The Many Myths Surrounding Nikola Tesla 

The difference between Brain Blaze and Today I Found Out is that on TIFO he reads something ridiculous and says "Okay then." On Brain Blaze there would've been a five minute tangent about what crack Tesla was smoking eventually ending with an apology for getting off topic and then a meme.

Simon actually got the bug thing right! The use of "bug" predated Edison's use, electrical interference - particularly storms - would make them click in a way operators described as "bugs" in the line from very early on. Multiplexing would make this worse of course, as any signal calibrated incorrectly could cause this interference on other channels, no storms required.

Tesla troopers, Tesla tanks, Tesla coils...I really miss Command & Conquer: Red Alert

One small point of correction: Many people who invented weapons capable of mass destruction thought they were fixing the problem of war. Basically by making something so overpowered that no one would want to fight. Gatling, for example. Also...I'm honestly wondering if part of the confusion for what Tesla was offering was that he was talking about wireless as in WITHOUT WIRE as opposed to radio wave. Like...our qi chargers.

The cult of Tesla has gone from a small fringe to a staple of networks like the History Channel. Glad you are trying to correct the record

Thank you. It's important that history is recorded as accurately as possible. Tesla seemed to be reaching cult status for the past 10 years. I'd love to see all those elephant stories retracted.

I don’t think I’ve ever commented. First of all love the show and all the channels. The world has leaned on men like Tesla for ever. They are the ones who can take something, examine it, refine the process involved, and increase its effectiveness.

These Tesla myths are.....shocking.

This is why I've been subbed to this channel probably since it's first day. Your research is always in-depth and quite accurate. I use the variety of channels from the team to share strange, interesting or factual information and stories. I can only hope that the team will be able to continue with the work you do on all of the channels and subjects that you try to cover.

If you want more info on topsy, Caitlyn doughty, ask a mortician has recently made a video on said topic of elephants killing people and being put to death

I work in the video game industry and I have always wondered where the term "bug" came from. I have asked loads of people who I work with and nobody seems to know. Thank you Simon because I finally know where it came from.

I went to Tesla's birth town last summer and have a picture of myself standing next to that statue. There's a small museum and demonstration room also.

I made a video with TED-Ed about the history of electrical terminology, and I was shocked by the number of comments that said I had 'missed out Tesla', some quite aggressive. Not only was Tesla an engineer, and not a physicist, but he also didn't contribute to the story I was telling, which finished with the discovery of the electron. I investigated some more and it seems there is a recent online Cult of Tesla, which began with a long post by The Oatmeal around 10 years ago. Their core dogma that Tesla has been overlooked by history. This is despite him featuring on a 100 dinars banknote in his home country of Serbia, and a car company named after him, amongst numerous other tributes to him around the world. It somewhat comical that the people who claim Tesla is being overlooked, themselves harbour numerous false ideas about the man and his work.

No, Tesla did *not* “have an understanding of science far ahead of his time.” On the contrary, he rejected much of what scientists already knew. He refused to believe in electromagnetic waves. That, in itself, precluded any possibility of Tesla making useful contributions to radio, much less wireless power transmission.

Topsy was abused so it fought back. Justice for Topsy!

It's amazing some people still think Tesla knew things 100 years ago that we still don't understand today. There's nothing he did that's in anyway mysterious or unrepeatable.

I live about five minutes from Shoreham and there is a nice little museum in his old workshop there. Just south of his property was a huge RCA Radio complex used during World War II - seems like that area was particularly conducive to wireless technology.

Thank you for clarifying the elephant story. I'm still sad for the elephant, but at least its pointless and cruel death wasn't motivated by pyschopathic ego, as I'd always believed.

Something overlooked (perhaps swept under the rug) the that Tesla was a believer in eugenics. The way the internet likes to set him on a pedestal, I feel like it’s something they’d rather not acknowledge. But it was just a popular concept at the time. Ppl really thought it was the way to advance mankind. It really wasn’t until the 3rd Reich push the concept to the most extreme version did ppl see the folly of eugenics.

The Tesla supergenius myth needs to stop

Thank you Simon for debunking a lot of these facts. So many channels report this as fact.

Excellent video, thank you. A well-presented summary of some of the biggest Tesla myths out there. I believe Tesla's "teleautomaton" (remote-controlled boat) demonstration was in 1898 rather than 1889, however.

Genius is 1% inspiration, ninety-eight percent perspiration and 2% attention to detail

Thanks for clearing up a lot of the myths surrounding Telsa and Edison, much appriciated m8!

Let's be honest. The ultimate villain of the story is J.P. Morgan 😂

I always heard about Edison electrocuting dogs to show how dangerous AC was, not an elephant.

A bug in the system or computer bug are both descendants of the bugs you mentioned It's interesting how phrases adapt with technology

I guess no one remembers biographics 5 yrs ago : nicholas tesla,: a man before his time, when simon reinforced most of, if not all of these myths 😂

I think it's possible that Edison got the word "bug" not from anything having to do with an insect, but from a more archaic use of the word that refers to ghosts, faries, and the like. A word for frustrating and seemingly unexplainable phenomena would be a perfect fit for what Edison wanted to describe. Around the turn of the century, "bug" was just such a word.

Definitely there is More myths that fact when it comes to Tesla. “Kathy loves physics and history “ chanel tells the detailed story

I had no idea that there was a story about Edison killing an elephant but I think the concept that people took it at face value is hilarious

Best Edison video ever: In 1912, the Nobel Committee announced that Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison were the recipients of the Physics Prize; instead, the prize went to Gustav Dalen. Details of the reversal are unclear but it is known that Tesla refused the prize (and the $20,000 that came with it).

"If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration." Tesla, you had no idea how spot on u were

Tesla was great at taking recently published theories and inventions in europe, that took credited leaders in their fields of study decades to create, and slapping together similar work over night and publishing in America

Thanks for making a video about the greatest Serbian scientist of all time. If you need more materials I'd be happy to give you a hand for maybe a part 2.

Bug in computer systems, actual computers, was an actual bug found in Mark 1. (cockroach if i remember correctly). Grace Hopper used the term bug, following the roach causing the malfunction, for computer malfunctions. Random noise on the telegraph lines was called bugs by operators because of how they sounded. Also, in the same vein, Horace Martin invented a semiautomatic telegraph key in 1907, which is called a bug (vibroplex) to help deal with his degraded abilities after years of using a straight key. The term bug probably goes back to prehistory when termites would eat wooden tools.

It's about time for a video like this. People on the Internet think he invented literally everything, that every idea he ever had was legit, that every word he ever spoke was truth, and that the only reason he was "underappreciated" was because he was this sweet, sensitive, shy little man who was perpetually taken advantage of by evil, corrupt industrialists. I'm still waiting for the story to pop up where he used his time machine to go back in time to die for our sins. That wouldn't even be out of place among the myriad of myths surrounding him.

Tesla while proponent of AC current did not invent it (as some claim), the first engine that was using AC current was introduced in 1856 the year Tesla was born. The Edison/Tesla rivalry was touched in the video, but the real rivalry was between Westinghouse (AC) (who was employing Tesla) and Edison (DC). AC won in result Edison was removed from his own company (by J.P. Morgan) and his name was taken out of the its name becoming just General Electric. The same JP Morgan later funded the disastrous Tesla Tower project, convinced by the success of the Tesla coil which was used to improve wireless telegraph signals, invention that was made obsolete couple of years later by Marconi who managed to send wireless signal over the ocean by means of radio waves. Also, while Tesla was very talented electrical engineer, he was never brilliant physicist, as some claim, in fact his understanding on physics was on medieval level, he did not believe in electrons, thought that relativity was pseudo science and even hilariously never believed Hertz's discovered radio waves were a result of electro magnetic vibrations in the air. Most of the data here is from the video Tesla Fact vs. Fiction: Why the Public Perception is Wrong by Kathy Loves Physics & History, which I recommend as it is immeasurable well researched and presented.

Mmmm, I think I am still Team Tesla ✌

The Tesla Valve was his greatest invention and almost no one knows about that. Dude didn't know shit about electricity. He didn't even believe electrons existed. Seems like a major oversight for an electrical engineer.

I have been fascinated by Nikola Tesla for many years and I like this video because it debunks somethings about his life without being disrespectful.

I'm glad you wanted to tell the truth about Tesla. I was under the impression Tesla and Edison were not on bad terms, and it was Westinghouse let Tesla keep the patents though. Besides the Tesla Coil, he is not that important as far as electrical development. Michael Faraday is probably best scientist and did the most for our development. Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky invented the 3-phase induction motor, and generator, which are in use today. Lenz invented the transformer based on Michael Faraday's ideas which was improved by Westinghouse, and is in use today. No, Tesla didn't invent AC power. It was invented before he was born. The Niagara Dam project was really all Westinghouse, who hired Tesla as a "consultant", but basically only used Tesla's name on it to promote it as he was so popular.

I really like the format and production of this channel (I wish Simon's other channels would follow suit) and setting the record straight on Tesla and Edison.

I was hoping to hear about Tesla's wild theories about the "Aether" to explain physical phenomena. These theories were quite popular in his day are still often cited today as evidence for his status as a legendary and mythical genius whose ideas are still not appreciated or understood by scientists and engineers.

Picturing a young Nikola Tesla providing tech support and answering calls with, “Hello, NT, have you tried turning it off and in again?”

The film of the Elephant getting electrocuted was recorded as being produced by Edison. That's likely where the rumor started. (Wikipedia resource so do with that what you will) 🔥

Wow. Tesla was human. Mind blown. Seriously.

Thanks for explaining the whole elephant execution thing.... I always thought they just wanted to demonstrate the power of AC and decided to fry an elephant to showcase

It honestly seems ridiculous that they would play the "Who's more dangerous" game. AC or DC if you're touching a live wire then it's going to be a heart stopper.

The phrase "Working the bugs out." does predate computers, clearly.

4:30 "Ok Then" The funniest and best timed retort in history

Today I Found Out I believed a lot of outright myths, not just about Tesla, but also about the origin of the term "bug". It's about a century older than I believed! Thank you for the mythbusting!

I think it's highly plausible that the term "bug" comes from an ACTUAL bug. Roaches in particular are attracted to electric fields for some reason, and a dead roach laying across two wires absolutely could cause errors in any device.

Yogi Berra said, "Genius is 99% perspiration and the other half is inspiration."

gotta love alternating current current

The use of the term "bug" as a glitch in electrical equipment is curious. I assumed the first computer bug was a literal bug from 1945 or 1947 that had interfered with a cathode ray tube and caused a short. The researched who discovered the insect's corpse taped it to the report. You can find images of this online by searching for "first computer bug". But this reference from Tesla predates that by decades so there is more to be discovered I think.

I wonder how many things get misreported based on diary notes eg it's quite possible that his notes about his fav pigeon were humorous but later taken out of context.

That bug fact is very interesting, I was told years ago that this was started by Grace Hopper, but it seems to predate her by many years. Thank you for correcting my knowledge!

The 50 grand joke could reflect that some geniuses lack social skills, so Tesla likely took his managers offer as solid word. It's not uncommon to be like that when your life revolves around facts instead of sarcasm. As for the pigeon, I can't blame him for loving it more than humanity at the time.

Just how quickly does Simon’s beard grow?! In the thumbnail it’s neatly trimmed, but in the video it looks like it could have wildlife nesting in it! 🤣

I am truly grateful that this video exists, for it dispels the illusion of tesla being a divine clairvoyant of sorts, which sadly appears to be prevalent online, not to mention the Nikola Tesla sigma edits....the lesser talked about them, the better

This should be sponsored by Decoding the Unknown 👍🏻

I found the story of Tesla fascinating, and debunking mini of the myth's. To me, the most important thing was you cleared Edison's name in regards to killing the elephant. That story has really tainted my impression of the great inventor. Keep up the great work.

oh so that hotel he lived in, which i also lived in MANY YEARS AFTER him, made him mental too? oh gee...

All these myths of Tesla have given rise to the Cult of Tesla.

Tesla pitching a remote driven boat to the military and having them turn it down is rich irony

A beam of particles doesn't seem implausible , if the beam of particles / metal sand are concentrated along a narrow path they should be able to travel many miles . This would better than laser , because laser drop in intensity very rapidly . A technology like that most likely would be defensive , because it would require a lot of power , which means that it can't be transported to attack enemy nations .

Dude was in a foreign country this whole time going up against J.P. Friggin Morgan man give him a break. You forget to mention the disadvantage of being a foreigner. Especially during those days.

I watch all of your content religiously... awesome brain food when I go about my day and need facts spewed into my ear. Much appreciation. But damn, dude.....I REALLY didn't appreciate the way wireless energy was just glossed over and almost... Dismissed? There were AMAZING examples Tesla demonstrated... And that was just wireless energy at it's most basic absolute infancy. We basically use it as a novelty toy to wirelessly charge our phones these days... Imagine if millions of dollars were dumped into this tech almost a century ago... Do some research.... There's gotta be a Sideprojects video or something there

More Tesla Fanboys need to watch Simon's videos.

One comment: When it comes to Tesla and his desire to create power from the earth that could be transmitted wirelessly, talking about harnessing the currents of the earth and everything that occurred naturally and hie to use the nature of electromagnetism to create what he wanted to, I think it is important to keep this quote in mind "If we use our fuel to get our power, we are living on our capital and exhausting it rapidly. This method is barbarous and wantonly wasteful, and will have to be stopped in the interest of coming generations." He was not a socialist or communist, though who knows if this is an instance where he may have considered electricity part of infrastructure, like roads and such. He was more for small government for individuality. But he knew what the future would hold if we continued to create and use energy the way we were. And he was right.

Besides John Moses Browning my favorite and most inspirational person in history goes to Tesla. Job well done.

Tesla was a brilliant electrical engineer but was no physicists (contrary of some fan claims). His understanding of physics did not include any 20th century major discoveries (relativity and quantum theories).

Great that you made a video about it. There are so many rumours about him and his inventions, it is good that you shed some light on them

Fun fact: the word "tesla" which the Tesla family was named after is actually a wood working tool.

I have never looked at that way. That's a really good way of looking at tesla's deal with addison

Really good digging on this. I love the attention to detail.

This is far more kind to Tesla than it should be. Although he was a great inventor in his early days, he never invented anything relevant to us today.

Telephone and telegraph "switches" used to be mechanical. IIRC the term "debugging" predates a "bug" because the mechanical relays would fail due to insects attracted by the waste heat. I still "debug" but its cleaning them out of fans and wave guides.

Thats hilarious the part of him falling in love with a pidgeon

Wireless and free energy equal wind and sunlight.

Simon makes a fantastic video debunking the cultish ideas people have about Tesla and most of the comments are preoccupied with the elephant electrocution and where the term "bug" comes from. Not the fact that cherished notions about Tesla being held down by "The Man" are nonsense, or that he really didn't have a firm grasp on reality. Tesla was brilliant, no question. But he also got in his own way over and over again. The stories of Tesla being a victim and Edison being the "big bad" are compelling, but they are just that- stories.

Smart jumper. Good color. 👍🏽

I'm from Slovenia and I can guarantee Slovenia did not exist as an independent country before 1991, so I don't know which border did Nikola pass, but it certainly wasn't the Slovenian as most of today's Slovenia was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Not sure how effective it will be but according to caltech they have beamed power from a satellite in space to earth.

4:25 I think it might not be literally a pigeon, but a metaphor for someone, after being with many people (feeding many pigeons). Since he says it's "as a man loves a woman, maybe it was another man, or a child (which would be horrible but we'll never know).

I really enjoyed this video. It was very well researched. Almost everything that you hear about Tesla is wrong. I am the moderator of a Tesla coil group and we are constantly debunking this nonsense. You even debunked a few stories that I had never heard of. Bravo! As far as I can tell this Tesla deification and hero worship started in earnest in the mid-1990s when the internet started to become widespread.

This is so heartwarming. I loved both inventors but was so saddened to hear that Edison had supposedly treated Tesla poorly.

I bet he would be tickled to know that the first popular all electric drive car was named after him.

The excellent science channel Kathy Loves Physics & History has a series on the history of electricity that places Tesla in his right place, and also specific videos about the myths surrounding him.

I have always believed the Edison-elephant myth. TY for setting me staight.

"I don't care that they stole my idea... I care that they don't have any of their own." -- Nikola Tesla

Almost died from illness as a teenager and then lived in the mountains for a while. Dam.

Cool. Good to hear. Apparently some other sources are doing the public a disservice.

Tesla's motor had nothing to do with winning the war of the currents, it had everything to do with AC being able to be transmitted long distances

Always refreshing thank you for clarifying and you are a real gem to RU-vid

Hi Simon could do a video on the boy scouts that held back the Nazis in WW2. I loved the night witches vid. I have 2 boys in the scouts that would love to hear about them. Thanks

Nice video, though I feel you probably could have added the story around him, Marconi and the invention of the Radio.

You ought to talk about the 1859 Carrington event!

Simon I'm pretty sure you had said in multiple videos that the elephant was murdered by him.