尼古拉?特斯拉和他的塔：一世沉浮

廖鵬程

他是一位開創(chuàng)性的發(fā)明家，一生獨(dú)自取得700多項發(fā)明專利，創(chuàng)造了一系列令人驚嘆甚至是改變世界的裝置。他在電磁場領(lǐng)域有著多項革命性的發(fā)明，他的相關(guān)專利以及電磁學(xué)的理論研究是現(xiàn)代無線通信和無線電的基石。他不僅發(fā)現(xiàn)了旋轉(zhuǎn)磁場，更將人們引向機(jī)器人、計算機(jī)以及導(dǎo)彈科學(xué)等領(lǐng)域。他被稱為人類有史以來最偉大的天才，但一生充滿坎坷：成就在有生之年未得到應(yīng)有認(rèn)可；身體狀況欠佳，長期遭受強(qiáng)迫癥和恐懼癥的困擾；晚年窮困潦倒。他，就是天才科學(xué)家尼古拉·特斯拉。本文中，我們就來走近謎一樣的特斯拉，了解他那令人唏噓的一生。

By the end of his brilliant and tortured life， the Serbian physicist， engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla was penniless and living in a small New York City hotel room. He spent days in a park surrounded by the creatures that mattered most to him—pigeons—and his sleepless nights working over mathematical equations and scientific problems in his head. That habit would confound scientists and scholars for decades after he died， in 1943. His inventions were designed and perfected in his imagination.

Tesla believed his mind to be without equal， and he wasnt above chiding1） his contemporaries， such as Thomas Edison， who once hired him. “If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack，” Tesla once wrote， “he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. I was a sorry witness of such doing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety percent of his labor.”

But what his contemporaries may have been lacking in scientific talent （by Teslas estimation）， men like Edison and George Westinghouse2） clearly possessed the one trait that Tesla did not—a mind for business. And in the last days of Americas Gilded Age3）， Nikola Tesla made a dramatic attempt to change the future of communications and power transmission around the world. He managed to convince J. P. Morgan4） that he was on the verge of a breakthrough， and the financier gave Tesla more than $150，000 to fund what would become a gigantic， futuristic and startling tower in the middle of Long Island， New York. In 1898， as Teslas plans to create a worldwide wireless transmission system became known， Wardenclyffe Tower5） would be Teslas last chance to claim the recognition and wealth that had always escaped him.

The Early Life of the Great Genius

Nikola Tesla was born in modern-day Croatia in 1856； his father， Milutin， was a priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church. From an early age， he demonstrated the obsessiveness that would puzzle and amuse those around him. He could memorize entire books and store logarithmic6） tables in his brain. He picked up languages easily， and he could work through days and nights on only a few hours sleep.

At the age of 19， he was studying electrical engineering at the Polytechnic Institute at Graz in Austria， where he quickly established himself as a star student. He found himself in an ongoing debate with a professor over perceived design flaws in the direct-current （DC） motors that were being demonstrated in class. “In attacking the problem again I almost regretted that the struggle was soon to end，” Tesla later wrote. “I had so much energy to spare. When I undertook the task it was not with a resolve such as men often make. With me it was a sacred vow， a question of life and death. I knew that I would perish if I failed. Now I felt that the battle was won. Back in the deep recesses of the brain was the solution， but I could not yet give it outward expression.”

He would spend the next six years of his life “thinking” about electromagnetic fields and a hypothetical motor powered by alternate-current that would and should work. The thoughts obsessed him， and he was unable to focus on his schoolwork. Professors at the university warned Teslas father that the young scholars working and sleeping habits were killing him. But rather than finish his studies， Tesla became a gambling addict， lost all his tuition money， dropped out of school and suffered a nervous breakdown. It would not be his last.

In 1881， Tesla moved to Budapest， after recovering from his breakdown， and he was walking through a park with a friend， reciting poetry， when a vision came to him. There in the park， with a stick， Tesla drew a crude diagram in the dirt—a motor using the principle of rotating magnetic fields created by two or more alternating currents （AC）. While AC electrification had been employed before， there would never be a practical， working motor run on alternating current until he invented his induction motor7） several years later.

The Inventions and Researches in the USA

In June 1884， Tesla sailed for New York City and arrived with four cents in his pocket and a letter of recommendation from Charles Batchelor—a former employer—to Thomas Edison， which was purported to say， “My Dear Edison： I know two great men and you are one of them. The other is this young man！”

A meeting was arranged， and once Tesla described the engineering work he was doing， Edison， though skeptical， hired him. According to Tesla， Edison offered him $50，000 if he could improve upon the DC generation plants Edison favored. Within a few months， Tesla informed the American inventor that he had indeed improved upon Edisons motors. Edison， Tesla noted， refused to pay up.

Tesla promptly quit and took a job digging ditches. But it wasnt long before word got out that Teslas AC motor was worth investing in， and the Western Union Company put Tesla to work in a lab not far from Edisons office， where he designed AC power systems that are still used around the world. “The motors I built there，” Tesla said， “were exactly as I imagined them. I made no attempt to improve the design， but merely reproduced the pictures as they appeared to my vision， and the operation was always as I expected.”

Tesla patented his AC motors and power systems， which were said to be the most valuable inventions since the telephone. Soon， George Westinghouse， recognizing that Teslas designs might be just what he needed in his efforts to unseat Edisons DC current， licensed his patents for $60，000 in stocks and cash and royalties8） based on how much electricity Westinghouse could sell. Ultimately， he won the “War of the Currents，” but at a steep cost in litigation and competition for both Westinghouse and Edisons General Electric Company.

Fearing ruin， Westinghouse begged Tesla for relief from the royalties Westinghouse agreed to. “Your decision determines the fate of the Westinghouse Company，” he said. Tesla， grateful to the man who had never tried to swindle him， tore up the royalty contract， walking away from millions in royalties that he was already owed and billions that would have accrued in the future. He would have been one of the wealthiest men in the world—a titan of the Gilded Age.

His work with electricity reflected just one facet of his fertile mind. Before the turn of the 20th century， Tesla had invented a powerful coil9） that was capable of generating high voltages and frequencies， leading to new forms of light， such as neon and fluorescent10）， as well as X-rays. Tesla also discovered that these coils， soon to be called “Tesla Coils，” made it possible to send and receive radio signals. He quickly filed for American patents in 1897， beating the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi to the punch.

Tesla continued to work on his ideas for wireless transmissions when he proposed to J. P. Morgan his idea of a wireless globe. After Morgan put up the $150，000 to build the giant transmission tower， Tesla promptly hired the noted architect Stanford White of McKim， Mead， and White in New York.

“As soon as completed， it will be possible for a business man in New York to dictate instructions， and have them instantly appear in type at his office in London or elsewhere，” Tesla said at the time. “He will be able to call up， from his desk， and talk to any telephone subscriber on the globe， without any change whatever in the existing equipment. An inexpensive instrument， not bigger than a watch， will enable its bearer to hear anywhere， on sea or land， music or song， the speech of a political leader， the address of an eminent man of science， or the sermon of an eloquent clergyman， delivered in some other place， however distant. In the same manner any picture， character， drawing or print can be transferred from one to another place. Millions of such instruments can be operated from but one plant of this kind.”

White quickly got to work designing Wardenclyffe Tower in 1901， but soon after construction began it became apparent that Tesla was going to run out of money before it was finished. An appeal to Morgan for more money proved fruitless， and in the meantime investors were rushing to throw their money behind Marconi. In December 1901， Marconi successfully sent a signal from England to Newfoundland. Tesla grumbled that the Italian was using 17 of his patents， but litigation eventually favored Marconi and the commercial damage was done. Thus the Italian inventor was credited as the inventor of radio and became rich. Wardenclyffe Tower became a 186-foot-tall relic， and the defeat—Teslas worst—led to another of his breakdowns. “It is not a dream，” Tesla said， “it is a simple feat of scientific electrical engineering， only expensive—blind， faint-hearted， doubting world！”

Later Years

By 1912， Tesla began to withdraw from that doubting world. He was clearly showing signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder， and was potentially a high-functioning autistic. He became obsessed with cleanliness and fixated11） on the number three； he began shaking hands with people and washing his hands. He had to have 18 napkins on his table during meals， and would count his steps whenever he walked anywhere.

Near the end of his life， Tesla became fixated on pigeons， especially a specific white female. One night， Tesla claimed the white pigeon visited him through an open window at his hotel， and he believed the bird had come to tell him she was dying. The pigeon died in his arms， and the inventor claimed that in that moment， he knew that he had finished his lifes work.

He died in 1943， in debt， although Westinghouse had been paying his room and board at the hotel for years.

尼古拉·特斯拉，塞爾維亞裔物理學(xué)家、工程師、發(fā)明家，才華橫溢卻又一生坎坷，在其風(fēng)燭殘年之際，落得身無分文，寄居在紐約市的一家小旅館里。白天，他待在公園里，與自己最喜愛的動物鴿子為伴；無眠的夜晚，他鉆研著腦子里的數(shù)學(xué)方程式和科學(xué)難題。他的這一習(xí)慣在他1943年去世之后困擾科學(xué)家和學(xué)者們達(dá)幾十年之久。他憑借想象設(shè)計并完善他的發(fā)明創(chuàng)造。

特斯拉認(rèn)為自己的頭腦舉世無雙，他還常嘲笑同時期的一些科學(xué)家，比如曾聘用過他的托馬斯·愛迪生?！叭绻麗鄣仙诟刹荻阎姓乙桓樀脑?，”特斯拉曾寫道，“他會像勤勞的蜜蜂一樣立即開始檢查每根干草，直至發(fā)現(xiàn)搜尋的目標(biāo)?？吹剿@么做我覺得他真可憐，原本用上一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)理論和計算就能省去他90%的勞動?！?/p>

雖然他同時代的人可能在科學(xué)天賦方面有所欠缺（特斯拉的評判），但是很明顯，像愛迪生和喬治·威斯汀豪斯這樣的人擁有一種特斯拉并不具備的特質(zhì)——商業(yè)頭腦。當(dāng)時美國鍍金時代已經(jīng)接近尾聲，特斯拉做了一個激動人心的嘗試，他想要改變?nèi)蛲ㄐ藕碗娏鬏數(shù)奈磥?。他設(shè)法說服J. P. 摩根，讓他相信自己的工作即將取得突破。于是，這位金融家為特斯拉提供了15萬多美元，資助他在紐約長島中部建造一座令人嘆為觀止的未來主義風(fēng)格的巨塔。1898年，特斯拉要建造全球無線傳輸系統(tǒng)的計劃為外界所知曉，對他來說，若要獲得名氣和財富這些總與他失之交臂的東西，沃登克里弗塔是最后的機(jī)會了。

科學(xué)怪才初露頭角

尼古拉·特斯拉1856年出生于現(xiàn)今的克羅地亞，他的父親米盧廷是一名塞爾維亞東正教牧師。很小的時候，特斯拉所表現(xiàn)出的執(zhí)著就讓他身邊的人覺得既迷惑不解又感到很有趣。他能把整本整本的書背下來，把對數(shù)表熟記于心。他能輕松學(xué)會多種語言，而且能連續(xù)好多天通宵達(dá)旦地工作，只需幾個小時的睡眠。

19歲的時候，他在奧地利的格拉茨理工學(xué)院讀電氣工程專業(yè)，很快便成了那里的明星學(xué)生。他認(rèn)為課堂上展示的直流發(fā)動機(jī)有覺察到的設(shè)計缺陷，為此卷入一場持續(xù)不斷的爭論，對方是一名教授。“再次應(yīng)對這一問題的時候，斗爭很快就結(jié)束了，我?guī)缀醵加悬c(diǎn)惋惜，”特斯拉后來寫道，“我有很多能量用不完。當(dāng)我開始這項任務(wù)的時候，我的決心非比尋常。對我而言，這是神圣的誓言，是生死攸關(guān)的問題。我知道如果失敗的話我就完了?，F(xiàn)在我覺得我贏得了這場戰(zhàn)斗。解決方案就在我的腦海深處，但是我還不能表達(dá)出來?！?/p>

他把生命中此后的六年花在了“思考”電磁場和一種他設(shè)想的電動機(jī)上，這種由交流電驅(qū)動的電動機(jī)將會也應(yīng)該能夠運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)。他滿腦子都想著這些，無法專心學(xué)業(yè)。大學(xué)的教授們警告特斯拉的父親，這名年輕學(xué)者的工作和睡眠習(xí)慣會要了他的命。但是特斯拉非但沒有完成學(xué)業(yè)，反而對賭博上了癮，將學(xué)費(fèi)輸了個精光，中途退學(xué)，精神崩潰。而這并不是他最后一次精神崩潰。

1881年，在從精神奔潰中恢復(fù)過來之后，特斯拉來到了布達(dá)佩斯。一次他和朋友在公園里一邊散步，一邊吟誦詩歌，突然就有了靈感。就在這個公園里，特斯拉用一支木棍在地上畫了一張草圖，畫的是一種以旋轉(zhuǎn)磁場為工作原理的發(fā)動機(jī)，旋轉(zhuǎn)磁場由兩股或更多的交流電產(chǎn)生。雖然之前已經(jīng)有人運(yùn)用過交流電電氣化技術(shù)，但是一直沒有依靠交流電工作的實用電動機(jī)問世，直至特斯拉多年后發(fā)明了感應(yīng)電動機(jī)。

在美國的開創(chuàng)性發(fā)明與研究

1884年6月，特斯拉乘船前往紐約，抵達(dá)紐約的時候，口袋里只剩四美分和一封推薦信。推薦信是他之前的雇主查爾斯·巴徹拉寫給托馬斯·愛迪生的。據(jù)稱信是這樣寫的：“親愛的愛迪生：我認(rèn)識兩個了不起的人物，一位是您，另一位就是這位年輕人！”

兩人安排見了一次面。在特斯拉介紹了自己正在從事的工程方面的工作后，愛迪生雖然心有疑慮，但還是聘用了他。據(jù)特斯拉講，愛迪生提出，如果他能夠?qū)鄣仙幸獾闹绷靼l(fā)電廠進(jìn)行改進(jìn)，愛迪生將給特斯拉五萬美元。沒過幾個月，特斯拉就告訴這位美國發(fā)明家，他確實已經(jīng)改進(jìn)了愛迪生的發(fā)動機(jī)。但特斯拉稱愛迪生卻拒絕付錢。

特斯拉立即辭了職，找了一份挖排水溝的工作。但是，不久就有消息傳出說，特斯拉的交流電動機(jī)值得投資，于是西部聯(lián)盟電報公司就聘用特斯拉到實驗室工作，那里距離愛迪生的辦公室不遠(yuǎn)。在那里，特斯拉設(shè)計出了多種現(xiàn)今全世界仍在使用的交流電電力系統(tǒng)?！拔以谀莾涸斓碾妱訖C(jī)，”特斯拉說，“和我當(dāng)初的想象完全一樣。我都不用改進(jìn)設(shè)計，直接就根據(jù)我設(shè)想的樣子復(fù)制出來了，運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)情況總是不出我所料?！?/p>

特斯拉為他的交流電動機(jī)和電力系統(tǒng)申請了專利。據(jù)說，這是自電話問世以來最值錢的發(fā)明。很快，喬治·威斯汀豪斯認(rèn)識到，要打敗愛迪生的直流電，他所要的可能就是特斯拉的設(shè)計。威斯汀豪斯以股票、現(xiàn)金和技術(shù)使用費(fèi)的形式，支付給特斯拉六萬美元，獲得了他的專利使用權(quán)，技術(shù)使用費(fèi)與西屋電氣公司能夠賣出的電量掛鉤。最終，威斯汀豪斯贏得了這場“電流之戰(zhàn)”，但是由于西屋電氣公司和愛迪生的通用電力公司之間的訴訟和競爭，他也付出了高昂的成本。

由于擔(dān)心公司會破產(chǎn)，威斯汀豪斯乞求特斯拉減免西屋電氣公司已經(jīng)允諾的技術(shù)使用費(fèi)?！拔魑蓦姎夤镜拿\(yùn)取決于你的決定?！彼f。特斯拉很感激這個從來不試圖欺騙他的人，他撕毀了技術(shù)使用費(fèi)合約，讓西屋電氣公司業(yè)已欠他的數(shù)百萬美元和將來可能累積的數(shù)十億美元從指間溜走。他原本會成為世界上最富有的人之一，成為鍍金時代的巨人。

他在電力方面所做的工作只是他多產(chǎn)大腦的一面。19世紀(jì)末，特斯拉發(fā)明了一種威力強(qiáng)大的線圈，能夠發(fā)出高電壓、高頻電，產(chǎn)生各種新形式的光，比如霓虹和熒光，還有X光。很快這些線圈就被人們稱為“特斯拉線圈”。特斯拉還發(fā)現(xiàn)這些線圈能夠收發(fā)無線電信號。他迅速于1897年申請了美國專利，擊敗了意大利發(fā)明家古列爾莫·馬可尼。

特斯拉繼續(xù)研究他的無線傳輸構(gòu)想，向J. P. 摩根介紹了全球無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)的設(shè)想。在摩根給了他15萬美元供其建造巨型傳輸塔之后，特斯拉迅速聘請了紐約麥金-米德-懷特公司的知名建筑師斯坦?！烟?。

“這座塔一旦建好，商人們在紐約下達(dá)指令，便立即能在倫敦或其他地方的分公司得到打印稿，”特斯拉當(dāng)時說，“拿起辦公桌上的電話，他們將能與全球任何一位電話用戶交談，無需對現(xiàn)有設(shè)備做任何改動。這種設(shè)備花費(fèi)不多，比手表大不了多少，攜帶者可以在任何地方，不論是海上或陸地上，聽音樂或聽歌，或者聽政治領(lǐng)袖的講話、杰出科學(xué)家的演說或是牧師雄辯的布道詞，無論講話者在哪個地方，無論距離有多遠(yuǎn)。圖片、符號、草圖或是印刷品也可以同樣的方式從一地傳送到另一地。一座這樣的廠房就可以操作數(shù)百萬計的這種裝置?！?/p>

1901年，懷特迅速著手設(shè)計沃登克里弗塔，但是開工后不久問題就顯現(xiàn)出來：在塔沒蓋好之前特斯拉的資金就會花完。特斯拉請求摩根追加投資卻無功而返，與此同時，馬可尼卻能得到蜂擁而來的投資者的投資。1901年12月，馬可尼成功地從英國向紐芬蘭發(fā)送了一個信號。特斯拉抱怨這個意大利人使用了他的17種專利，但是最終的訴訟結(jié)果偏向馬可尼，這造成特斯拉無可挽回的商業(yè)損失。因此，這位意大利發(fā)明家成了無線電的發(fā)明者，財源滾滾而來。而沃登克里弗塔變成了一個186英尺高的爛尾工程。這次失敗是特斯拉最慘的一次，使得他再一次精神崩潰?！斑@不是一個夢，”特斯拉說，“這顯然是電氣工程學(xué)上的巨大成就，只是代價有點(diǎn)高昂。這個有眼無珠、膽小怯懦又愛猜疑的世界！”

凄涼的晚年生活

到1912年，特斯拉開始從這個愛猜疑的世界退出。他出現(xiàn)了明顯的強(qiáng)迫性神經(jīng)失調(diào)的癥狀，并且有可能變成高功能自閉癥患者。他開始有了潔癖，并迷戀數(shù)字“3”；他在跟人握手后馬上要去洗手，吃飯的時候餐桌上得準(zhǔn)備18條餐巾，并且無論什么時候走到無論什么地方，他都會數(shù)步數(shù)。

在生命快到盡頭的時候，特斯拉開始迷戀鴿子，尤其是一只白色的母鴿子。一天晚上，特斯拉宣稱這只白鴿飛過旅館一扇開著的窗戶來看望他，他覺得鴿子是來告訴他自己快要死了。鴿子死在了他的懷里，這名發(fā)明家宣稱，那一刻，他知道自己已經(jīng)完成了一生的工作。

特斯拉死于1943，雖然多年來西屋電氣公司一直在支付他旅館里的餐宿費(fèi)用，但他死時仍債務(wù)纏身。