Hooked on Tesla

The Long Island History Project

“Nikola Tesla, Dreamer” From The World To-Day, 1901.

Jane Alcorn was hooked on science from an early age but it was not until a friend clued her in to the Wizard of Electricity that she became hooked on Nikola Tesla. A major scientific player at the turn of the last century, Tesla established a lab at Wardenclyffe in Shoreham, Long Island to pursue his innovative experiments in electricity, radio, and broadcast energy.

Drawing inspiration from his story, Jane and a dedicated group founded The Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe. And eventually, they realized the dream of securing Tesla’s lab and have begun to restore it.

In the first of a two-part interview, Jane describes that journey and provides background on what made Tesla so inspiring. You’ll hear stories of his inventions and his interactions with the people of Shoreham as well as his connections to people like Mark Twain, Stanford White and George Westinghouse.

Look for part 2 next week when we discuss the long and surprising road to purchasing the Wardenclyffe site.

http://wwwx.dowling.edu/library/new/JaneAlcorn1.mp3

Stream in the player above or download audio.

Further Research:

• Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe
• Nikola Tesla Museum, Belgrade
• Books on Tesla (via WorldCat)
• Tesla: Master of Lightning (PBS)
• The Electric Rise and Fall of Nikola Tesla (Marco Tempest Ted Talk)