For Science Fiction Day, inventor Nikola Tesla and his ‘magnifying transmitter’

© Nikola Tesla Museum/Science Photo Librar

Science fiction becomes science fact. Tesla, the visionary

We approach today’s observance of Science Fiction Day through a route of science fact. Our photo today shows Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla, seated under his ‘magnifying transmitter’ – an experimental power generator that used his Tesla coils to demonstrate the possibility of a safe, wireless electrical grid. While Tesla’s vision for his electrical system never materialised, many of Tesla’s concepts and designs would shape various technologies to come, including radio transmission, and even some fundamentals of the internet and web.

What seemed like science fiction during Tesla’s lifetime has become reality. And although Nikola Tesla was a real person, he’s become a cult-like figure in popular culture, appearing in works of fiction – especially science fiction.