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 National Science Fiction Day through a route of science fact. Our photo shows Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla with 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 an electrical system never materialized, many of his concepts and designs would shape various technologies to come, including radio transmission, and even some fundamentals of the internet.