1856 – 1943
Nikola Tesla
Master of Radiant Energy & Cosmic Impulse
Tesla was not merely an electrical engineer — he was a natural philosopher in the tradition of Goethe and Faraday who understood electricity as a space-flowing current distinct from the movement of electrons. Through his Impulse Transformer research he discovered that certain sudden electrical impulses produced a brilliant "whitefire" discharge unlike any conventional spark — an aetheric phenomenon that passed freely through matter, cooled rather than heated, and could project electrostatic power wirelessly to any distance.
His Wardenclyffe Tower project — a global wireless power distribution system operating through the Earth itself — was deliberately shut down by J.P. Morgan once Morgan realised the technology would eliminate the metering of electricity. Tesla died alone, in debt, in Room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel. His files were seized by the Office of Alien Property within hours of his death.