Nikola Tesla was vegetarian!

Nikola Tesla, certainly one of the most influential scientist ever, and yet a huge unknown to most. Tesla invented AC electricity, the radio, these cool plasma balls that you love to touch, the Death Ray electrical weapon (although unfinished), the wireless transfer of energy, the Tesla Coil (remember these cool things from C&C Red Alert?), the induction motor and many more things that we all have around us today.

"Tesla is often described as the most important scientist and inventor of the modern age, a man who "shed light over the face of Earth. Contemporary biographers of Tesla have regarded him as "The Father of Physics", "The man who invented the twentieth century" and "the patron saint of modern electricity."

Now listen to the coolest fact, he was vegetarian! And an animal lover!

"In his later years Tesla became a vegetarian. In an article for Century Illustrated Magazine he wrote: "It is certainly preferable to raise vegetables, and I think, therefore, that vegetarianism is a commendable departure from the established barbarous habit." Tesla argued that it is wrong to eat uneconomic meat when large numbers of people are starving; he also believed that plant food was "superior to it [meat] in regard to both mechanical and mental performance". He also argued that animal slaughter was "wanton and cruel." Cited from Wikipedia.

I'm speechless.

It's such a shame he's such an unknown. I found it really inspiring to read about him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla

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The Radio

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Tesla Coil

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...sma-lamp_2.jpg
Plasma Ball

Einstein also in his final year(s) of life turned vegetarian but we have quotes from his letters that show it was on his mind many years before it actually happened.

Also Sir Isacc Newton, “the father of physics,” Thomas Edison, and Leonardo Da Vinci were vegetarians. Scientists are smart.:)

Get ready to add me in 20-40 years... :P

I didn't knew for him, but I know that Charls Darwin was also a vegetarian.I also know that Christopher Hills was a vegetarian. He is the doctor who popularized the microalgaes. I am sure there are and other scientists, but I don't know for them.

I've seen a Tesla Coil in action a few times and I have a couple of those cool plasma balls.

Darwin wasn't a vegetarian, it's just one of those theories that gets perpetuated on the internet http://www.ivu.org/history/europe19b/darwin.html I heard a radio programme about him earlier this year which suggested he wasn't averse to eating very unusual animals from all over the world.

Here's his short but sweet autobiography, i got the paperback version but i suppose reading a book on the internet cannae be that hard, lol!
http://www.teslaplay.com/autobody.htm

Tesla . Wide awake. I read that folks found his associated phenomena somewhat disturbing, and a bit dangerous. I guess there is observant, there is intelligent, and then there is paying attention to consequences.

It was a weird time when electricity seemed more like science fiction to most folk. People like Tesla and Edison would battle over which distribution system, AC or DC, should be adopted. Edison even staged several public electrocutions of dogs (and once even an elephant) in his attempt to scare people that AC, the system which rivaled his DC, was extremely dangerous. Some vegetarian, huh?! Even more shocking (*rim shot*) was there was no public outcry over these events! :eek:

Good taste forbids me from linking to the motion pictures (another Edison invention) of poor Topsy the elephant being killed:(, but for those of you with a morbid curiosity you can find the grainy c.1903 film on Youtube and such pretty easily.

Along with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle these dudes were all chums though and despite hanging with Houdini (who knew better) they fell for the snake oil/con artists of their day; spiritualists, séances, and fairy photography.

http://hauntedamericatours.com/Fairi...%20fairies.jpg

Why should I care that Einstein was a vegetarian any more than I care that Natalie Portman is? Vegetarians are ordinary, not extraordinary, people. Tell me *why* they're vegetarian, though, and I might be interested. I'm sure it's not "because they're scientists" any more than it is "because they're celebrities."

If you do not care about that why are you here? I can't speak about the others, but I am very interested about the people who were vegetarians in the past. I am very interested in their oppinions, what they had wrote about their choise to become vegetarians, especially in ages in which that wasn't popular and the people weren't becoming vegetarians just to be trendy or to feel extraordinary. For me it is not interesting that somebody is or have been vegan. I am interested in people who have been writing or talking about their support of the ideal for the animal protection in ages in which that wasn't popular: in example Buddha, Samoski Pitagor, Sokratus, Seneka, Plutarh, Ghandi, Romen Rolan, Asen Zlatarov, Vladimir Dimitrov, Leonardo Da Vinci, Bernard Shaw, Tolstoi, Einstein, Van Ghog, Peter Fenix, Emerson and my favourite author Beisa Duno/also known as Konstantin Dunov/. I think that the people are interested to know that there were people before them, in the past who had also supported their cause. Unforunately we can know only for people who are or have been famous in some way. When I decided to stop eating meat here in Bulgaria the veganism wasn't something popular, even here wasn't enough information, advises or something. Information for that ideology I found in texts and interviews written from these people. I do not find reason to do not be interested in them.
Excuse me if I had made mistakes in the writing of the names, but the English is not my native language and at the moment I don't have got time to check to spelling of the names.
PS: Who is Natali Portman? I think that I had hurt her name, but I am not sure who is she

It is interesting to hear their opinions, that's what I'm saying... but not the mere fact that they're vegetarian. Anyway, veganism is not popular anywhere and never has been, so singling out historical figures for this reason alone is not very interesting. There's still no more than 1% of the population of the US that's vegan. Gandhi is from a country that is 30% vegetarian, so it's not interesting that he was vegetarian at all until you start reading what he actually said and believed in that regard. It would be interesting to know whether or not he was vegan, knowing what I know about his world view. But he probably was more vegan than I am simply because he was fasting most of the time!

Natalie Portman is a famous American actress.

Thankyou for that list of names Adelina... half of them are new to me...and I was not aware that the others had encouraged veg*nism either; except for Ghandi, and Buddha.

I bought 'The Animals Film' on DVD but had to stop watching at the opening credits because of the sequence of the elephant being electrocuted. It was grainy and black and white. I presume that was Topsy, being electrocuted by Edison. What pointless cruelty. The film is still unwatched. I was hoping to convert my husband to veganism using it (had read of many others whose life was changed by it), but it is too hardcore for us to watch so the message can get across. Will have to revert to reasoned arguement and delicious cooking.
I'm interested in others who have been vegan or even vegetarian - it encourages me and gives me a sense of an evolving culture, a history of thought. And I'm inspired by other people's stories.
v

Wow I am so impressed when I read your post Nikola Tesla was vegetarian, That is pretty cool. I also think that its cool Clint Eastwood is vegan, And Tobey Maguire, imagine that Spiderman my childhood hero being vegan, well kinda vegan. Here's a list of famous vegans, shame is not longer i guess... http://www.happycow.net/famous_veget...erby=vegstatus

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Quantum Mechanic

Get ready to add me in 20-40 years... :P

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You heard it here first, the scientific field of quantum mechanics is vegan :).

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blueeyesstef

Wow I am so impressed when I read your post Nikola Tesla was vegetarian, That is pretty cool. I also think that its cool Clint Eastwood is vegan, And Tobey Maguire, imagine that Spiderman my childhood hero being vegan, well kinda vegan. Here's a list of famous vegans, shame is not longer i guess... http://www.happycow.net/famous_veget...erby=vegstatus

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Haha, I was so amazed to read that Clint Eastwood is vegan that I just HAD to look it up! I mean, can it really be true?!

I found this link stating convincingly that he isn't even vegetarian and that he didn't know what veganism really was.

http://www.ecorazzi.com/2008/12/11/c...so-there-punk/

Clint Eastwood isn't vegetarian. It was just an internet rumor. It's awesome that Tesla was a vegetarian though. I've been very interested in him and his work.

Clint, Not vegan, No!!!

Well found but I am a little disapointed, I told some people has was the other day.

Damm rumors! :hmm:

Tesla was great. Kind of cool to know he was a vegan.

Is it just me or should it me mandatory that and posts about Tesla should have OMD's "Tesla Girls" playing in the background? I love that song.

^Vegetarian, not vegan.

David Bowie plays Tesla (small role though) in the stage magic movie "The Prestige" . Good movie. You also learn the inside truth that doves that are made to vanish and miraculously reappear else where in stage magic acts are in truth sometimes squashed flat (killed) and the reappearance is simply another bird entirely. [I'm pretty sure no actual birds were killed for the movie though.]

the elephant electrocution (not condoning it at all here) was done in part as a result of the elephant killing people (including a trainer who tried to feed her a lit cigarette!) and the company he was trying to shut down was westinghouse. the rumours about dc being so safe were so virelant that comentators from america seeing the first electric underground trains in London said that there is enough current to drive a train at 20mph but not enough to despatch a man. If only they knew. Although there is a glimmer of truth.

I liked the book "The bloodless revolution : a cultural history of vegetarianism from 1600 to modern times" by Tristram Stuart. There have been many famous people who were vegetarian, but their reasons for being vegetarian were not always very good.

Rene Descartes followed a vegetarian diet for health reasons. He also skinned live dogs for research. He justified this by the argument that if dogs experienced pain then what he was doing would constitute such massive cruelty that God would not allow it, but God did allow it, and therefore dogs don't experience pain.

Or god doesn't exist/ or care/ or feel compelled to intervene. That Descartes guy sounds pretty dumb for a "famous guy". Thanks for the info though, geoffr, good to know.

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geoffr

I liked the book "The bloodless revolution : a cultural history of vegetarianism from 1600 to modern times" by Tristram Stuart. There have been many famous people who were vegetarian, but their reasons for being vegetarian were not always very good.

Rene Descartes followed a vegetarian diet for health reasons. He also skinned live dogs for research. He justified this by the argument that if dogs experienced pain then what he was doing would constitute such massive cruelty that God would not allow it, but God did allow it, and therefore dogs don't experience pain.

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From what I've read of Descartes, he seems reasoned enough to know how little sense that makes. After all, in a framework that accepts God's existence accepts that God allows humans to undergo horrible suffering, and yet I am certain he wouldn't argue that we don't feel pain. Besides, it's not like it would be better to do it while they are unconscious - would it be ethical to skin humans alive as long as they are unconscious and do not feel it?

Neat that Tesla was veggie!

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Quantum Mechanic

From what I've read of Descartes, he seems reasoned enough to know how little sense that makes. After all, in a framework that accepts God's existence accepts that God allows humans to undergo horrible suffering, and yet I am certain he wouldn't argue that we don't feel pain. Besides, it's not like it would be better to do it while they are unconscious - would it be ethical to skin humans alive as long as they are unconscious and do not feel it?

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Descartes was trying to defend his own practice of vivisection, so it is not surprising that he couldn't find a good argument. He did claim to have proven that God exists, and used this as the basis for many of his arguments. Once that proof is faulted, very little of his philosophy is left standing.

His much less famous neice Catherine Descartes was an anti-vivisectionist, but I don't know whether or not she was vegetarian.