Friday, July 10, 2009

Nikola Tesla


I often find information in the strangest places. Google is a great place to start and I am not talking about searching for information. The Google picture to the left is a fine example. The Google team choose things (Christmas, Easter, famous people, special events) and change the word 'Google' to represent what they have chosen. Today's (Friday 10th July 09 - in America it's still Thursday 9th July 2009) the team has chosen Nikola Tesla, a famous inventor in the field of electrical power. He was born at midnight on the 9th of July 1856 and died 7th January 1943.
Tesla said about his work, "Before I put a sketch on paper, the whole idea is worked out mentally. In my mind I change the construction, make improvements, and even operate the device. Without ever having drawn a sketch I can give the measurements of all parts to workmen, and when completed all these parts will fit, just as certainly as though I had made the actual drawings. It is immaterial to me whether I run my machine in my mind or test it in my shop. The inventions I have conceived in this way have always worked. In thirty years there has not been a single exception. My first electric motor, the vacuum wireless light, my turbine engine and many other devices have all been developed in exactly this way.”
I wish my brain would work this way. keep your eyes open for other dates, people and events that Google think are worth knowing about.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Mel,
    I cracked up laughing when I read this post. After 20 years of teaching you would think that my brain would be full of amazing innovative ideas like Nikola Testa. But no, multi tasking,as you do- if you are female, while waiting for your site to load I was thinking about the best way to get flour into a balloon to make a squishy sensory toy for one of my students.
    I'm so glad that we can't read each other's minds. People who read mine would say, 'Did she seriously spend 6 years at Uni?'
    I will now, forever more, check out the 'Google doodle' before I search for anything!

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