Conference hydra::dejavu

    Re .0 (Larry):
    
    Geez!  It's been years since I've thought much about Tesla.  He
    was a developer of alternating current and was an employee for
    Westinghouse (fighting Edison and General Electric, who were pushing
    Direct Current).
    
    The ever-popular Tesla Coil was something he developed in a quest
    for transmissable energy.  The high-voltage Tesla Coil, or a variant
    of it, is currently used in some forms of Kirlian photography.
    
    Tesla was a dreamer and a visionary.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    There are a couple of biographies of Tesla around.  I've noticed them
    in bookstores.  There is also a Tesla Society that holds a convention.
    They held it in Colorado Springs last year.  I've heard rumors that
    some of his papers have been classified by the government because they
    didn't want the Russians to get their hands on them.

    Mike

	The best biographies I know of on Nikola Tesla are;

		"Prodigal Genius" by John J. O'Neill		and

		"Tesla: Man Out Of Time" by Margaret Cheney
    
    	Actually, Tesla was so successful as an inventor, that while he
    was alive no one would have dared doubt that his ideas had validity.   
    It is not surprising that modern theories don't agree with all of 
    Tesla's ideas, but most of his ideas are still reasonably plausible
    theories even today.   His greatest inventions were probably the 
    alternating current transformers, generators and motors.   He also 
    invented radio.   (Marconi is still often given credit for this, 
    even though Tesla went to the supreme court over the patent, and 
    *won* the case.)    All our modern power distribution systems owe 
    a great debt to Tesla's genius.

    	He has been somewhat forgotten, perhaps because there was something
    odd about the whole history that made people uncomfortable.   In
    his day he was as well known as Edison, and he and Edison competed
    to see who's technology would rule the marketplace.   Edison (with
    General Electric) championed DC power, while Tesla (with Westinghouse)
    promoted AC power.    Since all distribution is now AC, it is clear
    that Tesla's technology won this competition.    Edison invented
    the electric chair (which runs on AC) to discredit Tesla and AC, by
    demonstrating that AC can kill.   For many years there was public
    debate over whether AC or DC power systems were better.

	Tesla played the role of the mysterious wizard.   Most of the
    time he stayed alone, but during the height of his fame ( in the 1890's)
    he gave dramatic lectures to the electrical engineers of his time.
    During each of his lectures, which cost millions of dollars to
    prepare, he would unveil one fantastic invention after another.
    He would never repeat a demonstration, so each lecture was all new
    material and inventions.   In one famous lecture he demonstrated
    the luminescence of gasses when excited by AC currents.   This work
    laid the foundations for the later development of fluorescent lighting.   
    During the same lecture he caused all the air in the room to luminesce, 
    so that it seemed like light was coming from everywhere.    In another
    lecture he gave at Madison Square Garden, a huge tank was constructed
    where he demonstrated a remote radio controlled boat, powered by remotely
    broadcast power.   He used this working model to sink a model of
    an "enemy" ship, to demonstrate his idea that using "robots" for
    war might save human lives.  (the word "robot" really wasn't invented
    until later.)   These demonstrations simultaneously used several
    entirely new technologies, and most of the observers could only
    grasp one or a few aspects of it.   He overwhelmed people with wonder
    and confusion, he enjoyed this role, but it really may have worked
    against him.

	In the long run it appears that Edison was better at business
    and public relations, while Tesla was the greater genius.   I think
    society finds Edison easier to remember, because he was more ordinary,
    more like themselves.   Tesla was too mysterious, and since he died
    penniless, perhaps some people are a little ashamed of remembering.

	Tesla was not really a mystic, although he meditated a lot,
    and had a lot of psychic experiences, he was a complete materialist.
    He believed that people were machines, and when he invented the
    first logic circuits he thought that eventually such circuits
    would be able to replicate *all* mental functions.   He had the
    unusual ability to visualize in great detail.   His inventions were
    completely visualized and "simulated" in his mental head space
    before they were built.

	Now legends are proliferating about him in "New Age" circles,
    although he is still not really being given credit for all his work.
    He may have invented (or visualized potential inventions) that are 
    now lost, and there are many searching to rediscover his method of 
    wireless power distribution.    Also some psychics are claiming to 
    be in contact with his spirit.    Tesla societies (fan clubs?) exist, 
    apparently for the purpose of collecting models of his inventions
    and exchanging theories about him and his inventions.

	Many of his papers were taken to his birthplace, behind the
    iron curtain, after his death.   There are stories that Russian
    spies had something to do with the transfer of these papers.
    There are also stories that the Russians have built secret "Tesla"
    generators in Siberia.   Most suspiciously, some of the court
    records from Tesla's patent battles are now apparently missing.

	Alan.

    The fact that he is mentioned in texts both scientific and psychic
    makes me wonder if he was one or the other or maybe even both. 
    He had ideas re 'free power' and the like so it sounds like he was
    a radical in many ways.  What I now wonder is if his genieus came
    from himself or maybe he tapped into the akashic knowledge around
    electrical things and simply displayed them.
    
    At least according to .3, he was charasmistic.  He knew how to put
    on a good show which is most of the battle.  I see him as the classic
    case of someone who has so much to offer; maybe too much, and gets
    rebuffed because of his courage to tell it like it is.  
    
    So 100 years later, he is getting the attention of the popular press.
    Was he the true discoverer or as a pshchic, only the channel of
    discovery.  In any case, his act of character brought it off.  I
    have a lot of respect for such a person who has the courage to fly
    in the face of the ordinary and commonplace to speak his own mind.
    Moreover; I wonder just what kind of a person Tesla was.  I'd like
    to have met him.

    
    	When I was taking the electrodynamics part of Physics in school,
    the instructor was starting to talk about magnetic fields, and
    mentioned that the "tesla" unit of measure (one weber per square meter)
    was named after Nicola Tesla.   He usually gave a little biographic
    sketch on such people, but on Tesla he said "I don't really know
    what Tesla did, but he had something to do with learning about
    magnetic fields..."
    	I raised my hand, and said, "Tesla used to live here in Colorado
    Springs, and he invented many things including the generators and
    electric power transmission systems we still use today."
    	At that moment the power went out, leaving us in the dark.
    Synchronistically, at that moment, someone in the lab downstairs
    had plugged in a giant electromagnet, popping the main breaker for
    the building.    After the class, several people commented about
    "the ghost of Tesla" signalling us.
    
		Alan

RE: .6

	Tesla died essentially penniless, in 1943.   He did receive
   a gift pension from the IEEE (I think it was them) of about $100
   per month or so, and others were contributing to his bills.  He
   had always lived in hotels, and he never quite caught up with his
   bills in later years.

	The contract with Westinghouse;  Tesla tore this up.   During
   the years when Westinghouse and General Electric were competing for
   the marketplace, George Westinghouse came to Tesla saying he could
   never make it at the $1 per horsepower that Tesla was to get.
   Tesla should have negotiated a new contract, but in a grandiose
   gesture, simply tore it up.   He felt he would be able to depend on
   his fame, his creativity and the income from his other inventions.
   But his lifestyle, and his need for huge quantities of custom made
   electrical hardware was greater than his income.   This was one of
   the pivotal moments in Tesla's career.

	Shortly before WWI, he was building a tower on Long Island, 
   that was to function as a multifrequency radio and transatlantic
   telephone link.  (Nothing like this has ever really been attempted
   since.)   JP Morgan was financing it, and became disgusted with
   Tesla's expense overruns and perfectionist purchasing habits, and
   withdrew his support.   Because of Morgan's fame, no other investors
   would touch Tesla's credit.  Tesla was never again able to attract 
   sufficient finances to complete the tower, or any of his other planned
   projects.

	The tower was torn down by an angry mob during the beginning
   of WWI when rumor had it (apparently false) that the tower was 
   being used for communication to Germany.
    
    	Alan.

    	Tesla was also one of the first to suggest using electronic
    signals to contact any possible extraterrestrial intelligences.
    
    	Larry
    

    About that tower...
    
    I suspect that the common use of sw radio for international telephone
    matches anything Tesla planned, though since surpassed by Satellite.
    
    The version I saw (Prodigal Genius, etc...) was that Tesla told
    JP Morgan he was working on "wireless" (then a speculative growth
    industry), then switched the story to "broadcast power".  Once
    the bills got high enough, JP cut him off, especially when some
    question arose about how the billing for Broadcast Power would be
    handled.
    
    There seemed to be some hint that Westinghouse was supporting Tesla
    in his "declining" years.
    
    dave pierson
    (who_still_has_his_Tesla_Coil_from_Grade_School)

    
    	It's said that Tesla *insisted* that our power systems be
    60 cycles per second, when overseas work was being done
    at 50 Hz.    He resisted pressure to go to 50 Hz, and because
    of his insistence we use 60 Hz in the USA still.  Tesla was 
    said to have a fascination with the number three and it's 
    multiples.  But I speculate that he may have had some other 
    technical reason to pick this number.
    
    	The story has it that Tesla was working on an idea to
    broadcast power to the whole planet, by causing the whole
    planet to electrically resonate.   I got curious about this,
    and looked up some numbers;
    
       If it is assumed that a wave can travel at lightspeed around 
    the earth (perhaps between the surface and the Van Allen belts, 
    or perhaps beneath the surface.) then the natural frequency of 
    this wave would be 7.5 Hz.   (speed of light/circumference)    
    I knew this sounded right, since I had read elsewhere that the
    Earth resonates at a little less than 8 Hz.   It just happens 
    that 60 = 7.5 x 8.   Could Tesla have been planning to make the 
    planet resonate at 60 Hz ?   The actual number may be a very slight 
    fraction from the perfect 60 Hz;  are our power systems already 
    close to a resonant frequency?     A 60 Hz wave would take 8 cycles 
    to travel around the planet, and would return to the starting 
    point to reinforce the next wave.
    
	And, yes, it would be impossible to meter people's use of
    such a power system.   It would have to be free to all.
    
    	Alan.

    Reply to .10; Alan,
    
    I have no proof to support this but I remember hearing that electricity
    travels at half the speed of light through wires...

    Re .10
    
    > It's said that Tesla *insisted* that our power systems be
    > 60 cycles per second, ...
    
    On the contrary, Tesla originally specified 25 cycle power. It was
    Westinghouse that insisted a higher frequency be used in order to
    extend the transition range. Higher frequency AC can travel over a
    longer distance without losing power. Tesla selected 50Hz (I assume
    because it's 2 x 25) which was accepted by Europeans (who seem to have
    held his theories in greater regard than Americans did). I have read
    that it was Westinghouse and his engineers that changed the standard
    to 60Hz, supposedly to make it easier to build an accurate electric
    clock which they hoped to sell to the government. 
    
    One result of Tesla's conviction that 25Hz power was better than
    60Hz was the Pennsylvania Railroad's electrification project in
    the mid-1930s (now Amtrak's Northeast Corridor). Based solely on
    Tesla's recommendation, PRR selected 12,000 VAC 25 cycle power for
    this major project. It is still in use today and has survived several
    studies on converting it to 60Hz.

    But all this is too technical for this conference, what about the
    rumor that the Russian's are using very low frequency (VLF) electrical
    transmissions to control the minds of their people? (When I first
    heard this one about five years ago I put a :-) on it, but recently
    I have seen it mentioned in otherwise respectable text and on one
    BBC documentary of Tesla). It is said that the theory behind this
    came from papers stolen from Tesla's safe after his death.
    
    Paul.
    
    BTW - this may not rank as a psychic phenomena, but standing twenty
    feet from the tracks as a Metroliner passes you at 125 miles an
    hour while electrical discharge raises the hairs on the back of
    your neck is certainly an other worldly experience. Makes you wonder
    what a day at Tesla's lab was like.

    
    RE .11
    	Yeah, you're probably right that the speed of light through
    the ground would be a lot slower.   I can't find the numbers
    for that right off hand.   BUT; I looked up more on Tesla's
    idea, and it appears that he had in mind a system where the
    broadcast power would travel through the air, between the ground
    and upper layers.   The speed of light in air is only the tiniest
    bit slower than in vacuum.
    
    RE .12
    	I looked up some quotes on Tesla's preference for 60 hz;
    
    From "Prodigal Genius" by John J O'Neill, p 76;
    
    	   "In addition he was quite adamant in the choice of 60 cycles
    	as the standard frequency for alternating current while engineers,
    	who had experience on 133 cycles were not sure that the lower
    	frequency would be best for the Tesla motors....
    	   "Tesla was happy to note that the 60-cycle standard, his
        emphatic choice, but which had been questioned on the ground
    	that it was less practical in small units, had been adopted
    	as the standard frequency."
    
    From "Tesla:  Man Out Of Time", by Margaret Cheney, p 40;
    
    	"The 133 cycle current then used by Westinghouse was wrong
    	for Tesla's induction motor, which was built to 60 cycles.
    	When he so informed the engineers, he succeeded in rubbing them
    	the wrong way and only after months of futile and costly
    	experiments doing it their way did they finally accept his word.
    	Once they had done so the motor worked exactly as it had been designed
    	to do.   Sixty cycles has ever since been the standard for
    	alternating current."
    

					Alan.

    
    	I've heard Faraday was also a "mystic"...
    
    Has anyone heard of Tesla's "Standing Wave" concept? If a whole
    number of cycles of a 60 cycle electrical potential would encircle
    the earth, wouldnt this cause standing waves at places; a static
    electrical potential that could be tapped into with an antenna?
    
    What was he doing in colo sprngs, with that BIG coil which supposedly
    drew ligntning from the atmosphere *into* it, hence, blowing up
    the town's power station. Was this an "answer" to his transmission,
    from the earth itself? Was the explosion in Siberia around this
    time the opposite epicenter to the waves he generated at Colorado?
    Was the "fo" of this BIG coil 60 cycles?
    
    How did his "electric boat" work, recieving both power and commands
    remotely?
                                                                      
    What would happen, if you drove two seperate T-coils each with a
    seperate continuous but synchronized power source (instead of the
    "spark gap" ones commonly used) and shifted the relative phase of
    one so that, at some distance away, the standing RF waves would
    become out of phase and produce a stationary static electric potential?
    Ball Lightning?
    
    	Joe Jas

    Re: .13
    
    Tried to find my references over the weekend but had no luck. So
    I stand corrected. Thank you Alan.
    
    Paul.

    
    	RE: .14
    
    	Were all those questions addressed to me?  I don't know all
    the answers, and doubt if anyone does...  but I'll try to
    enlighten you a bit;   [   8^)    ]
    
    	Tesla's experiments in Colorado Springs were apparently
    designed to discover the electrical characteristics of the
    planet.   Since he had the bad habit of using his excellent
    memory, and not writing things down, we may never know what
    exactly he did or did not discover.   The stories indicate
    that he found a way to manufacture ball lightning.   The huge
    coil that once existed in Colorado Springs still holds the 
    record for producing the highest voltages in history, so Tesla
    may have made observations that no one else has ever been
    equipped to.   During this time he measured the frequencies 
    that would be needed to make the planet resonate electrically.   
    There is an old photo from the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph 
    showing the use of broadcast power, presumably the same method 
    as used in the Madison Square Garden demonstration.   So far as 
    I know, no one now living knows exactly how this broadcast power was
    implemented.   *HOWEVER*;  It could be done with known technology, but
    would be far less efficient than Tesla claimed for his method.
    
    	The Tesla idea for broadcast power was apparently to set 
    the whole planet resonating at some low frequency.  This
    power would be available anywhere.   All that would be required
    to pick it up is a reciever set for that frequency.    As far 
    as I can see, all this is quite possible today, there are only
    a few obvious obstacles;
	1) many metal framed structures (and also perhaps some
           geological structures) might also pick up energy
           from this low frequency.   (a little aside: The ancients,
           if they were using broadcast power, might have had very good
           reasons for building in stone. )
	2) There would be no way of metering the use of the power,
           it would be available all over the world, regardless of
           politics or borderlines.
	3) The broadcaster would have to be quite powerful to achieve
           economy of scale.

	Tesla believed that there is "cosmic energy" available for
    our use.   He envisioned a system where electricity would eventually be
    free of cost.   Looking at these ideas myself, I think the major
    obstacle is more in providing the huge amounts of free electricity.
    If we had the free energy, I think world wide broadcast power would
    be quite possible.   Many of Tesla's comments indicate that he was 
    envisioning power systems to tap "unlimited" natural electrical 
    energy from the environment.    (Here the Tesla societies and science 
    fiction writers get into the most wonderfully crazy ideas;  tapping 
    the Van Allen belts, energy of virtual particals, or the energy of 
    free space... )

    	Many of the problems are economic;  who will fund the research
    and development to put many (most?) energy companies out of business?
    Who will support a project to give energy to all the poor of the
    world?   Which country will it be in?  I think the technology problems 
    with broadcast power would be quickly solved;  *IF* we were to 
    discover a way of tapping the cosmic energy sources that Tesla 
    envisioned.

					Alan.

    I have a great deal of admiration for Tesla, but a few facts are
    worth noting:
    
    	AC finally won the battle with DC when Charles Proteus Steinmetz
    	(at GE I believe) worked out the mathematics necessary for actually
        figuring out what it would do under various circumstances.
    
    	There is no substantial evidence that Tesla ever had anything
    	near to a *practical* broadcast power system.  Essentially,
    	he put various high frequencies through various antennas.  This
        works but wastes huge amounts of energy both in leakage and
    	in electrifying every conductor within the field.  One has to
        wonder how much power was used in the little remote controlled
        boat demonstration.  I'm reminded of a serious proposal a few years
    	back to heat homes (or rather the occupants) via microwaves
    	(at a safe, non-penatrating frequency).  Of course, having any
    	metal on you could cause severe burns and/or shock, and if you
    	have any metal fillings, you better not open your mouth.
    
    	Edison may have been less of a genius (in this case, we are
    	talking about creativity, of course, not "intelligence" whatever
    	that is -- Steinmetz had more genius of the latter type than
    	the two of them put together) but he was more practical.  This
    	went well beyond simple business and marketing savy -- he knew
    	how to build things which would work.  Tesla never finished
    	much of anything.  Since everything had to be "perfect" rather
    	than "functional" time and cost were open ended.
    
    	(Here's a piece of trivia: how many realize that Edison discovered
    	the principle of the "radio" tube -- technically named the "Edison
    	Effect" -- but dismissed it as impractical.)
    
    						Topher

    Re .17 (Topher):
    
        >(Here's a piece of trivia: how many realize that Edison discovered
    	>the principle of the "radio" tube -- technically named the "Edison
    	>Effect" -- but dismissed it as impractical.)
         
    In fact, the radio engineer and author, George O. Smith, pointed
    out that Edison's vacuum-filled light bulb was one step below the
    diode, and jokingly called it a "monode." 
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    
    RE: .17   Always glad to see another Steinmetz fan. He was always
              a hero of mine. 

              
    RE: Transmitted power, mind control, Russians...
    
    
    	The word Robot is from (almost identical to) the Russian word
    	for 'work'.     
    
    
    				Lance

    That isn't really surprising.  Our word "robot" came to us from
    a play that was on Broadway in 1924.  The author was Polish, and
    used the Polish word for "worker" to designate his mechanical
    slaves.
    
    							Ann B.

    I think the R.U.R stood for Rossums Universal Robots.  I think the 
    author was Karl Capek.  The play has been put on since then but not
    very often.  I have the book.  I started reading it but never 
    finished it.

    Mike

RE: .21
    
    That's close Mike, but it is a translation that depends on the use
    of an English word (Robot) which didn't exist until the play was
    brought to this country.  As I understand it a literal translation
    of the title would be "Rossum's Universal Workers/Peasents/Slaves"
    (apparently Robot(nik?) can mean any of the three).  By the way,
    it's Czech.
    
    					Topher

    	I just heard on the radio this morning that Def Leppard 
    	and Tesla would be performing in Denver later this month.
    	Wow, like maybe this Tesla guy was reincarnated into a 
    	rock and roll band, man.  (He must have had some intense
    	karma!)  =8*)
    
    						Carla
    

The facts about Tesla and the contempories of this time: Edison, Einstein,
Planck, Fermi, Mikelson, Farady et al. I wonder if they either conscously
or unconsciously tapped in to a knowledge base, expressd that knowledge
and were given the titles of genius or oddball?  Carrying this notion
a bit further, great discoveries, inventions, music, arts and that host
of non-rational "getting it all at once" events might have its source
outside the individual's persona?

Is there a psychic connection between man and his knowledge?  Is there 
both personal knowledge and universal knowledge and if so how does one
know the difference?

    Re .24:
    
>The facts about Tesla and the contempories of this time: Edison, Einstein,
>Planck, Fermi, Mikelson, Farady et al. I wonder if they either conscously
>or unconsciously tapped in to a knowledge base, ... 
    
    Actually, in the words of Sam (Mark Twain) Clemens: "When it's
    steamboat time, you steam."  I think it's not exactly a tapping
    of a universal knowledge base as it is that a certain threshold
    is reached that makes it "easy" for creative individuals to take
    the intuitive/inspirational leap required to develop a concept or
    product.  Then the rest of the species plays "catch-up"
    
    Let's use something (relatively) simple like rocket research as
    an example.  Here people had been puttering around with blackpowder
    rockets for centuries ... and they proved to be nothing more than
    fancy fireworks devices (the few items like Congreve war rockets,
    such as the British used in the War of 1812, the line-throwing rockets
    used by mariners, and the "rocket mail" on the 1920s, were marginally
    effective, but their functions could have been done using moartars).
    Then, several people suddenly got on the idea of liquid fuel _all
    within a decade or so of each other_: Tsiolsovsky, Goddard, Oberth, 
    and possibly even Pedro Paulet of Brazil.  About the
    time Goddard was  making serious rockets in New Mexico, the VfR   
    in Germany (from Oberth's original inspiration) was making serious
    rocket research leading to the A4 (V2).  That is, a certain threshold
    had been reached in human knowledge, and the species was ripe for
    the advance.
    
>Is there a psychic connection between man and his knowledge? 
    
    Possibly, but I doubt lots of what's been accomplished was the
    result of that.  Taking Edison for an example, he got the idea of
    an electric light bulb, but to get his light working, he had to
    experiment with hundreds upon hundreds of potential filament materials
    before coming up with one that would work: "inspiration" or tapping
    in on some exterior knowledge base would have enabled him to reach
    the correct solution in a very few tries.  
    
    Please note that Adams and Leverrier came up with calculations for
    Neptune at about the same time; that Newton and Leibniz came up
    with infinitesimal calculus at about the same time (and we use Leibniz'
    notation today; not Newton's), and that Wallace and Darwin came
    up with Natural Selection at almost precisely the same time.  This
    implies an imperative to _resolve_ things in their times, but doesn't
    support the idea of a bUniversal Data Base.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.      

    re .24:
    
    The case has been made, using similar examples of (genius)...
    
    In _The Crack in the Cosmic Egg_  Joseph Chilton Pearce posits that
    the flash of insight that generates a EUREKA!  results from an
    altered state of consciousness that follows a period of immersion
    in a subject. In the ASC, the gestalt of the solution is lucidly
    apparent.  He suggests that this ASC available to all of us, but
    that the socialization that enforces acceptance of consensus 
    reality  causes us to "forget" how to do it.
    
    I thought it was a very compelling book; Pearce speaks a lot about
    YCYOR, and gives a quite rational basis for pursuing the
    spiritual/mystical. The book is out of print, but I've seen several
    copies in used bookstores in Cambridge and Amherst.
    
    	Bruce

    Considerable care, and research into _Why_ a discovery/invention
    was possible sometimes needs to be done.  To extend Steve's cases
    a bit:  Liquid propellants for rockets became _possible_ with the
    development of pumps for handling liquid fuel, and the fuels
    themselves.
    
    Edison "invented" the light bulb, yup, but people had been heating
    things in confined spaces with electricity for decades before that.
    First there had to be a decent generator (improved by Edison) and
    reliable engines (steam) and.... before electric light as a commodity
    was _worth_ inventing.
    	The researchers were working with a common knowledge base, so it
    was likely that they would come up with similar things at the same
    time.  My opinion, for what its worth, is that the
    Einstein/Tesla/Goddard class of mind has "different" way of
    synthesizing the available data, rather than a tap into a collective
    knowledge base.

    thanks
    dave pierson

Point:
If knowledge gained from inspiration weren't "one's own" that is
from a source outside oneself; wouldn't the personal ego have
a really tough time?  I think that a vessle and it's contents
form a Gestalt.  Even an empty vessle contains nothing.  

Seems to me that who or what is 'out there' stands on its own.  It just
is whatever it is.  People of various natures either create knowledge
themselves or maybe get it from somewhere else.  I don't know.

The reason I started this note was to point out two things: 1. Past genius
of Tesla, alot of which was poo-poo'd is now finding its way into modern
physics and the way he handled his inventions was more than a little odd.
2. The subtle point, those with psychic connections get poo-poo'd and
it might just take a hundred years or so to become ordinary.

    Several good points there Larry.
    

    
    	It seems to me that the economic and political conditions
    back around the turn of the century, were better for independent
    inventors, than they are now.   Have the advent of income tax
    and other increases in federal regulation dampened the creative
    spirit ?   Or are there other reasons why there was a flood of
    great ideas at that time ?   Perhaps the rise of government
    secrecy has blocked some progress that might have occured since
    then ?   Were Tesla and Edison "given" their inventions from some 
    spiritual connection ?
    
    	Edison and Tesla both seemed to be pulling their ideas out
    of thin air.   The sheer quantity of revolutionary ideas that
    came from just these two men, seems to me to be astounding.
    If the knowledge is just there, (out in the astral, or akasha)
    then why don't a lot of chanelled entities succeed at inventing ?   
    In the few cases I've read where psychics tried to get "scientific" 
    ideas or data by psychic means, the results were not very impressive.
    This could be blamed on the psychic's lack of scientific training
    though, perhaps the psychics do not have the background concepts
    needed to successfully pursue "psychic invention".

	It is certain that many creative acts come from outside the
    conscious "persona".   But they still could come from the subconscious
    mind of the inventor, not necessarily from spirits, or magically
    aquired knowledge.    Creative work (at least in my experience)
    takes mental *energy*.   I would think this is the primary difference
    between psychically aquired knowledge and knowledge developed through
    creative work.    (for example -- there is a lot less work involved
    in copying a poem, than in writing it for the first time.)  Then ask 
    did the inventor *work* to accomplish this ?   Or did it just "fall 
    in his lap" ?
    
    	Tesla spent a lot of time thinking about electricity and DC
    motors, before he had his 'vision' of the AC generators and motors.   
    Although the 'vision' seemed to come to him all at once, as if a 
    gift from above, he had previously invested a lot of time and energy 
    on related concepts.   He had dedicated his life to engineering,
    to the point of avoiding all sexual relationships, and worked
    incredibly long hours -- which he wouldn't have needed to if the
    inventions were preinvented gifts laid on him from some other
    dimension.
    
    	Edison is quoted as saying "invention is 2% inspiration and
    98% persperation".  He also had to work long hours to accomplish
    each invention.   I doubt if *he* believed his inventions came
    from some other plane.    
    
    	But there is still a lot of room for wonder and doubt as to 
    where that 2% inspiration does come from...   The very word
    "inspiration" has it's roots related to the act of breathing --
    as if knowledge might just be poured into a person as easily
    as air is inhaled -----    

    	Alan.

    PS -- if someone out there *does* know how to inhale knowledge,
          *please* let me know how !!    ;^)

Knowledge implys form.  Some meditation sessions, I have seen lots
of things like mathematical equations and such.  I sensed rather than
understood what I was seeing.  I certainly have not come up with any
earth shattering mathematical concept....but I've always had a "gift"
with boolean equations and predicate calculus.  I see real beauty in
the arcane rules of logic; ie Monens Tolando Ponens always sounded like
a chant to me.  But I don't know 'how-to' any more than I know 'how to
walk'.  It just cannot be explained by me anyhow.

Again, it is just a sense that Tesla et. al. tapped into some knowledge
base.  I won't attempt to prove that.  It makes sense that they needed
the learned technology to make what they tuned in-to a reality.  Other
that the idiot-savant, most genius has a backround in their creative form.

A couple things come to mind.  Are there very ordinary every-day activities
that we all do that have psychic impulse or connection?  If there are, aren't
we so used to them they remain un-noticed?  Seems like the first step would
to become conscious of the source of one's actions.

Like most everyone else, I too struggeled through college.  When it came
to the class in symbolic logic, it was like I already knew it.  I also
got a sense that this was special and the class started me to wonder
"where" I learned this facility.  It may not be the "right" answer,
but I'm content with the belief that there is a part of me that tunes-
into this one particular area.  Maybe I was a Monk in a past life ;)

So my answer to "how to" tune in to the cosmic knowledge base: take a look
and maybe you already have?  The point I made in an earlier note is that
an ego, by it's very nature, will deny such a case.  I use the age old
technique of creating an observer, clear witness, or an objective
point of view; and by whatever method, look for the source in my life.

entendre' intended
Larry

re: .31 

Could be that the Common Knowledge Base exists, Larry, but that it is built by
the creative processes and learning experiences of conscious beings over the
course of their lifetimes.  When we create or learn we may be responsible for
recording information in the database (i.e., the Akashic Records, or Overmind
of Earth, or whatever else you want to call it).  Once that information is
recorded, it may become psychically available to the rest of humanity.

It seems like once an idea "catches on", it really takes fire.  Adolescents in
the 'Teens and '20s were renowned for their uncanny aptitude at picking up
automobile mechanics overnight, much as many adolescents in the '70s and in
this decade have picked up computer "hacking".  Maybe the propagation of such
new-found knowledge does tie back psychically to a common pool of information.

The other alternative, namely that all knowledge is in the overmind in a
preexistent form, doesn't really appeal to me because it seems to deny us a
creative function in the scheme of things (and it seems to make what Stephen
Donaldson calls "the necessity of freedom" less viable).  But it could very
well be the case, i suppose (it has some consistency with the Platonic
concept of a world of archetypes, as in Roger Zelazny's _Amber_ books;-)).
							paul c.

    
    	I'm wondering about the supposed "subconscious background
    processing" that goes on when one undertakes the solution to a problem
    which is difficult. Let's "normalize" the difficulty by saying it's
    relative to the particular reality and times in which the person
    is living. The concept of a rotating magnetic field back in 1850
    may be comparable in relative difficulty to, oh, the concept of
    a "computer virus" is nowadays.
    	What metaphysical changes occur when one uses their own will
    or belief? Doctors contend that cancer can be "told to leave" by
    sheer concentration; can the brain organize itself to comprehend
    a previously indescript phenonemenon if it's "owner" wills it so?
    I believe it can.
    	Inventors like Tesla and Edison may have restructured themselves
    internally on the way to solutions of certain problems. Why did
    the concept of a rotating magnetic field "come" to Tesla amid much
    brain clamor? Is this how the subconscious makes it's "report"?
    Is not the long hours of self depravation which were undertaken
    by both (in the name of experimental research) like the "vision
    questing" that perhaps a Shaman might undertake on his path to the
    mystic? I think it is.
    
    	Just how strong is belief and will, in terms of changing reality
    itself, in ways otherwise as yet unattainable (like the cancer)?
    If you believe strongly that you will find the real truth about
    something, will you in fact be setting yourself up to do so?
    
    	Joe Jas 
                                                                
    

    I think so.  The combination of belief and will is strong.

    
    	The following quote is found on page 251-2 of John J. O'Neill's
    biography of Tesla; "Prodigal Genius".   The quote is taken from
    an unpublished article of Tesla's, in Tesla's own words.
    	This quote illustrates a few of Tesla's 'odd' technical beliefs,
    that just happen to be phrased in a way that seems all too appropriate
    for this 'Dejavu' notes format;
    
    	   "Long ago he [mankind] recognized that all perceptible matter
	comes from a primary substance, or a tenuity beyond conception,
    	filling all space, the Akasa or luminiferous ether, which is
    	acted upon by the life-giving Prana or creative force, calling
    	into existence, in never ending cycles, all things and phenomena.
    	The primary substance, thrown into infinitesimal whirls of
    	progidious velocity, becomes gross matter; the force subsiding,
    	the motion ceases and matter disappears, reverting to the
    	primary substance.
    	   "Can Man control this grandest, most awe-inspiring of
    	all processes in nature?   Can he harness her inexhaustible
    	energies to perform all their functions at his bidding, more
    	still cause them to operate simply by the force of his will?
    	   "If he could do this, he would have powers almost unlimited
    	and supernatural."
    
    

	There is also some discussion of Tesla in the OVDVAX::Electro_Hobby
    	file.  Below is an edited dir/title=Tesla from there.  119
    	discusses the meetings of the International Tesla Society,
    	the next is scheduled for "late July 88".
	<kp7> adds electro_hobby to your notebook.  I am placing a similar
    	pointer in electro_hobby....
    thanks
    dave pierson
    ...
   	 Topic		Repl  Title
	--------------------------------------
    	 63		11  Tesla-the man
	 64		20  Tesla-the devices
 	 73		30  Tesla/VanD Plans
	119		4  Intl. Tesla Society

    	There is an article about Tesla in the March, 1988 issue of
    OMNI magazine.
    
    	Larry
    

    re.14
    Joe, I believe the device that killed the power station here in
    the springs was a very large scale tesla coil. I have a copy of
    a story printed in the gazette(local paper then and now) stating
    that the device was a coil(much text left out) that created sparks
    that radiated from the ball on top the coil for several hundred
    feet. (all from memory) I can dig up the article and either copy
    or type in here if anyone is interested. The building that served
    as his lab was torn down several years ago but I did have a chance
    to see it close up before its destruction. Too bad they dident have
    the current focus on saving landmarks such as this. There is now
    a football/soccer field for deaf/blind children where his lab once
    stood. 
    For local residents I have a working tesla coil that I will demo/let
    you play with if anyone is interested.
    
    -j
    

Program of International Tesla Society Symposium, courtesy of
Larry Backstrom.

If I can get away, I am going.  Will try to keep crossposting.
Thanks
    dave pierson

        <<< CSOA1::DISK$SYSTEM02:[NOTES$LIBRARY]ELECTRO_HOBBY.NOTE;1 >>>
               -< Electricity/Electronics/Telephone Hobby File >-
================================================================================
Note 119.7                     Intl. Tesla Society                        7 of 7
MIST::BACKSTROM                                      90 lines  25-MAY-1988 15:45
                   -< 1988 Tesla Symposium, July 29, 30, 31 >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The IEEE Denver Section Has agreed to cosponsor the 1988 Tesla Symposium
with ITS.  ITS will extend the advance registration to IEEE members ($149.95).

The following are some of the titles that have been received by the
Symposium Committee at this time.  I will add the abstracts as a later reply.
The main criteria for the papers were that they were never previously
delivered and that they are relevant to the topic at hand -- Tesla and Tesla
Technology.

***** Historical Moments *****

Tesla : Laser Beams and Particle Beam Weapons
by Dr. Marc Seifer

Locating Tesla's Lab
by Hal Treacy

The "Battle of the Currents"
by Charles Wright

Maxwell's Lost Unified Field Theory of Electromagnetics and Gravitation
by T.E. Bearden


***** Tesla Coil -- Theory & Application *****

Computer Simulation and Experimental Verification of Tesla High Voltage Machines
by Dr. James F. Corum, D.J. Edwards & Kenneth L. Corum

Concerning Cavity Q
by Dr. James F. Corum, DR. C Spaniol, PE & Kenneth L. Corum

Tesla Coils - An RF Power Processing Tutorial for Engineers
by Dr. James F. Corum & Kenneth L. Corum


***** Electromagnetics *****

The Non-Equivalence of the Ampere and Biot-Savart Force Laws end Longitudinal
Contact Forces
by Dr. P.T. Papps

Hysteresis of the Aether
by Eric P. Dollard

Application of Novel Nonlinear Mechanisms to Explain Tesla's Magnifying
Transmitter (TMT) System
by T.E. Bearden


***** Geophysical Effects *****

Electromagnetic Waves Scattering On Earth's Metal Core
by R.C. Maglic


***** Energy Research *****

Phenomenon of Electric Charge Generation by Space Rotation
by Paramahamsa Tewari

Wireless Power Transmission Utilizing Ground Currents
by Michael T. Mruzek

Observations on the Problem of Increasing Human Energy
by Shelley Thompson


***** Gravitics *****

Levitation or Electro Gravitation, A Brief History and Recent Developments
by George D Hathaway, PE

Artificial Gravity from the Zero-Point Energy
by Moray King


***** Medical Devices *****

Tesla's Contribution to Electrotherapy
by Dr. Patton McGinley


***** Defense Applications *****

Postulated Soviet RF Directed Energy Weapons That Use Time-Reversed
Electromagnetic Waves
by T.E. Bearden
    

    Is it possible to buy or borrow a copy of the proceedings?
    
    I've read Tesla's "Colorado Springs Notebook", and it will be
    interesting to see how his ideas are now viewed.  At least some
    of the session titles you listed looked like direct continuation
    of his work.
    
    	-Bill
    

    Presumably the procedings will be available.  IF i go, anyone can
    borrow mine.  (at least as long as they get returned...)

    thanks
    dave pierson
    
    (who can't resist pointing out that the last thing I did before writing
    this reply  was "play" (work, _really_) with a DEC tesla coil (one of
    three on hand...)) 

    What do we use those things for?
    
    (or do you work on high-vacuum systems trying to find the leaks?)
    	
    	-Bill
    

        Mostly to shock visiting Deja Vu'er's.....
        
    
    8)>>
    8)>>
    
    Industrial strength electrical noise source....

    thanks
    dave pierson

    re .40
    Just got the new "Lindsay's" Catalog.  A couple of new Tesla
    titles:
    
    	Procedings of the 1986 International Tesla Symposium
    	_$85._  (A little pricey... anybody want to go halves?)
    
    	"Tesla's Lost Inventions's"  5.95/34pp
    
    (Set/amusement=on)
    	Lost?  "suppressed" (to quote an extract from the catalog)?
	These seem to be _patents_ anybody can have copies from the
    	patent office for $5. a piece (more or less).
    
    thanks
    dave pierson

    _Brief_ note on the 88 Tesla Con.
    Interesting, fun, met one other deccie, and missed at least one
    more.
    
    Big indoor coil demos provided 4-6 ft sparks.
    (and knocked the elevator controls & security systems off line...)
    
    Outdoor demos, say 12-15 ft.
    
    I purchased (and will loan..):
    	84 and 86 proceedings
    	Colorado Springs Notebook
	plus some other techie coil stuff.
    
    88 proceedings come with conference membership, but have not
    been printed yet.

    more later, still catching up, here and elsewhere...
    thanks
    dave pierson
    

    What seems most amazing is that 100 years ago people like Tesla
    were thinking and publishing their thought not unlike those of
    this "New Age".  Which brings me back to the first thoughts on
    this person, are his ideas so old or so new?
    
    L. Christensen

    26-29 Jul
    Colorado Springs, Co
    1990 International Tesla Symposium
    Hilton Inn
    
    Symposium registration is $180.00, though its broken down by session.
    (no details on the session contents, yet...)
    
    Members of ITS get 25% discount for registration before 28 Feb, 15%
    before 15% Jun.
    
    Conference proceedings not included.  (They haven't got the '88
    procedings published yet, sigh....).  Presumably the usual sales
    area, live coil demos (One member buils 10 foot high coils....),
    and presentations on Tesla, his history, technology, and modern
    "on the edge" science...
    
    Murphy willing, I'll be there.  Anybody else?  Any CXO folks
    up for a get together (its a looooong time ahead...).
    
    --------------------------------------------------------------
    International Tesla Society
    330-A West Uintah St, Suite 215,
    Colorado Springs, CO
    80905
    
    ITS membership is $20.00 a year, which gets a quarterly "journal" of
    speculative science and tesla related articles.
    
    thanks
    dwp

I'm up for a get together! Maybe it wont rain all weekend this year and
the outside display will be better. IS that big coil going to be there again?

-j

    Exactly NONE, nada, ZIP for details as to program.
    
    (And one day shorter than '86.  If i wasn't a cheerful, optimistic sort,
    i'd get pessimistic.)
    
    Ahem...  Once i get any details (or if any body else does, please....)
    they show up here.  In any case, think about swinging buy the hotel and
    checking the parking lot (probably) for strange sights.  (they had to
    stop using the big coil inside, last time, as it would shut dosn the
    security system and the elevator controls....
    
    thanks
    dwp

    From the latest ITS Journal....
    Mostly techie sounding stuff.
    See U there.
    (CSO folk:  batten down the hatches....8)>>)
    thanks
    dwp
    
    Bill Wysock will be there with a "twin secondary" coil, secondaries
    12' high, if i read correctly (Bill builds BIG....)
    
    William H Terbo	Perspectives on Tesla
    Dr Marincic		The Tesla Museum
    Charles Wright	The Great AC/DC War
    Dr Marc Seifer	Nikola Tesla & John Hays Hammond, Jr
    Oliver Nichelsen	Tesla's Firs Fuelless Generator Design
    James Hardesty	X-Rays & Electron Beams: Origins of Modern Physics
    
    Dr James Corum	Tesla Coils: 100 Years of Cavity Resonator
    			Development
    Ken Corum		A Rediscovery of Tesla's RF Techniques
    Dr V P Puglielli	Modern Interpretation of Tesla's Vacuum Tube
    			Research
    Toby Grotz		Computer Aided Design of Tesla Coils
    
    Dr P T Pappas	Energy Generation Phenomenon: Lab to Star
    			Generation
    Alexis Guy Obolensky
    			Beyond Superluminal
    Moray B King	Scalr Current
    
    Thomas Valone	Nonconventional Energy & Propulsion Methods
    Dan Davidson	The Gary Magnetic Effect
    Paul Brown		Tesla Technolgy & Radioisotopic Energy
    			Generation
    George Hathaway	An Engineering Introduction to Zero Point Energy
    
    Sevier Bonnie III	Current Tesla Turbine Technology
    C R POssell		Boundary Layer Turbine
    
    John Moray		Nikola Tesla: Father of Bioelectronics
    Thomas Bearden	Gravitobiology: Fundamental Discovery in EM
    			Medicine
    Dr Glen Rein	Non-Hetzian Energy/EM Energy: Biological Connection
    
    thanks
    dwp

the book:

	The Fantastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla by Nikola Tesla (with added
						material by someone else)

was seen in Barnes & Noble, Nashua NH (in the physics/electronics section).
Price = $16.95
ISBN  = 0-932813-19-4

-Joe