T E S L A
Master of Lightning
FIRST COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT THE LIFE, WORK AND LEGACY OF ECCENTRIC GENIUS
Stacy Keach is the voice of Nikola Tesla
PBS documentary airs Tuesdsay, December 12, 2000
Washington, D.C.- Nikola Tesla was one of the greatest inventors of the 20th century, with over 700 worldwide patents to his name. He was a visionary genius whose radical ideas created the technology that connects the world with power and information. One of history's most controversial and misunderstood people, his incredible story is finally being brought to the screen.
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), a Serbian immigrant to America, has become a cult hero. He is known and respected in scientific and engineering circles, but he also appeals to a youthful and general audience with no formal background in science. In addition to his work, his life is filled with intense personal drama, triumph and tragedy.
Tesla's most famous invention is his system of AC power generation and transmission that is used universally today. He also invented the tesla coil to create high-frequency electricity. This led to the creation of neon and fluorescent lighting, radio transmission, remote control, and hundreds of other devices that are now an essential part of our everyday lives. The documentary finally sets the record straight on Tesla's inventions and accomplishments. Edison and Marconi are frequently credited for the invention of AC power transmission and radio, respectively. The program demonstrates that this is not the case.
TESLA, Master of Lightning, is a multi-media project that tells the comprehensive story of the life and work of Nikola Tesla for the very fist time. The program combines dramatizations with rare footage and photographs to weave a story filled with science, drama, and mystery. Included are many new and unknown details of Tesla's life, including the influence he had on the Strategic Defense Initiative missile defense program. A great deal of the story is told in Tesla's own words, drawn from his autobiographical and scientific writings, and performed by Stacy Keach.
Mr. Keach has long had a personal interest in Tesla's work. Says Keach, "Without Nikola Tesla, the world, as we know it today, would not exist.
Unlike Thomas Edison, who invented Direct Current (DC), Tesla was the man
responsible for giving us Alternating Current (AC), which gives us electric
power over long distances. Radio, television, and the world of wireless electronic transmission, are all direct results of Tesla's vision. Yes, he was also an eccentric, a
germophobic, and something of a megalomaniac---human qualities which make a profile of his life all the more fascinating..for many years I entertained the notion of trying to mount a one-man show about his life. I am truly honored and thrilled to be a part of this exciting documentary. "

Eight years in the making, the project includes the PBS documentary special; the companion book written by Margaret Cheney and Robert Uth, published by Barnes & Noble; and an extensive educational website at www.pbs.org. The documentary and the book contain an extremely rare collection of photographs documenting Tesla's life and inventions. These photos are like lost pages of electrical history and an important resource for scholars. The website will contain other rare Tesla information, including correspondence, scientific papers and articles.
Today there is considerable and growing interest in Tesla, but most of the available information has been highly speculative, not based on the historical documentary evidence. Dr. David Goodstein, professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology, calls the program "gripping, informative and technically accurate".
This is not a dry story about circuits and capacitors. Tesla's life is an inspiring example of the power of one man to battle against the odds and change the world with his revolutionary ideas. TESLA, Master of Lightning will give long overdue recognition to a great and misunderstood man of science.
TESLA, Master of Lightning, premieres nationally on PBS on Tuesday, December 12, 2000, at 10:00 pm (check local listings). It is a production of New Voyage Communications, Washington, D.C. Producer/Director : Robert Uth. Written by: Robert Uth and Phylis Geller. Executive Producer : Phylis Geller. Senior Science Adviser: Leland I. Anderson. Funding is provided by PBS.
 
WHO WAS NIKOLA TESLA?
Nikola Tesla was one of the greatest electrical inventors who ever lived. His technological achievements transformed America from a nation of isolated communities to a country connected by power grids where information was available upon demand. In the 20th century, it was Tesla's technology that united the United States and eventually the world.
Tesla's life was like a movie. It is the story of a brilliant and charismatic immigrant who rose to the height of celebrity with his amazing talent, and then was tragically undone by his own visionary ideas. The cast of characters includes: Thomas Edison, J. Pierpont Morgan, Guglielmo Marconi, George Westinghouse, Mark Twain and many more.
A Serb by origin, his early discovery of the alternating current motor led him to America to seek a venue for his invention. Here he developed the polyphase AC system of power transmission, which drives every home and industry in the country. He invented the Tesla coil to create high-frequency electricity, and with it neon and florescent lighting, radio transmission, remote control, and hundreds of other devices that are indispensable to our daily lives.
Tesla was also a visionary thinker, and in his papers and interviews he anticipated the development of radio and television broadcasting, robotics, computers, faxes, and even the Strategic Defense Initiative. He believed that anything we imagine can be accomplished.
The inventor's great dream was to find the means to broadcast electrical power without wires in between. But like many geniuses, he was not a practical man. He gave his life to achieve his dream, while others made millions with his inventions. In the end, he wound up penniless and forgotten .
In his later years, Tesla was regarded as an eccentric scientist. Ridiculed by his contemporaries, his ideas frequently appeared in works of science fiction. He was the inspiration for the mad scientist in Max Fleischer's Superman cartoons.
At the height of World War Two, Tesla claimed he had invented a powerful "death beam" that could destroy attacking aircraft. He proposed a system of beam weapons to protect the borders of the United States and other European nations. When he died, most of Tesla's technical papers mysteriously disappeared, and some have never been found.
Tesla was so far ahead of his time that many of his advanced ideas are only appearing today. His legacy can been seen in everything from microwave ovens, to MX missiles, to electrical modification of the ionosphere.
Tesla was one of the rare human beings who could see at a glance the far-reaching effects electricity would and could have on our lives. His spirit and vision are captured in Tesla, Master of Lightning. "See the excitement coming!"
 

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