Although the great Albert Einstein and the iconic Nikola Tesla were men dedicated to science in contemporary times, they never united their genius in pursuit of knowledge. But as colleagues of the same era, they were aware of each other’s publications and there were even opinions issued such as those Tesla gave to the New York Herald Tribune on the Theory of Relativity. Apparently, the Serbian inventor’s statements were not very friendly, but this did not stop Einstein from writing him a curious letter that he sent to Tesla.
Albert Einstein is considered the most famous scientist of the 20th century and not only that, but he is also one of the pillars of modern physics. Everything we know about the Universe until now, we understand thanks to him and his revolutionary, not to say subversive, General Theory of Relativity. A theory that at the time was not well received nor understood by his colleagues, but which currently continues to be verified with each discovery of the most modern telescopes.
Nikola Tesla, for his part, is not far behind, he contributed enormously to the study of the electromagnetic field since the end of the 19th century. And in fact, it could be said that thanks to him, the technological revolution began to develop as it does now, due to his contributions in terms of energy that helped create the modern alternating current system. Not to mention the endless inventions that demonstrated the genius of the Serbian scientist and the wonders of electromagnetic energy.
Although both personalities had an introverted nature, Einstein tended to be more reserved about his opinions regarding the work of his colleagues and in that sense, he only once gave his opinion on Tesla’s important contributions in the field of electromagnetism. On the other hand, Tesla, on more than one occasion, made his position clear regarding the relativity proposed by Einstein.
Tesla’s views on Einstein’s Relativity
There are many documented statements about Tesla’s opinion on the Theory of Relativity. On September 11, 1932, Tesla told the New York Herald Tribune:
“I maintain that space cannot be curved for the simple reason that it cannot have properties. It could well be said that God has properties, and he does not have them, the attributes are of our own creation. We can only talk about properties when it comes to the matter that fills space. Saying that in the presence of large masses space becomes curved is equivalent to stating that something can act on nothing. I, for example, refuse to subscribe to such a point of view.”
It should be said that it is important to stay in the context in which these discrepancies occurred. At that time, the theory was not yet proven and considering that Einstein had broken everything known, including Newton’s postulations on gravity, the logical consequence was the rejection of many of his scientific colleagues, including Nikola Tesla. .
Years later, in 1935, Tesla again gave his position on the work of the German physicist. This time he declared for the New York Sun:
“The Theory of Relativity is a mass of error and misleading ideas that opposes common sense. Not a single proposition of relativity has been proven.”
Einstein’s letters
By then Einstein continued to show flashes of brilliance, although his research was severely affected by the war situation in the world. It was around this time period that Einstein decided to get involved in a political issue by writing a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, which he would later greatly regret.
But it was not the only letter he wrote, it is known that he maintained correspondence by correspondence with many of his colleagues, including Marie Curie with whom he maintained a friendship worthy of two scientific geniuses.
Tesla was not left out of Albert Einstein’s correspondence. Although the Serbian inventor made clear his reticence towards the German physicist’s contributions even before, this did not prevent Einstein from writing a message during the Serbian inventor’s 75th birthday, which was published in Time magazine:
“Dear Mr. Tesla, I am pleased to know that you are celebrating your 75th anniversary and, as a successful pioneer in the field of high-frequency currents, the wonderful development that this area of technology has achieved. I congratulate you on the great success of your work in life.”
The curious letter was part of a series of messages that the prestigious magazine requested from different personalities in the world of science, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Nikola Tesla. Einstein certainly did not refuse and sent a few words of congratulations to the great inventor who would mark science with his inventions of electromagnetism.