Nikola Tesla’s name resonates loudly in history and has been an inspiration to generations of inventors for his astute mind that was capable of unraveling the most intricate mysteries of science. His revolutionary ideas laid the foundation for virtually all of the technology we possess today, from the device from which you are reading these lines, to the transmission of data over long distances. Tesla possessed an eccentric mind that was able to see far beyond the obvious, and it was thanks to this that he developed several out-of-the-box experiments. However, one of them called the Wardenclyffe Tower, was to be his crowning achievement. Or so he thought.
The Beginning of Telecommunications
In the 1900s, Nikola Tesla had already introduced humanity to the wonders of electrical energy. He had already turned humanity around with the illumination of large cities, and he also made possible the supply of electrical energy to begin the transition to technological modernity. He also experimented with X-rays and his iconic Tesla coil.
But the Serbian inventor still had other, much deeper concerns that were the reason he became obsessed with the Pyramids of Giza. Tesla fervently believed it was possible to create a gigantic telecommunications station that would operate completely wirelessly, which he called the Wardenclyffe Tower. It is worth noting that at that time, wireless data transmission was unthinkable, and the applications of electric power were just becoming known.
During one of his lavish dinners in New York hotels, Tesla convinced the tycoon and banker J. P. Morgan to finance his ambitious project and succeeded. He was hesitant to invest because he had been impressed with the achievements of Guglielmo Marconi, who was Tesla’s rival inventor, who was also experimenting with data transmission.
To persuade him to invest in his project, Tesla told Morgan that as soon as the tower was completed, it would be possible for a New York businessman to dictate instructions in Morse code immediately to his office in London or anywhere else in the world. Thus, in 1901, Morgan invested $150,000 (about $4 million today) in the construction of the Wardenclyffe Tower.
As soon as he secured Morgan’s support, Tesla acquired a 200-acre site on Long Island and ordered the power generators and electrical transformers that would make his ambitious idea possible from the Westinghouse Electric Company. He also hired the prestigious architect, Stanford White, who showed enthusiasm for designing the Wardenclyffe Tower.
Tesla and White jointly designed a 60-meter-high tower with a 20-meter-high dome at the top. The Italian Renaissance-inspired building was to be the center of operations for research and telecommunications laboratories. However, the plans would be hampered by his rival Marconi who managed to get ahead in achieving the transmission of signals between France and England, which was impressive for its time.
The Decline of the Wardenclyffe Tower
Marco and Tesla had different theories about data transmission, while Marconi was betting on radiotelegraphy, Tesla had developed his hypothesis of ‘earth resonance,’ which he claimed would be able to transmit telegraph messages through a new kind of standing waves. The theory would never be proven, but Marconi’s radiotelegraphy did come to fruition.
With this new variable in the equation, Tesla asked Morgan for a new, much larger budget to take advantage of Marconi’s achievements. His idea was no longer just to send messages in Morse code as he had initially claimed, but the new tower project twice the size would now transmit electricity over long distances and without wires. The banker flatly refused to finance this new project, and with this Tesla was forced to start construction of the original Wardenclyffe Tower in September 1901.
The rivalry between Tesla and Marconi flared up when the latter finally succeeded in transmitting the letter ‘S’ across the Atlantic from England to Newfoundland, Canada. With this, he won the support of the big bankers. Tesla did not give up and finished building his Wardenclyffe Tower in 1902, and made experiments in it until 1905 without managing to put his telecommunications station into operation.
Unfortunately for the Serbian researcher, the lack of financing led him to mortgage the project twice. Finally, in 1915, he lost the property because he could not pay the mortgages. Thus culminated one of his most cherished dreams, without success and being demolished in 1917. It also ended his reputation as he was labeled on several occasions as a joke. Today the main building is still preserved and is in the plans to convert it into the Tesla Science Museum and has even gained the support of tycoons like Elon Musk, who was inspired by him to create his eponymous company.
Story originally published in Spanish in Ecoosfera
