I can now state that I have succeeded in operating a motive device by means of [cosmic rays]. I will tell you in the most general way, the cosmic ray ionizes the air, setting free many charges - ions and electrons. These charges are captured in a condenser which is made to discharge through the circuit of the motor.
Interpretation
Tesla describes his success in harnessing cosmic rays to power a device.
In this quote, Nikola Tesla shares his achievement in utilizing cosmic rays as a source of energy to operate a motor. He explains the process of ionizing air through cosmic rays, which releases charged particles that can be gathered and used to power machinery, showcasing his innovative approach to energy generation and the potential of cosmic rays in technology.
In practice
During a lecture on renewable energy sources, this quote can be used to illustrate breakthrough ideas in harnessing natural phenomena.
Even matter called inorganic, believed to be dead, responds to irritants and gives unmistakable evidence of a living principle within. Everything that exists, organic or inorganic, animated or inert, is susceptible to stimulus from the outside.
Our senses enable us to perceive only a minute portion of the outside world.
Every living being is an engine geared to the wheelwork of the universe. Though seemingly affected only by its immediate surrounding, the sphere of external influence extends to infinite distance.
The history of science shows that theories are perishable. With every new truth that is revealed we get a better understanding of Nature and our conceptions and views are modified.
The Secretary of Hygiene or Physical Culture will be far more important in the cabinet of the President of the United States who holds office in the year 2035 than the Secretary of War.
I am unwilling to accord to some small−minded and jealous individuals the satisfaction of having thwarted my efforts. These men are to me nothing more than microbes of a nasty disease. My project was retarded by laws of nature. The world was not prepared for it. It was too far ahead of time, but the same laws will prevail in the end and make it a triumphal success.
In the history of science it has often happened that the majority was wrong and refused to listen to a minority that later turned out to be right.
The faster you go, the shorter you are.
So in regard to mental qualities, their transmission is manifest in our dogs, horses and other domestic animals. Besides special tastes and habits, general intelligence, courage, bad and good tempers. etc., are certainly transmitted.
"Half genius and half buffoon," Freeman Dyson ... wrote. ... [Richard] Feynman struck him as uproariously American-unbuttoned and burning with physical energy. It took him a while to realize how obsessively his new friend was tunneling into the very bedrock of modern science.
The time has come when scientific truth must cease to be the property of the few, when it must be woven into the common life of the world.
Science is basically an inoculation against charlatans.
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