Tesla, page 31
I am sure, I can render this great service to Great Britain, [and] feel . . . I should be aided in the attainment of my unselfish aims.
1. As the first [step], I propose to submit to His Majesty’s Naval and Military experts, within three months from the date of acceptance, complete drawings and specifications of an operative plant referred to above, with all the details and necessary devices. This is . . . a special and very difficult task, to which I must devote my full attention, excluding other business. To serve all outlays . . . a sum of fifteen thousand pounds would have to be provided . . . half . . . paid in advance....
2. My specifications [for cost of production]: (a) [An] immediate [expenditure] of five hundred thousand pounds [to build said plant].
(b) A guarantee by His Majesty’s government that when the plant is built and tested and found to operate [so] it can protect London and the surrounding districts, ... another payment will be made to me of ten million pounds....
(c) His Majesty’s government will further guarantee me . . . an annual royalty of one pound per kilowatt of the rated capacity of this as well as other plants . . . built according to my specifications.
(d) Coincident with the approval of my plans, I would offer my services for one year, [and] furnish additional drawings and specifications . . . for which I would receive ten thousand pounds. Believe me, Sir,
Your obedient servant
Nikola Tesla7
After spending several weeks to consider Tesla’s fantastical proposal, Mr. Coombs, the director of Artillery from the War Office in London, wrote back, stating that more time was needed to consider it.8 Tesla acknowledged receipt of the communiqué and reiterated to the London War Office that he also had a more compact design of “a most powerful gun” that could be fitted onto ships and that he waited for their formal response. It came the following month.
H. L. Lewis, the director of Artillery from the London War Office, acknowledged Tesla’s opening “explanatory remarks . . . made in connection with your discoveries and inventions for the projection of particles of matter to great distances of high velocity.” The scheme, he said, was “carefully considered by an Inter-Departmental Scientific Advisory Committee,” but the committee “was unable to form an opinion as to its scientific possibilities [due to] lack of necessary technical details.” Lewis requested “a fuller description of the means you propose to employ in order to produce the destructive effects you claim.... Further details are necessary before the expenditure of public funds can be considered.”9
Tesla seemed to stall for time, and nearly a year went by as, meanwhile, his comprehensive proposal got bumped up to higher circles. Major General A. E. Davidson, director of mechanization, who had kept up correspondence with Tesla during the interim, met with Lieutenant General Sir Hugh Elles of the British War Office as well as other military officials and, according to Tesla, possibly Neville Chamberlain to discuss the best way to proceed with this complicated proposal.
Wounded in the Great War in the Second Battle of Ypres, Lieutenant General Sir Hugh Elles had been a machine gunner and commander-in-chief of a tank brigade who personally led a squadron of 350 tanks against the Germans at the Battle of Cambrai, continuing in this position until the Germans were defeated in 1918. Two decades later, Elles tried to retire but was called back because of yet another German threat, and he was placed in charge of civil defense. Having studied the correspondence, he decided to call in General Andrew McNaughton, an electrical engineer, army officer, head of secret weaponry development via the National Research Council of Canada (essentially Vannevar Bush’s Canadian counterpart), and “a favorite of Winston Churchill.”
Like Elles, McNaughton had also been wounded in the Great War, and his expertise went beyond tanks. Having made “advances in the science of artillery,” McNaughton invented the cathode-ray compass for airplanes and “introduced the idea of using an oscilloscope as a forerunner of radar, selling the invention to the Canadian government for ten dollars.”10 He was the perfect choice to continue the dialogue with the Serbian inventor.
McNaughton, who would go on just a few years later to command the Canadian Army during World War II and make the short list with Lord Mountbatten and General Eisenhower to be supreme commander of Allied forces in all of Europe, was described as “having unforgettable eyes that stab and brood” and as a man with “a perpetual cock in his left eyebrow that sets off a face that has a deep touch of thought.”11 During the war, due to some unpleasantries and a clash of egos, the general ceded his command, but after the war, McNaughton would advance to become minister of defense, a member of the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, and temporary president of the U.N. Security Council. An exceptional leader who, during the war, would soon be meeting with Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, and, in Washington, Vannevar Bush and President Roosevelt to discuss secret weapons and to help coordinate efforts against the Nazis,12 McNaughton took Tesla’s invention seriously.
Writing directly to the inventor in July of 1937 in a “Secret and Personal” communiqué, McNaughton let Tesla know that he had met with Sir Elles and had read through the correspondence the inventor had sent to the secretary of war. “I understand from Sir Elles that I am to send two of our scientists to visit you in New York for the purpose of discussing this invention with you, and that they are to prepare a confidential report on its technical features for transmission to the War Office so that the whole matter may be given further consideration.
“I have entrusted this task to Dr. D. C. Rose and Mr. B. G. Ballard of our Division of Physics and Electrical Engineering and I would inquire as to when and where it would be convenient for you to receive them.
“I can assure you,” McNaughton concluded, “that I welcome this opportunity of making direct contact with you for, as a young engineer, I studied your great contributions to the art of electrical transmission, and particularly your work leading to the development of the rotating magnetic field and the induction motor.”13
Tesla was elated to receive this communiqué from one of the leaders of the free world, a man he very much respected, and he was impressed that the general had assigned such esteemed scientists as Donald Charles Rose and Bristow Guy Ballard to the proposal. Where Ballard was a physicist, electrical engineer, and after the war vice president of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Rose was chief superintendent of Canadian Army Research and science advisor to the General Staff during World War II. Much like his counterpart, Robert Millikan in the United States, Rose was head of cosmic ray research for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.14 Clearly, unlike Bush’s people in the country where Tesla resided, McNaughton had gone all out to understand precisely how Tesla’s revolutionary invention worked.
From Tesla’s point of view, apparently trying to rewrite history, we can see from his initial letter to the British that almost a half century after his rash decision to rip up his royalty clause with George Westinghouse during a heated moment in the so-called Battle of the Currents, the mysterious Serbian genius designed his proposal so as to not make that same mistake twice. Unlike the portrait often painted of the inventor as someone completely altruistic and not concerned about monetary gain, although entering his eighties, he was very much interested in money and placed a hefty price on this new Star Wars–like defensive shield.
From Tesla’s point of view, the deal had been structured in a reasonable fashion, asking for, in today’s dollars, an advance of about $600,000, informing the British War Office that the cost of production would be about $40 million in today’s dollars (£500,000 in 1935) and then asking for a huge bonus, approximately $85 million in today’s dollars, and a continuing royalty should his plans be successful. One way or another, the British had to come up with the advance if they wanted to get the ball rolling.
Unfortunately, during these critical negotiations, Tesla was clobbered by a taxicab. Knocked to the ground yet rolling back to his feet, the inventor cracked a few ribs and suffered internal injuries. However, rather than go see a doctor, he medicated himself.
July 18, 1937
A. G. L. McNaughton, Esq.
President, National Research Council
Ottawa, Canada
Sir:
Your letter of the 6th . . . found me in a trying situation. Five weeks before I had met with an accident and sustained serious injuries. My birthday was approaching and two ambassadors were coming from Washington to deliver to me . . . certain high distinctions [Order of the White Lion from Czechoslovakia].. . . Although in great pain and unable to move, I managed. . . to recover sufficiently and went through the ordeal on July 10, 1937 with a smile on my face. But when I retired the trouble returned and I have been confined to my room ever since. Just as soon as I am well enough I shall communicate with you and place myself at the disposal of your experts.
You are a man who has gone through the war doing more than his duty and you will appreciate that all my previous achievements are insignificant compared to what I am giving the world now. I am anxious to help the cause of peace and hope that active work can be started very soon.
With expressions of admiration, I remain, Sir,
Yours most respectfully,
N. Tesla15
The following day, Marconi died of heart failure, and in honor of his passing, BBC radio and its affiliates created a radio silence that lasted two minutes. Meanwhile, correspondence with the British Empire continued, with Tesla showing due respect to McNaughton, who was diligently trying to get the elusive wizard to meet with his two scientists, Drs. Rose and Ballard. Well aware of their expertise, Tesla, one would think, would have made every effort to accommodate them, but instead, he kept finding ways to postpone the meeting. The wizard’s delaying tactics could have been caused by either his wish to cement a financial deal before revealing the details or because he was unsure that he could adequately explain this advanced invention without actually constructing and demonstrating it. There is also the possibility that Tesla was bluffing, but the complete discussion herein is a counterbalance to that facile position.
In September of 1937, Tesla stated that he was “ready to furnish all information which can be reasonably expected from me at this juncture [but] I feel that any agreement between us contemplating secrecy would become automatically a scrap of paper in case of war. You would be on the side of England and reveal everything as you should, mindful of your military duty.” 16
Concerned that an invasion of England seemed imminent and therefore to promote the deal, it is possible that Tesla may have forwarded an article from Popular Mechanics from July of 1934 on a related idea of generating “Invisible Dust which can halt airplane engines in midair and can be hung as a vast curtain or protective wall about a nation’s borders to guard against sky invaders.... Ten thousand planes flying into one of these curtains would all be destroyed, the inventor averred, and [he envisioned] force projecting plants set up every 200 miles along a nation’s borders, each shooting rays 100 miles on either side.”17
Unable to comprehend why the Brits continued to balk, Tesla boldly wrote, “I am at a loss to understand why His Majesty’s Government has not acted more promptly in a matter of such vital moment. Perhaps my price is considered too high.” Then, like a salesman, Tesla moved in for his close. Having already stated that his price would involve many millions of pounds for construction and a pretty penny for himself, he said he was “emphatically of the opposite opinion [that the price is too high]. My friend Carnegie received 350 millions of dollars for his plants and my friend J. J. Hill 165 millions for ore lands discovered by me and purchased by him for an insignificant sum on my advice. My proposal is of importance transcending any industrial one. If I were making it now I would certainly ask much more, for I am offering something that no other living man can give.”18
Tesla’s throwaway line about railroad magnate James J. Hill was certainly intriguing. Founder of the transcontinental Great Northern Railroad, by the late 1890s, Hill had expanded his base by pairing the Great Northern with J. P. Morgan’s Northern Pacific Railroad. From about 1897 through 1899, at a time when Tesla and the railroad baron were corresponding, Hill had completed the purchase of a number of iron ore mines in the state of Minnesota that did indeed yield him a fortune. Perhaps Tesla played a role in confirming one or more mining purchases by using a combination of terrestrial frequencies, such as ELF waves, to monitor this locale in his experiments involved in global radar and/or telegeodynamics, which was a way for Tesla to locate ore by discerning underground mineral deposits using oscillators “bolted to rocky protuberances” to resonate the Earth for underground seismic exploration.19
Tesla ended the letter “assuring [McNaughton] that as soon as circumstances permit, I will communicate with you in regard to our proposed meeting.”20
Giving Tesla the benefit of the doubt, the general followed up two days later with yet another “Secret and Personal” communiqué, “looking forward to seeing you later at any time of your convenience,”21 and then patiently or impatiently waited five more months before trying again. In the interim, Tesla received yet another communiqué from the War Office declining to make any payments until Tesla met with representatives of the British government so that he could explain and also prove his brazen claims. Displaying a genuine respect for the aging inventor, they were also showing unusual restraint.
Meanwhile, on the home front, the British offered a reward of £100 to anyone who could kill a sheep at a hundred yards by directing an electrical charge. If the Brits could come up with their own death ray, they would no longer need Tesla’s expertise. It was for this reason that they called on the Scottish scientist Robert Watson-Watt to look into the matter. Unable to design such a device, Watson-Watt instead told his English overseers that their money would be better spent developing radar.
Not completely convinced by Watson-Watt’s failure and having received a letter from Tesla on December 7, 1937 completely dismissing the idea that a “death ray” constructed from electrical waves would ever work, key individuals in the British War Department continued to press Tesla for details before they would agree to write a sizeable check. From the Hotel New Yorker came this rather heated, distasteful, and yet prophetic response:
February 8, 1938
The Director of Mechanization
The War Office
London, S.W., 1
84/T/3458 (M.G.O. 4 b)
Sir:
The uncertain allusion to terms in your letter of January 7, 1938 has greatly astonished me. With all deference due to an official of exalted position I cannot refrain from remarking that I am no Jew or Gypsy but a man of principle unused to bartering. I have named my price, Sir, and if His Majesty’s Government offered me one half-penny less I would not give it my discoveries and inventions for electric protection and my co-operation in their application.
The best way to prevent another international cataclysm, possibly greater than the World War of twenty years ago, [is] to make England immune from all kinds of attack.... But in view of your statement, I can no longer hold in abeyance attractive proposals from other countries.... Although my system of electric power, light and heat distribution . . . is used on a huge scale and entirely indispens[ible] to the comfort and safety of the people [of England], this means nothing to His Majesty’s Government which is amazingly short-sighted and penurious. Such policy exposes the country to the gravest of dangers.
You are, undoubtedly, versed in history and know what happens when an infuriated people rise thirsty for blood and vengeance. This would be likely to happen in England if they should suddenly realize that the country is at the mercy of others owing to the Government’s failure to accept repeated offers for protection. The inevitable sequel would be a revolution which might engulf the Empire. As ever before, those who are in command would be made the scapegoats and I can predict, with almost mathematical certitude, that your own distinguished career would be quickly and tragically terminated.
I am unmoved by any personal interest and perfectly sincere in my warning . . . not to throw away lightly a unique chance. It would be well for you to read a German book on “Electrical Warfare” recently published in Vienna.... [The author] question[s] whether a perfect electric arm for military use can be produced, and if there [is] anywhere on this globe a man [who] can do it, . . . [it] is Nikola Tesla. What I have practically developed surpasses the author’s wildest dreams....
You have written me repeatedly suggesting a meeting with Major-General McNaughton’s representatives. But in such a conference without preparation I would be unable to . . . prove essential principles to the satisfaction of his experts who have their reputations at stake.
Their report under such circumstances could not materially change the situation. If we are to achieve success, I must meet them prepared to give an elaborate reply to every question and leave no doubt whatever . . . as to rationability and operativeness of every part of my . . . plan. Then, as in all similar cases in my professional career, they will make an enthusiastic report which will awake the War Office from its sleep. To do this I have to prepare a condensed specification and drawings . . . good enough to serve the purpose. This work would take about six weeks but can be done . . . for a relatively small sum of money.
I shall write more fully . . . to Major-General McNaughton, and you will hear from him.
In the meantime I have the honor to remain, Sir, your obedient servant, N. Tesla22
Simultaneously, as he promised, Tesla penned to McNaughton a more restrained rebuttal. A key complaint Tesla had was that he expected to be paid for his consultation. Simultaneously, to the general, he dropped his advance from £7,500 to £1,200:
