Persons [ ] Ideas out of thin air | The Friendship of Mark Twain & Nikola Tesla, 1895

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The high-voltage current is being passed through the human body to bring the lamp to
incandescence. Tesla’s friend, Mark Twain, is holding the loop above the resonating coil.
Tesla is at the switch in the background.

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“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”

 Mark Twain

Bedridden

Tesla had first become aware of Twain during his younger years while crippled with sicknesses
so bad that the doctors had given up all hope. He was bedridden and sinking into deep despair
when someone gave him a couple of Twain’s books to read to pass the time. Tesla said that the books were so captivating and moving that it helped pull him out of the depressed state he was in, setting the stage for him to recover.

At the Player’s Club

Later on in life he met Mark Twain at a place they both liked to go called The Player’s Club, Twain was someone absolutely entranced by things like science, technology, and inventions and so naturally he connected with Tesla right off the bat. It was there at that club that they began a strong friendship that would last the rest of their lives.

In Tesla’s laboratory

In many ways the two lived in the world of imagination, just different aspects of it. Both could
pull ideas out of thin air and make monumental changes to the world around them, one through
words and the other through electricity. They admired this ability in each other and liked to
hang out and talk for hours in Tesla’s lab.

MarkTwaininNikolaTeslaE28099sapartment0

Mark Twain in Nikola Tesla’s Laboratory, New York, 1895

2 thoughts on “Persons [ ] Ideas out of thin air | The Friendship of Mark Twain & Nikola Tesla, 1895

  1. Για τον ηλεκτρονικό μυστικισμό του, η τριοδική λυχνία ήταν τόσο θεμελιώδης όσο ο σταυρός για το Χριστιανισμό. Σκέψου το εγώ, τον εαυτό που υποφέρει μια προσωπική ιστορία δεμένη στο χρόνο, όπως το πλέγμα. Ο βαθύτερος και αληθινός Εαυτός είναι η ροή ανάμεσα στην κάθοδο και την άνοδο. Η συνεχής, καθαρή ροή. Διάφορα σημεία —αισθητικά δεδομένα, αισθήματα, μνήμες που επαναπροσδιορίζονται— τοποθετούνται πάνω στο πλέγμα, και μορφοποιούν τη ροή. Ζούμε ζωές σαν κυματομορφές που συνεχώς αλλάζουν με το χρόνο, πότε θετικές, πότε αρνητικές. Μόνο σε στιγμές μεγάλης γαλήνης είναι δυνατόν να βρούμε την καθαρή, τη χωρίς πληροφορία κατάσταση του σημείου μηδέν.

    «Στο όνομα της καθόδου, της ανόδου και του αγίου πλέγματος;» είπε ο Πέκλερ.

    ''Ναι, καλό είναι αυτό'', είπε χαμογελώντας ο Μοντάουγκεν.

    Thomas Pynchon / Gravity's Rainbow / 1973 / μτφ Γιώργος Κυριαζής

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