In previous articles, I’ve discussed the recent rise of the cult-like flat earth movement and have been debunking many of their claims, some of which are due to sheer incredulity and lack of fact checking, and some which are based on the need to deny certain provable natural phenomenon actually exist because it would be impossible in their model.
However, the rise of this cult movement is quite real and seems to be growing by leaps and bounds with a charismatic cult leader and the use of many psychological techniques such as constant repetition, meme bombing, ignoring the many impossibilities, substituting incredulity for fact, and, the one we’ll mention here, linking their movement with famous figures with claims that these people believed in a flat earth, like in our article Debunking the Flat Earth Admiral Byrd Antarctica Conspiracy.
Why Are They Bringing Tesla into this Discussion?
One of the people they claim as their own is Nicola Tesla. The flat earth movement LOVES Tesla because he was an outside the box, revolutionary thinker who was obviously not indoctrinated (something they hate with a passion), was unwilling to be beholden to any government or private industry, was not a freemason (they link freemasonry with evil and the illuminati), and was obviously incredibly brilliant and enigmatic.
Original Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
So, it would be natural to want to claim Tesla as one of your own when you are claiming all of the same qualities as he: revolutionary, outside the box thinking, accurate research, bringing information to the people that is forward thinking and not what the government is teaching.
So, they present ‘evidence’ that Tesla was a flat earther from a quote that says,
"Earth is a realm, it is not a planet. It is not an object, therefore,
it has no edge. Earth would be more easily defined as a system
environment. Earth is also a machine, it is a Tesla coil. The sun and
moon are powered wirelessly with the electromagnetic field (the
Aether). This field also suspends the celestial spheres with
electo-magnetic levitation. Electromag levitation disproves gravity
because the only force you need to counter is the electromagnetic
force, not gravity. The stars are attached to the FIRMAMENT."
To explain, the ‘firmament’ is what they call the impenetrable dome they believe is covering the earth and to which the sun, moon, and stars are attached to, and that spins over our heads creating day and night. And they hate gravity, as it is what allows the spherical earth and the solar system to work. So this quote would naturally make them believe that Tesla was a flat earther.
Tesla DOES use the word 'the firmament' when he says, "Though free to think and act, we are held together, like the stars in the firmament, with ties inseparable." in THE PROBLEM OF INCREASING HUMAN ENERGY printed in Century Illustrated Magazine, June 1900. However, we'll soon see that he was not referring to it as flat earthers think of the firmament, but to the Merriam-Webster Definition of Firmament, meaning the sky or the expanse of space over us.
Was Tesla Really a Flat Earther?
The problem is that Tesla never said it! In fact, it comes from someone on Facebook who stated clearly it was his own quote, but he attached a quote of Tesla’s at the BOTTOM of the quote. But like many flat earth 'proofs' that fail due to lack of a few minutes of fact checking, it started being passed around as a Tesla quote when it’s not.
However, just because that quote is not his does not mean he was not a flat earther. Is there any other evidence he was? Unfortunately for flat earthers, the evidence is 100% clear that Tesla was not, in ANY way whatsoever a flat earther. In fact, his own words and even his drawings CLEARLY without ANY doubt whatsoever, show that Tesla was a ‘globehead’ as flat earthers like to say.
One of their favorite sayings is that, if you are not a flat earther, well, you are stupid, just didn’t do any research, don't understand science, and are obviously an indoctrinated fool who is just repeating the nonsense you were taught in school without thinking about it. They claim flat earthers are the only ones who have done any research into the shape of the earth in over a thousand years! Because they watched a few YouTube videos, they are now more well-educated than every scientist who ever lived!
In fact, they have lots of little insults for anyone who believes in the heliocentric spherical earth model: globehead, globetard, etc. So, it’s quite hilarious that someone whom they agree is a revolutionary, high integrity, free thinking genius they tried to claim as their own… was a dedicated heliocentrist and ball earther. So, this means they consider Tesla to be a stupid, indoctrinated fool who does not understand basic scientific inquiry and cannot think for himself!
There is a Massive Amount of Evidence for Telsa Being a Sphere Earther
So, what is the evidence of this? Tesla’s own words: his own writings, drawings, articles about him, texts that he wrote, and transcribed talks and lectures. There is a wealth of information on Tesla and there is not one shred of evidence he was a flat earther or supported any such idea, but there is PLENTY of evidence he believed in the standard heliocentric globe earth model that makes him an utter fool in the eyes of flat earthers.
In fact, as he notes in PIONEER RADIO ENGINEER GIVES VIEWS ON POWER published in the New York Herald Tribune, September 11, 1932, he even believes in the elusive unicorn flat earthers say does not exist, cannot exist, and that no one has ever seen or measured... earth curvature.
"Invariably it was found that these waves, just as those in the air,
follow the curvature of the earth and bend around obstacles, a
peculiarity exhibited to a much lesser degree by transverse vibrations
in a solid."(emphasis mine)
Tesla Uses the Word Globe and Earth Interchangeably
The first proof that Tesla was not a flat earther is that he quite often uses the word globe for the earth. Here are his own words from various sources:
From Electrical World and Engineer, March 5, 1904, entitled, THE TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY WITHOUT WIRES, he says, "Each of them will be preferably located near some important center of civilization and the news it receives through any channel will be flashed to all points of the globe." and "...the transmitter will emit a wave complex of total maximum activity of ten million horse-power, one per cent. of which is amply sufficient to "girdle the globe." and again, "the sound of the human voice, with all its intonations and inflections, faithfully and instantly reproduced at any other point of the globe".
From THE PROBLEM OF INCREASING HUMAN ENERGY printed in Century Illustrated Magazine, June 1900 he says,"By realizing such a plan, we should be enabled to get at any point of the globe a continuous supply of energy, day and night.", then "This metal, it would seem, has an origin entirely different from that of the rest of the globe." and later, "It is a well-known fact that the interior portions of the globe are very hot... and we could certainly avail ourselves in this way of the internal heat of the globe." he continues, " I was confident, however, that with properly designed machinery signals could be transmitted to any point of the globe" and even more from the same speech, "That communication without wires to any point of the globe is practicable with such apparatus would need no demonstration, but through a discovery which I made I obtained absolute certitude."
In Earth Electricity to Kill Monopoly Printed in The World Sunday Magazine, March 8, 1896 Tesla says, "... place yourself at a table with a revolver in one hand and a finger of the other hand on the key of a telegraph instrument connected with a wire that girdles the globe..."
From ON ELECTRICITY printed in the Electrical Review, January 27, 1897 he says, "...and there is the electrician, who sends his messages of peace to all parts of the globe." he continues, "...we, the masters of the globe, should be absolutely at the mercy of our unseen foes" and ends the lecture, "[Buffalo] is sure to become one of the greatest industrial centers of the globe."
From TESLA'S OSCILLATOR AND OTHER INVENTIONS printed in Century Magazine
April 1895, pp. 916-933, Tesla remarks on why flat earthers seem to think the earth is flat. Well, that is because we only see one small part of it at a time, "To the weary wanderer counting the of mile-posts the earth may appear very large; but to that happiest of all men, the astronomer who gazes at the heavens, and by their standard judges the magnitude of our globe, it appears very small."
Since this is an article and not an encyclopedia, I'll stop here. But there are dozens more quotes about the earth being a globe that I am loathe to include here simply due to space. I think any rational human would conclude that Tesla used 'earth' and 'globe' interchangeably from the information I've given here.
He Believed in a Universe, not Just the Earth
Flat earthers do not believe in planets, or a universe outside our earth. Instead, they believe the flat earth has a dome over it (although some believe in lands beyond Antarctica, as I go over in the article Debunking the Admiral Byrd Antarctica Myth). The stars are... well, something... attached to the top of the dome.. or maybe floating in the space between the ground and the top of the dome, but there is definitely no 'universe' of far away stars outside of our atmosphere, according to them. Tesla, however, would have disagreed.
- Here is Tesla from A Speech Delivered Before the Institution of Electrical Engineers in London, February 1892, "Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point of the universe... Throughout space there is energy." Later in the same speech, he says, "But it might be different when its charge is set in vibration by some sudden disturbance occurring in the heavens. In such case, as before stated, probably only little of the energy of the vibrations set up would be lost into space..."
He goes on in Century Illustrated Magazine, June 1900 "...germs of organic life are not destroyed by cold, no matter how intense; consequently they may be transmitted through the interstellar space."
From THE PROBLEM OF INCREASING HUMAN ENERGY printed in Century Illustrated Magazine, June 1900 he states, "There will still be left upon it a glimmering spark of life, and there will be a chance to kindle a new fire on some distant star."
To drive the point clearly home that Tesla was not just musing about distant stars still being close to the dome on a flat earth, here is what he has to say about how FAR these stars might be. From THE ETERNAL SOURCE OF ENERGY OF THE UNIVERSE, ORIGIN AND INTENSITY OF COSMIC RAYS October 13, 1932, New York, "However, there are suns at distances of many thousands of light years and it is evident that virtually no light from them can reach the earth."
Tesla Believed the Earth Spins
Flat earthers not only believe the earth is flat, but they also believe it is motionless. However, Tesla believed the earth spun and believed he could make equipment rotate due to the corialis force, the measurable force that occurs on earth as a result of the spin of the earth. In A Speech Delivered Before the Institution of Electrical Engineers in London, February 1892, he said, "When the bulb hangs with the globe down, the rotation is always clockwise. In the southern hemisphere it would occur in the opposite direction and on the equator the brush should not turn at all."
Original Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
While he does not specifically use the word corialis, he described exactly how the corialis force behaves on the earth. He also blatantly states that the earth spins. In The Sun, New York, January 30, 1901 he says, "...fourth, on the relative change of the circuit with respect to the sun, caused by the diurnal rotation of the earth." He mentions the earth moving again in THE PROBLEM OF INCREASING HUMAN ENERGY printed in Century Illustrated Magazine, June 1900 where he says, "It is borne out in everything we perceive, in the movement of a planet... "
Tesla Believed in Gravity
Not only did Tesla believe in gravity, but he believed we might some day harness it's forces, as he explains in THE PROBLEM OF INCREASING HUMAN ENERGY printed in Century Illustrated Magazine, June 1900, "We may even find ways of applying forces such as magnetism or gravity for driving machinery without using any other means."
Note that he makes a distinction between magnetism and gravity. Many flat earthers believe that magnetism can explain all of the things that gravity can do. But Tesla makes a distinction between the two.
He continues in the same article, "Now, it is possible that we may learn how to make such a disk rotate continuously and perform work by the force of gravity without any further effort on our part; but it is perfectly impossible for the disk to turn and to do work without any force from the outside....To make the disk rotate by the force of gravity we have only to invent a screen against this force. By such a screen we could prevent this force from acting on one half of the disk, and the rotation of the latter would follow. At least, we cannot deny such a possibility until we know exactly the nature of the force of gravity."
Obviously, we could not use density or buoyancy to make a disk rotate or perform work, as those are not forces but properties of substances. He continues to discuss gravity in other works, "The steam or vapor generated in the boiler is conveyed to the turbine and condenser through an insulated central pipe while another smaller pipe, likewise provided with an adiathermanous covering serves to feed the condensate into the boiler by gravity"
Talking With Planets? What?
Last but not least, the most overwhelming evidence that Tesla was a die-hard round earther is his missive on ‘Talking with Planets’. published in Collier's Weekly, February 9, 1901. Talking with planets? But… but… but, according to flat earthers, there ARE no planets. What we call planets, in their fantasy world, are… something... they don’t all agree and can't really say, but generally they are just lights that are embedded in the top of the dome. How they change through the year, and how they act independently of the sun and moon when all of them are attached to the same firmament moving around in circles over the top of us, well, they don’t really say.
In any case, Tesla definitely believed in planets. In fact, he believed that with the whole giant universe, that there was probably intelligent life somewhere out there, and imagined that someday we might have communication systems that could even talk to them! Hardly the visions of a flat earther. Here are just a few quotes from this missive:
“In the solar system, there seem to be only two planets--Venus and
Mars--capable of sustaining life such as ours: but this does not mean
that there might not be on all of them some other forms of life.”
and
"Then it is contended that it is beyond human power and ingenuity to
convey signals to the almost inconceivable distances of fifty million
or one hundred million miles. This might have been a valid argument
formerly. It is not so now."
Fifty million miles? According to flat earthers, space, planets and stars out beyond the relatively small 'firmament' of 300-500 miles or so simply do not exist. So, if he were a flat earther, that kind of thinking would simply be nonsense.
I guess flat earthers will now change their minds and think Tesla was just an indoctrinated fool who was too stupid to be able to do any research himself and just parroted what the government told him. Obviously, that is not the case, and in the article TESLA'S OSCILLATOR AND OTHER INVENTIONS printed in Century Magazine April 1895, pp. 916-933 even the opinion of the author during Tesla's life was glowing,"He is not an impracticable visionary, but a worker who, with solid achievements behind him, seeks larger and better ones that lie before, as well as fuller knowledge."
Tesla was arguably one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived and whose incredible scientific contributions helped to give us radio, alternating current, and much more. No, flat earthers, one of the greatest geniuses in history, a man not beholden to any government or private industry and who was not a freemason, was a globe earther, with good reason, since the evidence for it is overwhelming, and ignoring the evidence does not make it any less overwhelming.
If you enjoyed this article, I hope that you will resteem, follow, and upvote, and bring original, science-based articles the attention they deserve to help bring sanity to this flat earth cult movement that is growing by leaps and bounds.
