Happy Birthday, Nicola Tesla

Today is the 181st birthday of the celebrated Croatian electrical engineer Nicola Tesla, best know for two things:

1) Tesla was the genius behind alternating current, the form of electricity that powers most of our world today.

2) He’s also known for his idea that “free” electric power can be induced in a circuit via the varying magnetic fields that surround the Earth.  While there is nothing theoretically impossible about this, it has no usable purpose, in that practical, buildable devices aimed at accomplishing this task generate infinitesimally small amounts of power.   The real impact on our society of this aspect of Tesla’s work has been the impressive number of dollars invested by victims of scams centering around the concept.