What happens when a writer and a scientist become besties
When it comes to Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla, it turns out they gave the phrase talking
s*** a whole new meaning. Mark Twain has gone down in history as one of the wittiest writers who ever lived, celebrated
as a legend in his own lifetime. Twain's glittering wit, wry observations, and timeless characters have set the template
for American humor. His name is still invoked annually at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. during the ceremony
of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. the recipients of which include Richard Pryor, Bill Murray, and Tina Fey
Twain's works continue to be taught in many schools, despite issues concerning the racialized language of novels such as Huckleberry Finn
While you were gone, I was sort of thinking that maybe I ain't being square
making you float down the river and making an abolitionist out of you
The reputation of the scientist Nikola Tesla has been far more than checkered
Famous for his work with Alternating Current, Tesla's work transformed the modern world
However, he died penniless, and his name grew obscure during the 20th century
while rivals such as Thomas Edison continued to be celebrated. He has, however, undergone a renaissance in recent years as a hero of modern technology
In most people's minds, it might be assumed that Twain would spend his days discussing literature with fellow greats of American Letters, while Tesla would count among his
closest friends other scientists and engineers. But the truth is that the creator of Huckleberry Finn was hugely interested in the world of science
In Twain's day, technology was developing at an incredible speed, thanks in part to the efforts of boundary-pushing experimentalists like Tesla himself
The two became firm friends in the late 1880s and 1890s, with Twain living just up the street from Tesla's laboratory in New York
Nikola Tesla is today considered one of the world's greatest scientific inventors
whose countless creations and discoveries were revolutionary. But despite his many achievements Tesla had a difficult life beginning with his childhood during which he suffered bouts of severe illness including cholera which left him unable to do anything but rest in bed and read books from the local library Tesla recalls in his autobiography My Inventions that on one
occasion during his sickness, he was handed a collection of the early works of Mark Twain
which he became so engrossed in that he forgot his illness altogether and soon made what he
describes as a miraculous recovery. When the two men finally met decades later, Twain was moved to
tears to hear how his work had improved the health of the young Tesla. Soon, the two would
be entertaining themselves in Tesla's lab, with the scientists inviting Twain to experiment with
some of his inventions. Surely, two of the greatest minds of 19th century America in the
same room together would lead to a famous collaboration of some kind. One might think
so, but it turns out that though the two men were obviously fascinated by the new possibilities
that electricity offered humankind, there was one immediate issue that Nikola Tesla decided
to help Mark Twain with, his constipation. What are you talking about
As well as attempting to harness electricity for mechanical uses, Tesla also experimented
with developing forms of what he called mechanical therapy to cure various illnesses and ailments
of both himself and his assistants, according to Tesla Universe. Tesla claimed that his techniques were successful, with miraculous results
Though Tesla himself didn't go into detail as to how he cured Twain, today the story
goes that Tesla invited Twain to stand on a vibrating platform, which so affected him that
he had to run immediately for the bathroom. Less fancifully, Tesla also gave the wealthy writer
advice on which inventions and patents he should invest in, notably trying to convince his literary
friend not to invest in certain doomed technologies. In return, Twain invited Tesla to join the
Players Club. By 1909, Twain and Tesla were such good friends that the writer invited the scientist
to attend his daughter's wedding, a year before Twain's death at the age of 74