BRONZE ICON
NIKOLA TESLA, THE MAN OF PEACE
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Readers in the first part of the nineteen
thirties occasionally encountered some intriguing headlines in the course of
everyday reading. Some of the articles
had striking titles, stretching the limits of imagination: - Cosmic Ray Motor May Transmit Power 'Round Earth - Tremendous New Power Soon to be Unleashed - Harnesses Cosmic Energy - Beam to Kill Army at 200 Miles - New Death-Beam - Invents Peace Ray - A Machine to End War - Predicts Ships Powered by Shore Beam - Promises to Transmit Force - Reveals New Power Device These are exciting titles and worthy of many a
tale found in a pulp magazine -- Amazing Stories or Astounding
for example. But those magazines were
not the home of these incredible tales.
Rather more august publications like the New York Times, Literary
Digest, New York Herald Tribune, and the Kansas City
Journal-Post were the medium for these banners. Fact, not fiction is what these articles
were about. Beginning in the early thirties a very famous
scientist issued a series of sensational interviews. The man was Nikola Tesla and make no
mistake about it -- he was a celebrated scientist holding over six hundred
patents in his name. Tesla was a
flamboyant inventor given to theatrical exuberance when describing his new
theories and ideas. Each June 11th on his birthday, the colorful
inventor invited the press to a luncheon and announced his latest
discoveries. As you might notice from
the earlier headlines, the subject matter was both novel and
exhilarating. While some of the themes
may seem exotic it should be noted that science and engineering were making
huge advances every year. Yesterday's
science fiction frequently became today's new science. At one such interview, for example, Tesla
announced he would develop an apparatus to destroy enemy air fleets hundreds
of miles away from a country's borders using concentrated energy beams. The weapon also possessed the ability to
kill enemy troops instantaneously. But
this is not to be a weapon of war; instead it is a tool for peace. Telsa's ideas were cutting edge. It was generally supposed that many of
these things would become a reality within a few years. Concepts under examination here generally
fall into five categories: energy beam weapons, cosmic energy, thought
photography, new power sources, and wireless energy transmission. Energy Beam Weapons The first primitive beam weapon appeared in Doc
Savage with the March 1934 issue titled Meteor Menace. Primitive in the fact that the infernal ray
was simply a meteor emitting strange radiation rather than that created by a
man-made device. Man-made beamed weapons appeared in Doc Savage
with the December 1934 issue. The
Crime Annihilist had perfected a unique weapon that killed people who were
committing violent acts. The
death-device is effective but Doc decides it serves no useful purpose and
destroys it. Next, in The Metal Master (March 1936) the
reader encounters a device that transforms metals into liquids at normal room
temperatures. The death-engine in The
Annihilist operated more like a radio broadcast sending waves is all
directions. This machine projects a
true ray that can be focused on a specific point. Cold Death (September 1936) introduces a ray weapon that
unleashes powerful explosive forces. The unknown power destroying navy ships in The
Terror in the Navy (April 1937) turns out to be a hoax. Nonetheless, naval officials were more than
ready to believe some mysterious force was propelling navy crews to their
doom. The May 1937 issue, Mad Eyes, has a
multiplicity of rays. There are rays
that stop plane motors, rays that explode fuel tanks, paralyzing rays, and
finally cosmic rays. Like Mad Eyes, He Could Stop the World
from July 1937 has more rays than a reader can reasonably count. There are rays that disintegrate
people. Other rays propagate a form of
mind-control. Climate control is
achieved, and the snows of Mount Shasta are melting as tropical temperatures
are imposed. Readers were treated to The Motion Menace
in May 1938. An international gang
controls a powerful weapon that can stop planes in mid-air. Used on human beings, it becomes a death
ray. The gang intends to use this
powerful weapon to conquer Soviet Russia.
A repeat of this type device again appears in The Spook of Grandpa Eben (December 1943). Beam weapons become so commonplace by now that
one is used for revenge in Fortress of Solitude (October 1938). Interestingly enough, it appears to be the
same weapon we encountered in The Metal Master. "Each
set of apparatus sends out a controlled field of combination electromagnetic
and sonic nature," the man continued. "One of these fields will
liquefy metal at close range, but at a distance it takes two. We focus the
fields, and where they meet, any kind of metal will melt." Now read the description of the device John
Sunlight used to exact his revenge on Serge Manoff. It had killed through the attic wall, for it was
only where the magnetic and sonic beams met, their focal point, that the
effect was obtained. It looks like Doc Savage has been a busy
man. The Metal Master's ray only
worked on metal. Doc has experimented
along these lines and found a ray that dissolves human flesh! Beam weapons continue to appear in the
series. A powerful beam weapon takes
center stage in The Rustling Death (January 1942). A little over a year passes and yet
another powerful weapon appears in Waves of Death (February
1943). The editor's footnote in this
story points directly at Tesla's articles dealing with the same subject. Cosmic Energy Tesla also had the idea of using an energy beam
to excite molecules in the upper nighttime atmosphere creating a man-made
aurora borealis over the world's oceans.
Increased visibility would allow ships to freely ply the seas without
fear of collision with icebergs or other vessels. In The South Pole Terror (October 1936),
we come across a device that changes the stratosphere's magnetic
characteristics. "Have
an apparatus for changing the characteristics of a limited section of
atmosphere above the earth to permit the entrance, through this atmosphere
blanket, of the cosmic rays," Doc finished. "This heat we feel is
actually a bombardment of cosmic rays." Thurston H. Wardhouse, the inventor of this
cosmic "heat" ray explains his purpose in creating such a
device. "I did - was
experimenting with device - to permit light to pass through fog - boon to
aviation." Telsa's idea and that represented in the story are
essentially the same. The descriptions
differ but the basic purpose of both was to aid navigation by increasing
visibility. Cosmic energy again appears in Mad Eyes. Both the magni globes and the
speed cars draw on cosmic energy. “These
cars are a type of Super-Diesel, which draws nearly all of its energy from
the stratosphere.” Thought Photography The September 10, 1933 Kansas City
Journal-Post printed some amazing statements attributable to Tesla. "I expect to photograph
thoughts, . . ." Tesla proposed an idea that thoughts were
transmitted to the eye's retina and could consequently be captured. Something along the lines of thought
photography crops up in one particular Doc adventure from August 1936, The
Midas Man. The
bronze man nodded. "The device on Hando Lancaster’s head is a
supersensitive antenna," he said. "It picks up the electric field
created by his thought waves. They are amplified and - through the
transmitter antenna which you are wearing - implanted upon the nerves in the
cells of your own brain." New Power Sources Magnetism is cited as a power source in Murder
Melody. "I can
tell you," she added, "that we are employing natural magnetic
power. The inside world has deposits of magnetic substance." perhaps ten
thousand times greater in force than the magnetism of the outer earth.” Electric ore, the element comprising the earth's
core is the central theme in The Living
Fire Menace (January 1938). There was
one peculiar aspect to the cavern. Great motors whirred to run heavy machinery,
the furnaces glowed; but nowhere was there any sign of a power line, just as
there had been no such sign in the factory above. The machines seemed to draw
their tremendous forces from the thin air itself. An atomic accumulator is introduced in World's Fair Goblin (April 1939). It simply stores conventionally generated
power much as an ordinary battery. But
the scale on which it does so is so enormous as to be unimaginable. In real application the amount of power
that could be stored was virtually unlimited. "Correct,"
Doc said. "And in that generator model there was a tiny part missing.
Enlarged from scale, that unit would be about the size of a suitcase. Did you
ever hear of an atomic accumulator, Long Tom?" An earlier adventure, The Secret in the Sky
(May 1935), raises some interesting questions concerning the astounding
sky-craft's abilities. Observe Stunted
removing something from one of the strange vessels -- He came
out a moment later with a box larger than a suitcase. He handled this with great
care. He passed it to those below. "Watch
it!" he snapped. "This is the heart of the invention. Take that
away and there ain't nobody can figure out how these balls work." Stunted words were prophetic. As the story concludes, the operational
power behind the mysterious ships remains unknown. Just exactly what was inside that box? Could it be an atomic accumulator? Wireless Energy Transmission Regarding Doc Savage and Nikola Tesla, probably
the single most interesting story is Haunted Ocean (June 1936). The July 11, 1934 New York Herald
Tribune printed an interview with the famous inventor. In peace
times, he [Tesla] says, the beam will also be used to transmit immense
voltages of power over distances limited only by the curvature of the earth. Returning to Haunted Ocean we observe Doc
Savage examining the power-receiving equipment on an airplane. The
mystery of the apparent uncanny daylight was unfolded to Doc Savage. He
realized that a band of such light, with proper motive machinery, might someday
operate every ship that sailed the seas, every vehicle of transportation in
the world. Personal philosophies are also in play here. In an October 1934 article in Every Week
Magazine the reader learns that Dr. Tesla hates war. The article describes Tesla's reaction to
The Great War. Dr.
Nikola Tesla was in his laboratory trying hard to solve a problem of ages.
Once in a while he raised his head to listen. Then he turned back to his
experiments. He was going to end war. Back in the Doc Savage universe this rule will
not be imposed by individual nations.
The Man of Peace is going to force it onto the world. The President of the United States shows
Doc the following message. "Yes.
Another relayed radio. I’ll read it: ‘The United States must disarm. So must
all other nations. You have five days to decide. The navy must be laid up.
The army must be disbanded. All armament must be destroyed. The same order
applies to all nations of the world. Peace will be applied at any price.’" Later we actually meet the Man of Peace
himself. "Conquest,
always conquest!" the man murmured. "I have but to move one finger
and it will cease. In this way only, can war be ended. Only my own craft and
my own air force shall have the secret of moving by the light of peace." Arne Dass, the Man of Peace is the alter ego of
Nikola Tesla. Consider the
similarities between the two. Tesla is
a native of Yugoslavia. Arne Dass has
a strong Norwegian connection. Both
are world-class experts possessing esoteric knowledge in their respective
fields - Dass on atomic energy and Tesla on high voltage electricity. Both men are aged. Tesla was seventy-eight in 1934. Tesla wishes to present his plans to the
disarmament conference at Geneva.
Coincidentally in Haunted Ocean, Johnny Littlejohn is part of a
war commission on its way to Europe before being hijacked by one of the
"peace" submarines. <><><> That wraps up the discussion on Tesla's ideas but
there is still one more item that should be examined. In The Pirate's Ghost (April 1938),
the reader encounters the eccentric inventor Meander Surett - scientist
extraordinaire and inventor of the "spirit radio". The story
said Meander Surett pioneered wireless; ranked almost with Marconi. Meander Surett
formulated the most acceptable theory of cosmic rays. Meander Surett
pioneered ultra-short-wave radio. They could just as well be talking about Nikola
Tesla. Perhaps the Kansas City
Journal-Post explains it best: Mr.
Tesla is the father of the alternating system of power transmission and
radio, the induction motor and Tesla coil. Nikola Tesla was a brilliant creator of many
inventions that are still currently used today, some sixty years after his
death. But he was also a lively
individual with a strikingly eccentric style.
Many of his interviews read just as if they were taken from the pages
of a Doc Savage adventure and to a certain degree it appears they were
incorporated into the series. |
