Geekend

Is Nikola Tesla the greatest geek who ever lived?

June 28, 2012, 2:02 PM PDT

Takeaway: If genius inventor and revolutionary thinker Nikola Tesla doesn’t get your vote for the greatest geek ever, tell us who does and why in the comments section.

The Oatmeal’s Matthew Inman created a comic that details why he thinks Nikola Tesla is the greatest geek who ever lived (and why Tesla is better than Thomas Edison). On TechRepublic, we have featured 30 of Tesla’s patents, and referenced the inventor in at least two Geek Trivia posts, but we have yet to poll Geekend readers about where they think he ranks in terms of all-time greatest geeks… until now.

Is Nikola Tesla the greatest geek who ever lived?

Check out these Tesla-related links

Nikola Tesla Universe site
Nikola Tesla’s patents for aircraft, ships, railways, autos, and more (TechRepublic)
Geek Trivia: Skies on the prize (TechRepublic)
Behold - The singing Tesla coil! (TechRepublic)
Geek Trivia: Fighting fire with wireless (TechRepublic)
Tesla - Master of Lightning (PBS.org)
Marco Tempest: The electric rise and fall of Nikola Tesla (TED video)

Thanks to TechRepublic’s Mark Kaelin for The Oatmeal link.

Automatically sign up for TechRepublic's Geekend newsletter!

Get IT Tips, news, and reviews delivered directly to your inbox by subscribing to TechRepublic’s free newsletters.

The 10 superheroes most in need of a movie reboot

CERN finds new particle that may be the Higgs Boson

Comments

Add Your Opinion

Join the conversation!

Follow via:: RSS; Email Alert

See All Comments

Staff Picks
Top Rated
Most Recent
My Contacts

No messages found

2 Votes

+ -

Contributr

Greatest Comment Ever

Sterling "chip" Camden 29th Jun

Mathematics is a language, but not all language is mathematical. In fact, most of it isn't.

View in thread

-2 Votes

+ -

Except Jesus

anil_g 3rd Jul

who programmed all the DNA and taught Tesla everything he knew.

View in thread

0 Votes

+ -

I think Tesla was pre-geek.

l_e_cox 3rd Jul

Tesla was a real inventor, a philosopher, and a person who thought his inventions could make a huge difference to the future of the planet.

I think of geeks as more self-absorbed and focused than that. They want to solve a problem and it's all coffee and danishes until significant progress has been attained.

I think the inventor of the LED comes closer to a true "modern" geek: Nick Holonyak.

View in thread

1 Vote

+ -

AC OR DC

mjd420nova 3rd Jul

The scientific research and implimentation of Edison's DC power distribution and Tesla's AC distribution systems began the battle between General Electric and Westinghouse. It was only the beginning of a huge infrastructure that now powers the world. What better praise for any visionary??

View in thread

Once logged in, adding contacts is simple. Just mouse over any member's photo or click any member's name then click the "Follow" button. You can easily manage your contacts within your account contacts page.

See all comments