engines?

I lived in London from '74 to '79. I remember reading a week long (monday to friday) story on Tesla. In this story the writer ( I believe it was The Evening Standard) had written of Tesla's involvement with Henry Ford in the early days of Ford developing his Model T. This was before Ford had made up his mind to go with the combustion engine. The story said that Tesla had built two beta Model Ts with his electric engine. The article described the original Model T in these early models has having two slotted openings on the fire wall of the engine compartment so Tesla would insert two voltage rods. Supposedly even after Ford was "swayed" to go with the combustion engine...the said slots for the rods were still being manufactured on the very early Model Ts. The story said that Tesla had his two versions of the car stored in a secret farm house in upstate NY. When Tesla did a private performance for Ford and other invited guests and that the cars could do 90 mph and the electric centrifugal engines were running on what Tesla described as (If I remember correctly) on the "natural earth ethers" that are there for anyone to harness. The article went on to to say that after the private performance when the two cars were being driven back to the private farm where Tesla had them....that the security team protecting the cars were found in a ditch along with the two cars without the engines in them. Now, I've never been able to find anymore on this topic since I moved back to the states in '79. Don't know if this in fact all hog wash or what? I do remember seeing pictures of a Model T firewall and seeing two slotted openings as described in the story for the electrical power conducting rods. I do find it fascinating though that there is nothing out there about this if in fact it did happen. The story mentioned that Standard Oil's John D. Rockefeller had "influence" on the disappearance of the two engines and this event may have helped/convinced Ford to go with the gasoline combustion engine. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.151.247.123 (talk) 21:54, 27 February 2012 (UTC)