Nowadays, vegetarianism is mistakenly perceived as a newfangled trend or associated with Indian beliefs. There are a lot of rebuttals to such stereotypes and I really want to share them. It is especially interesting to watch the stories of great people who changed the fate of our Planet, who made a conscious choice to give up meat, which did not prevent them from making great discoveries, creating outstanding masterpieces and becoming role models for many people.
This article is dedicated to the physicist, inventor in the field of electrical and radio engineering, engineer, "the man who invented the twentieth century" - Nikola Tesla (1856-1943). His discoveries formed the basis of modern electrical engineering. Tesla created the first samples of a two-phase alternating current generator and a high-frequency transformer. His work on wireless transmission of signals over a distance had a great influence on the development of radio engineering; he designed a number of radio-controlled self-propelled mechanisms, which he called "teleautomatic machines", developed the principle of radar. During his life, N. Tesla made about 1000 different inventions and discoveries, received almost 800 patents for inventions in various fields of technology (electric meter, frequency meter, a number of improvements in radio equipment, steam turbines, etc.). Nikola Tesla discovered alternating current, fluorescent light, wireless energy transmission, built the first electric clock, turbine, solar-powered engine, invented radio before Markoni and Popov, received three-phase current before Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, first developed the principles of remote control, the foundations of treatment with high currents frequencies, demonstrated the effect of the glow of the "aura" of objects at the end of the 19th century, now known as the "Kirlian effect" (it was patented only in 1949).
Not only inventions, but also a good heart
In addition to all his inventive achievements, Nikola Tesla was famous for his kind heart. During the First World War, he called for peace and raised funds for the Serbian army. During the Second World War, after the death of the scientist, the first guard division of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia was named after him for his courage and heroism.
Nikola Tesla was a rather eccentric person - many did not understand him. He often said that discoveries do not belong to him, but information from above passes through him. Tesla also clearly saw the connection of all living beings in the universe. Being a supporter of the ethereal theory, Tesla called one of the ethers a kind of "information field" where one can learn absolutely everything about the structure of the world.
In the second half of his life, Tesla became a vegetarian. In 1900, in an article "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy" for the Century Illustrated Magazine, in connection with the question of increasing human mass, he wrote:
The mass of mankind will be increased by careful attention to health, nutritious food, moderation, regulation of traditions, promotion of marriage, conscientious attention to children, observance of all precepts and laws of religion and hygiene.
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Therefore, the main question of the day is how to provide good and nutritious food. On general principles, increasing the number of cattle as a means of providing food for the people is undesirable, since in the sense interpreted above, it must undoubtedly lead to the addition of mass at a "lower rate". It is preferable to grow vegetables, and I think that vegetarianism is a worthy departure from the established barbaric habit. That we can subsist on plant foods and do our jobs is not even primarily a theory, but a well-demonstrated fact. Many peoples, who live almost exclusively on vegetable food, have excellent physical data and strength. There is no doubt that some plant foods, such as oatmeal, are much more economical than meat and are superior to it in terms of mechanical and mental performance. Such food, moreover, certainly less strains our digestive organs, and, by making us more contented and sociable, produces an incalculable amount of goodness. In the light of these facts, every effort must be made to stop the senseless and cruel killing of animals, which is destructive to our morality. In order to free ourselves from the animal instincts and desires that drag us down, we must first return to our roots from which we spring: we must make a radical reform in the nature of food.”
Nikola Tesla died at the age of 86 in his New York hotel room. His body, lying quietly on the bed and dressed in a tailcoat, was found by a maid 2 days after death. At the moment, the urn with the ashes of the great scientist is in the Tesla Museum in Belgrade.
When writing the article, the following sources of information were used:
- " Nikola Tesla " (ru.wikipedia.org) ;
- " Nikola Tesla on vegetarianism " (www.oum.ru) ;
- " The Problem Of Increasing Human Energy " (www.pbs.org) .