10/2019 - Events - The Nikola Tesla association | Genius for the future

His birth house was made into a museum where visitors can get a glimpse of Tesla’s personal life and journey, as well as replicas of his most famous inventions like the rotating magnetic field. At the center of the field lays a copper egg which starts spinning when electrified. Choosing the egg for his experiment is in no way coincidental. During the presentation of the experiment, Tesla would tell the tale of Christopher Columbus’s adventure with the Spanish nobility. They used to undermine his discovery by stating that it could have been done by anybody put in his position. Columbus then asked for an egg, and proposed a bet, whoever puts the egg in vertical position first, wins. The nobles would try and fail again and again, until Columbus grabbed the egg, smashed it a bit on the lower side and placed it upright on the table. The story of Columbus’s egg perfectly illustrates that just because a problem has a simple solution, it doesn’t mean everybody can come up with it. It’s easy to repeat what has already been done, the real achievement is to discover the solution first or to do something that hasn’t been done before.

Tesla applied more than 700 patents during his life and the inspiration for his continuous exploration of the principles in which the world operates was found in his homeland. Under the expertise of the museum staff, we came to know a lot of interesting details from Tesla`s life. The Vaganac creek was the place where Tesla made the first of his water mills, which are considered his first embarks in science. Right next to his house was a barn where he, at the age of six, first leaped off with an umbrella, trying to figure out the age-old question of human flight. A distinct insight into his thoughts was offered through a short movie narrated by Rade Šarbedžija, which can be seen in the multimedia center of the museum.

Members of the organization also visited Gospić, where we were able to see the school that Tesla was enrolled into, along with the house Tesla lived in after moving to Gospić. Unfortunately, the house is not in any way marked and is housing a drug store and some local residents inside. We got the chance to pay a visit to the eternal resting place of Tesla`s parents at the Gospić cemetery. Under the initiative of Nikola Tesla- Genius for the Future Association, and under the organization and financial support of Duško Ljuština, Rade Šerbedžija, Siniša Kukić and the Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić, the tombstones of Tesla`s parents have been repaired and revitalized, after being long forgone and left to natures handlings. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mister Duško Ljuština, for his presence and guidance throughout our visit to the Nikola Tesla Memorial center.