My Inventions
尼古拉.特斯拉回憶錄(我的創作生涯)
VI. The Art of Telautomatics
第六章 自動遙控的藝術
No subject to which I have ever devoted myself has called for such concentration of mind and strained to so dangerous a degree the finest fibers of my brain as the system of which the Magnifying Transmitter is the foundation. I put all the intensity and vigor of youth in the development of the rotating field discoveries, but those early labors were of a different character. Although strenuous in the extreme, they did not involve that keen and exhausting discernment which had to be exercised in attacking the many puzzling problems of the wireless.
在我所從事的項目中,以放大發射機(Magnifying Transmitter)為基礎的系統耗費了我最多的精力。它讓我絞盡腦汁,我甚至擔心自己最纖細的腦神經都受到了損傷。我將自己全部的精力和體力都投人到了旋轉磁場的研究與開發工作中,不過它早期的工作性質卻有所不同。那時的工作雖然也非常勞累,但是不像現在這樣需要投入大量極為細緻又令人疲憊不堪的思考與分析,以及解決與無線電科學有關的眾多問題。
Despite my rare physical endurance at that period the abused nerves finally rebelled and I suffered a complete collapse, just as the consummation of the long and difficult task was almost in sight.
Without doubt I would have paid a greater penalty later, and very likely my career would have been prematurely terminated, had not providence equipt me with a safety device, which has seemed to improve with advancing years and unfailingly comes into play when my forces are at an end. So long as it operates I am safe from danger, due to overwork, which threatens other inventors and, incidentally, I need no vacations which are indispensable to most people. When I am all but used up I simply do as the darkies, who "naturally fall asleep while white folks worry."
雖然那一時期我有著極為罕見的身體耐力,但是過度疲勞使神經開始罷工,我完全崩潰了,而此時這場漫長而又艱苦的工作已經初露曙光。毫無疑問,如果不是上天賦予了我一個安全工具,它隨著時間的增加越來越完善,當我的創造力將要耗盡時,它便會馬上開始工作,否則以後我將忍受更大的痛苦,我的發明事業也很可能提前夭折。只要這個安全工具能夠正常工作,我就可以避免像其他發明家那樣因為過度疲勞而面臨的危險。此外,我也不像大多數人那樣必須定期度假。因為我的發明力絕對不會枯竭,我完全能夠像黑人那樣“晚上一躺下便酣然入睡,不會像大多數白人那樣飽受失眠的痛苦”。
To venture a theory out of my sphere, the body probably accumulates little by little a definite quantity of some toxic agent and I sink into a nearly lethargic state which lasts half an hour to the minute. Upon awakening I have the sensation as though the events immediately preceding had occurred very long ago, and if I attempt to continue the interrupted train of thought I feel a veritable mental nausea. Involuntarily I then turn to other work and am surprised at the freshness of the mind and ease with which I overcome obstacles that had baffled me before. After weeks or months my passion for the temporarily abandoned invention returns and I invariably find answers to all the vexing questions with scarcely any effort. In this connection I will tell of an extraordinary experience which may be of interest to students of psychology.
在嘗試新理論時,我的身體可能一點一點地積累起了一定數量的“毒素”,我便會進入一種昏昏沉沉的狀態,但是也僅僅會持續半個小時的樣子。清醒之後,我會覺得剛剛過去的事情似乎是很久以前發生的,如果我試圖繼續剛才的思考,就會感到眩暈噁心。於是,雖然不是很情願,我不得不轉向其他工作。此時,我驚訝地發現,思路馬上清晰起來,可以輕而易舉地解決以前遇到的難題。幾週或者幾個月之後,我對原來暫時放棄的發明重新發生興趣,幾乎可以毫不費力地找到所有困擾我的問題的答案。對此,我想講一個特別的經歷,心理專家可能非常感興趣。
I had produced a striking phenomenon with my grounded transmitter and was endeavoring to ascertain its true significance in relation to the currents propagated through the earth. It seemed a hopeless undertaking, and for more than a year I worked unremittingly, but in vain. This profound study so entirely absorbed me that I became forgetful of everything else, even of my undermined health. At last, as I was at the point of breaking down, nature applied the preservative inducing lethal sleep. Regaining my senses I realized with consternation that I was unable to visualize scenes from my life except those of infancy, the very first ones that had entered my consciousness. Curiously enough, these appeared before my vision with startling distinctness and afforded me welcome relief. Night after night, when retiring, I would think of them and more and more of my previous existence was revealed. The image of my mother was always the principal figure in the spectacle that slowly unfolded, and a consuming desire to see her again gradually took possession of me. This feeling grew so strong that I resolved to drop all work and satisfy my longing. But I found it too hard to break away from the laboratory, and several months elapsed during which I had succeeded in reviving all the impressions of my past life up to the spring of 1892. In the next picture that came out of the mist of oblivion, I saw myself at the Hotel de la Paix in Paris just coming to from one of my peculiar sleeping spells, which had been caused by prolonged exertion of the brain. Imagine the pain and distress I felt when it flashed upon my mind that a dispatch was handed to me at that very moment bearing the sad news that my mother was dying. I remembered how I made the long journey home without an hour of rest and how she passed away after weeks of agony!
我曾經利用地面發射機(grounded transmitter)觀察到了一個非常奇特的現象,試圖弄清它與地下電流之間是否存在重要聯繫。這似乎是一個無法完成的工作,一年多以來,我一直堅持不懈地進行分析,卻毫無進展。這個十分複雜的問題深深吸引了我,我對任何其他事情變得漠不關心,甚至包括可能遭受的對身體的傷害。最後,瀕臨崩潰時,我的身體開始進人保護性睡眠狀態。重新恢復思考能力以後,我驚訝地發現,我只能回想起幼年時期的景象,也就是我剛剛懂事時的一些事情。非常奇怪的是,這些記憶顯得那麼清晰,讓我混亂的思路徹底放鬆下來。然後,很多個晚上,在入睡前,我不斷思考,過去經歷的景象便越來越多地出現在腦海之中。我母親的形象一直是其中的主角,並且在我腦海中變得越來越清晰,我也越來越強烈地希望看到她。這種感覺十分強烈,我不得不決定放棄所有工作而專注於這一想像過程。但是,離開實驗室對我來說是一件非常痛苦的事情。幾個月時間裡,我回想了自己過去的所有經歷,一直回憶到1892年春天。接著,在這種由遺忘迷霧中走出的想像中,我看到自己出現在巴黎和平大酒店(Hotel de la Paix)。因為大腦長時間處於極度緊張狀態,我再次進人了自己特有的睡眠放鬆狀態,於是就發生了剛才這一幕。就在這一時刻,我發現我接到了一封急件,說我母親快死了,我感到極其悲痛。我記得,我一刻都沒有耽誤,馬上踏上了回家的旅程。經過幾個星期的痛苦煎熬,母親去世了。
It was especially remarkable that during all this period of partially obliterated memory I was fully alive to everything touching on the subject of my research. I could recall the smallest details and the least significant observations in my experiments and even recite pages of text and complex mathematical formulae.
令我感到非常驚訝的是,在重新回憶了這些有點兒模糊的經歷之後,我的思路變得異常清晰,所有研究問題也變得迎刃而解。我可以準確地回憶起實驗過程中出現的最細小的情節和最不起眼的現象,甚至可以回想起大段文字和複雜的數學公式。
My belief is firm in a law of compensation. The true rewards are ever in proportion to the labor and sacrifices made. This is one of the reasons why I feel certain that of all my inventions, the Magnifying Transmitter will prove most important and valuable to future generations. I am prompted to this prediction not so much by thoughts of the commercial and industrial revolution which it will surely bring about, but of the humanitarian consequences of the many achievements it makes possible. Considerations of mere utility weigh little in the balance against the higher benefits of civilization. We are confronted with portentous problems which can not be solved just by providing for our material existence, however abundantly. On the contrary, progress in this direction is fraught with hazards and perils not less menacing than those born from want and suffering. If we were to release the energy of atoms or discover some other way of developing cheap and unlimited power at any point of the globe this accomplishment, instead of being a blessing, might bring disaster to mankind in giving rise to dissension and anarchy which would ultimately result in the enthronement of the hated regime of force. The greatest good will comes from technical improvements tending to unification and harmony, and my wireless transmitter is preeminently such. By its means the human voice and likeness will be reproduced everywhere and factories driven thousands of miles from waterfalls furnishing the power; aerial machines will be propelled around the earth without a stop and the sun's energy controlled to create lakes and rivers for motive purposes and transformation of arid deserts into fertile land. Its introduction for telegraphic, telephonic and similar uses will automatically cut out the statics and all other interferences which at present impose narrow limits to the application of the wireless.
我堅信發明過程中存在一種思考補償機制。真實的回報與付出的勞動和所做的犧牲是成正比的。這就是我為什麼對自己所有發明特別自信的原因之一,放大發射機將是最重要的一項發明,會給後代帶來極大的價值。我之所以這樣想,並不是認為它一定可以引發商業和工業革命,而是認為它可以讓人類在諸多方面獲得新的成就。純粹的應用價值與較高層次的文明進步相比要次要得多。我們所面臨的問題不可能僅僅通過物質文明的改善得到解決,即使物質文明再豐富也不行。反而,這方面的進步充滿了更多危險和障礙,比物質匱乏和貧窮引發的問題還要嚴重。如果我們能夠將原子的能量釋放出來,或者在地球的某個地方以某種方式開發出成本更加低廉而規模沒有限制的能量,這並不是一件可喜的事情,反而可能引發衝突和混亂,為人類帶來災難,最終導致反對力量登上統治地位。最偉大的技術創新在於其促進人類團結與和諧的良好願望,我的無線電發射器就是這樣一個典型例證。利用它,人類的語音及其他聲音可以在任何地方被還原出來,工廠使用的動力來自數千英里以外的水電站,空中機械可以毫不停歇地圍繞地球飛行,人們可以利用太陽的能量出於運動目的創造湖泊與河流,將貧瘠的沙漠改造成肥沃的農田。它可以促成電報、電話以及類似設備的出現,將必然消除靜力學和所有其他干擾,這些障礙目前嚴重限制了無線電技術的應用。這是一個亟待討論的問題,寥寥數語不足以充分闡述。
This is a timely topic on which a few words might not be amiss. During the past decade a number of people have arrogantly claimed that they had succeeded in doing away with this impediment. I have carefully examined all of the arrangements described and tested most of them long before they were publicly disclosed, but the finding was uniformly negative. A recent official statement from the U.S. Navy may, perhaps, have taught some beguilable news editors how to appraise these announcments at their real worth. As a rule the attempts are based on theories so fallacious that whenever they come to my notice I can not help thinking in a lighter vein. Quite recently a new discovery was heralded, with a deafening flourish of trumpets, but it proved another case of a mountain bringing forth a mouse.
在過去的十年中,曾經有不少人大膽地宣稱,他們已經成功地解決了這一問題。但是,早在他們公佈自己的發現以前,我便認真研究過了他們所描述的內容或者試驗方法,結果無一例外地都是行不通的。最近,美國海軍發表的官方聲明或許給那些頭腦發熱的新聞編輯上了一課,讓他們清楚應該如何客觀地評價這些所謂的科學發現。一般說來,這些人所依靠的理論基礎都是靠不住的,所以當我看到這些科學發現時,都會一笑置之。最近,又出現了一個新發現,宣傳聲勢可謂震耳欲聾,結果證明又是一個虎頭蛇尾的鬧劇。
This reminds me of an exciting incident which took place years ago when I was conducting my experiments with currents of high frequency. Steve Brodie had just jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge. The feat has been vulgarized since by imitators, but the first report electrified New York. I was very impressionable then and frequently spoke of the daring printer. On a hot afternoon I felt the necessity of refreshing myself and stepped into one of the popular thirty thousand institutions of this great city where a delicious twelve per cent beverage was served which can now be had only by making a trip to the poor and devastated countries of Europe. The attendance was large and not overdistinguished and a matter was discussed which gave me an admirable opening for the careless remark: "This is what I said when I jumped off the bridge." No sooner had I uttered these words than I felt like the companion of Timotheus in the poem of Schiller. In an instant there was a pandemonium and a dozen voices cried: "It is Brodie! " I threw a quarter on the counter and bolted for the door but the crowd was at my heels with yells: "Stop, Steve!" which must have been misunderstood for many persons tried to hold me up as I ran frantically for my haven of refuge. By darting around corners I fortunately managed - through the medium of a fire-escape - to reach the laboratory where I threw off my coat, camouflaged myself as a hard-working blacksmith, and started the forge. But these precautions proved unnecessary; I had eluded my pursuers. For many years afterward, at night, when imagination turns into spectres the trifling troubles of the day, I often thought, as I tossed on the bed, what my fate would have been had that mob caught me and found out that I was not Steve Brodie!
這讓我想起了一年前發生的一件事,當時我正利用高頻電流做試驗。當時,史蒂夫.布羅迪(Steve Brodie)剛剛跳下了布魯克林大橋(Brooklyn Bridge)。這次壯舉因很多人模仿而被庸俗化,但是此事的第一次新聞報導確實轟動了整個紐約市。當時,這件事給我留下了非常深刻的印象,我常常提起這位勇敢的書商。一個炎熱的下午,我決定出去放鬆一下。我來到這座大城市三萬個著名機構中的一個,要了一份20%酒精含量的可口飲料。不過,現在只有去歐洲某個十分貧窮落後的國家才能找到這種飲料。那裡的人很多,但是沒有什麼我認識的人。當時,人們正在討論一個問題,我很隨意地說了一句令所有人都很震驚的話:“這就是我從橋上跳下去時所說的話。”這些話剛剛出口,我感覺自己就像席勒(Schiller)詩中提摩太(Timotheus)面對無數追隨者一樣。頃刻之間,場面一片混亂,十幾個人高聲叫道“他是布羅迪!”我掏出一枚25美分的硬幣扔在櫃檯上,然後閃電一樣沖向門口。然而,人們馬上向我撲來,大喊著:“攔住他,他是史蒂夫!”這肯定是一場誤會,當我發瘋般地逃跑時,很多人試圖將我攔住。我拼命跑向消防通道,轉了幾個彎,終於回到了實驗室。然後,我脫掉外衣,假裝成一個鐵匠熱火朝天地幹起活來。不過,後來證明這些擔心都是多餘的,因為我早已甩掉了那些追蹤者。之後很多年,當我晚上想像時,那天的小插曲就像幽靈一樣總是揮之不去。我常常想,如果那天人們把我抓住,發現我並不是史蒂夫.布羅迪以後,我的命運將會如何!
Now the engineer, who lately gave an account before a technical body of a novel remedy against statics based on a "heretofore unknown law of nature," seems to have been as reckless as myself when he contended that these disturbances propagate up and down, while those of a transmitter proceed along the earth. It would mean that a condenser, as this globe, with its gaseous envelope, could be charged and discharged in a manner quite contrary to the fundamental teachings propounded in every elemental text-book of physics. Such a supposition would have been condemned as erroneous, even in Franklin's time, for the facts bearing on this were then well known and the identity between atmospheric electricity and that developed by machines was fully established. Obviously, natural and artificial disturbances propagate through the earth and the air in exactly the same way, and both set up electromotive forces in the horizontal, as well as vertical, sense. Interference can not be overcome by any such methods as were proposed. The truth is this: in the air the potential increases at the rate of about fifty volts per foot of elevation, owing to which there may be a difference of pressure amounting to twenty, or even forty thousand volts between the upper and lower ends of the antenna. The masses of the charged atmosphere are constantly in motion and give up electricity to the conductor, not continuously but rather disruptively, this producing a grinding noise in a sensitive telephonic receiver. The higher the terminal and the greater the space encompassed by the wires, the more pronounced is the effect, but it must be understood that it is purely local and has little to do with the real trouble.
現在,這位工程師在一個學術團體中發表演講,表示自己根據“一個迄今無人所知的原理”,找到了一個處理靜電學的新方案。他說,靜電擾動以上下方式傳播,同時發射器的電流則沿著地面傳播。在我看來,他的行為和我聲稱自己是布羅迪一樣瘋狂。他的觀點意味著,由大氣層包裹的地球是一個巨大的電容器,既可以充電又可以放電,其作用方式與每一本基礎物理教科書中所講的基本原理相矛盾。這種假定即使在富蘭克林(Franklin)生活的年代也會被人們認為是一種謬論,事實已經充分證明,大氣層中的電流和機器產生的電流是完全相同的。顯然,自然電流和人工電流在地下和空中傳播的方式是完全一樣的,在水平方向和垂直方向都會形成電動勢。利用這些人提出的方案,電磁干涉是不可能避免的。事實是:在空氣中,電勢以每英尺五十伏左右的幅度增加。因此,天線頂端和底端之間存在著二萬伏或者四萬伏的電壓差。帶電氣團一直處於運動狀態,向導體釋放電量,但不是連續的,而是隨機的。於是,這種現象就會在敏感度比較高的電話接收機中產生摩擦噪音。傳導終端的位置越高,電線包含的空間越大,效果就越明顯。不過,我們必須知道,這種現象均存在於當地,不會對整個系統造成麻煩。
In 1900, while perfecting my wireless system, one form of apparatus comprised four antennae. These were carefully calibrated to the same frequency and connected in multiple with the object of magnifying the action, in receiving from any direction. When I desired to ascertain the origin of the transmitted impulses, each diagonally situated pair was put in series with a primary coil energizing the detector circuit. In the former case the sound was loud in the telephone; in the latter it ceased, as expected, the two antennae neutralizing each other, but the true statics manifested themselves in both instances and I had to devise special preventives embodying different principles.
By employing receivers connected to two points of the ground, as suggested by me long ago, this trouble caused by the charged air, which is very serious in the structures as now built, is nullified and besides, the liability of all kinds of interference is reduced to about one-half, because of the directional character of the circuit. This was perfectly self-evident, but came as a revelation to some simple-minded wireless folks whose experience was confined to forms of apparatus that could have been improved with an axe, and they have been disposing of the bear's skin before killing him. If it were true that strays performed such antics, it would be easy to get rid of them by receiving without aerials. But, as a matter of fact, a wire buried in the ground which, conforming to this view, should be absolutely immune, is more susceptible to certain extraneous impulses than one placed vertically in the air. To state it fairly, a slight progress has been made, but not by virtue of any particular method or device. It was achieved simply by discarding the enormous structures, which are bad enough for transmission but wholly unsuitable for reception, and adopting a more appropriate type of receiver. As I pointed out in a previous article, to dispose of this difficulty for good, a radical change must be made in the system, and the sooner this is done the better.
1900年,我在不斷改進自己的無線系統,這是一個安裝了4個天線的設備。我對天線進行了認真校準,使它們處於相同的頻率,並相互連接起來,確保從任何方向接收到的信號都能被放大。當我想確定被傳輸脈衝的來源時,每一對成對角線佈置的天線按先後次序連接,利用一個初級線圈激發檢測迴路。在前一種情況,電話中的聲音是響的,但是在第二種情況,則是沒有聲音的 — 兩個天線起到了抵消作用。但是,事實上,靜電在兩種情況下都會起作用,我必須設計具體結構體現不同的原理。通過將接收機連接到地上的兩點,這個我很早以前就提到過了,現有結構中由帶電空氣導致的嚴重問題被消除。而且,由於電路的方向性,所有干涉強度都降低了大約一半。這個道理其實非常淺顯,但是對於一些頭腦簡單的無線電從業人員還是具有一定的啟示作用的,這些人的知識僅僅局限於某些裝置形式,認為可以用斧子就能改進裝置的效果。這些人處理問題的方式有點兒混亂,還沒有殺死狗熊,就開始處理它的皮了。如果天線干擾確實產生了這些異常現象,那麼就可以用無天線接收方式消除這一問題。然而,按照這一認識,埋在地下的電線必須絕對絕緣,事實上,它對某些外部脈衝的敏感程度要比暴露在空氣中的天線更大。公平地說,還是有一點兒改進的,但是並非體現在具體方法或者裝置上。這種改進僅僅是通過對複雜結構深人認識的結果,這個結構在傳輸效果上很差,完全不適合信號接收,也不利於找到一個更合適的接收裝置。正如我前面已經提到過的,必須徹底改造,而且是越早越好。
It would be calamitous, indeed, if at this time when the art is in its infancy and the vast majority, not excepting even experts, have no conception of its ultimate possibilities, a measure would be rushed through the legislature making it a government monopoly. This was proposed a few weeks ago by Secretary Daniels, and no doubt that distinguished official has made his appeal to the Senate and House of Representatives with sincere conviction. But universal evidence unmistakably shows that the best results are always obtained in healthful commercial competition. There are, however, exceptional reasons why wireless should be given the fullest freedom of development. In the first place it offers prospects immeasurably greater and more vital to betterment of human life than any other invention or discovery in the history of man. Then again, it must be understood that this wonderful art has been, in its entirety, evolved here and can be called "American" with more right and propriety than the telephone, the incandescent lamp or the aeroplane.
的確,如果在研究的初級階段,大部分人,甚至包括專家在內,對於其最終可能還沒有明確認識的情況下,立法機構就匆忙通過決議,由政府大包大攬,將產生災難性後果。這是幾週前丹尼爾斯部長提出的建議,而且無疑這位高官已經急不可耐地向參議院和眾議院提出了議案。但是,無數事實證明,最優秀的結果都是在健康的商業競爭環境下取得的。此外,還有一些理由要求無線電技術應該給予最大的自由發展空間。首先,它比人類有史以來的任何其他發明和發現的影響都更難以估量,對人類生活品質的改善更加重要。此外,人們必須知道,這一偉大技術完全是在美國發明的,可以稱為“美國製造”,所以與電話、白熾燈泡或飛機相比,美國應該擁有更多的權利和專利。
Enterprising press agents and stock jobbers have been so successful in spreading misinformation that even so excellent a periodical as the Scientific American accords the chief credit to a foreign country. The Germans, of course, gave us the Hertz-waves and the Russian, English, French and Italian experts were quick in using them for signaling purposes. It was an obvious application of the new agent and accomplished with the old classical and unimproved induction coil - scarcely anything more than another kind of heliography. The radius of transmission was very limited, the results attained of little value, and the Hertz oscillations, as a means for conveying intelligence, could have been advantageously replaced by sound-waves, which I advocated in 1891. Moreover, all of these attempts were made three years after the basic principles of the wireless system, which is universally employed to-day, and its potent instrumentalities had been clearly described and developed in America. No trace of those Hertzian appliances and methods remains today. We have proceeded in the very opposite direction and what has been done is the product of the brains and efforts of citizens of this country. The fundamental patents have expired and the opportunities are open to all. The chief argument of the Secretary is based on interference. According to his statement, reported in the New York Herald of July 29th, signals from a powerful station can be intercepted in every village of the world . In view of this fact, which was demonstrated in my experiments of 1900, it would be of little use to impose restrictions in the United States.
富有進取心的出版商和證券交易商非常擅長利用虛假資訊的傳播,即使像《科學美國人》(Scientific American)這樣的著名雜誌也將主要功勞歸功於外國人。當然,德國人首創了赫茲波(Hertz-waves),然後俄羅斯人、英國人、法國人、義大利人很快將它應用到了信號控制上。然而,它顯然是對一種新介質的應用,是通過原有的、未經改進的感應線圈實現的,根本不是一種新型的反光通信法。其傳輸半徑十分有限,產生的價值也很小,而用於傳輸資訊的赫茲振盪技術可以用聲波替代,這樣反而更好,我在1891年就提出了這一觀點。此外,所有這些嘗試都是在無線系統基本原理提出3年以後進行的,而且可能使用的開發手段也已經在美國有了清晰的描述和研究。
但是,現在這些基於赫茲理論的應用和方法均已銷聲匿跡了。我們則沿著相反的方向前進,我們所獲得的成果是這個國家人民智慧和辛勤勞動的結晶。原始專利保護期已滿,任何人都有機會利用它進行創造發明。這位部長的主要論點是建立在干涉理論基礎上的。1900年,我所做的試驗已經證明了這一點,所以美國根本沒有必要在這方面採取任何限制。
As throwing light on this point, I may mention that only recently an odd looking gentleman called on me with the object of enlisting my services in the construction of world transmitters in some distant land. "We have no money," he said, "but carloads of solid gold and we will give you a liberal amount." I told him that I wanted to see first what will be done with my inventions in America, and this ended the interview. But I am satisfied that some dark forces are at work, and as time goes on the maintenance of continuous communication will be rendered more difficult. The only remedy is a system immune against interruption. It has been perfected, it exists, and all that is necessary is to put it in operation.
為了說明這一問題,我想給大家講一個最近發生的故事。一位面目古怪的先生拜訪了我,希望我參加在遙遠地區建設世界發射機的工作。他說:“我們沒有資金,但是我們有整車整車的黃金,我們會給你豐厚的回報。”我告訴他,我希望先完成我在美國的發明,於是會晤便戛然而止。不過,我還是很滿意,知道有一些黑暗勢力在從事類似的工作。隨著時間的推移,維持持續通訊將變得越來越困難。唯一的補救方法就是建立一個不受干擾的系統。這個系統已經存在並已經完善,現在需要做的就是將它運用於實踐之中。
The terrible conflict is still uppermost in the minds and perhaps the greatest importance will be attached to the Magnifying Transmitter as a machine for attack and defense, more particularly in connection with Telautomatics. This invention is a logical outcome of observations begun in my boyhood and continued thruout my life. When the first results were publisht the Electrical Review stated editorially that it would become one of the "most potent factors in the advance and civilization of mankind." The time is not distant when this prediction will be fulfilled. In 1898 and 1900 it was offered to the Government and might have been adopted were I one of those who would go to Alexander's shepherd when they want a favor from Alexander. At that time I really thought that it would abolish war, because of its unlimited destructiveness and exclusion of the personal element of combat. But while I have not lost faith in its potentialities, my views have changed since.
戰爭衝突仍然是人們最關心的事情,放大發射機最有可能開發為一種進攻或者防守的武器,具體來說,可能與遠端自動控制機配合使用。這個發明是一系列觀察的結果,從兒童時期我便開始思考,並貫穿了我的一生。當第一批研究成果發表以後,《電氣評論》(Electrical Review)發表的社論稱:“這是人類文明發展最強大的推動力量”。這一預言的徹底實現不會太遙遠。1898年和1900年,我向政府提出了一項很有可能被採納的建議,如果他們希望得到亞歷山大的恩惠,我可以作為志願者去尋找亞歷山大的牧羊人。
當時,我真的認為這一技術可以消滅戰爭,因為這一技術的殺傷力是毀滅性的,而且無需人的參與。不過,雖然我仍然相信它的巨大發展潛力,但是我的觀點已經發生了變化。
War can not be avoided until the physical cause for its recurrence is removed and this, in the last analysis, is the vast extent of the planet on which we live. Only thru annihilation of distance in every respect, as the conveyance of intelligence, transport of passengers and supplies and transmission of energy will conditions be brought about some day, insuring permanency of friendly relations. What we now want most is closer contact and better understanding between individuals and communities all over the earth, and the elimination of that fanatic devotion to exalted ideals of national egoism and pride which is always prone to plunge the world into primeval barbarism and strife. No league or parliamentary act of any kind will ever prevent such a calamity. These are only new devices for putting the weak at the mercy of the strong. I have exprest myself in this regard fourteen years ago, when a combination of a few leading governments - a sort of Holy Alliance - was advocated by the late Andrew Carnegie, who may be fairly considered as the father of this idea, having given to it more publicity and impetus than anybody else prior to the efforts of the President. While it can not be denied that such a pact might be of material advantage to some less fortunate peoples, it can not attain the chief object sought. Peace can only come as a natural consequence of universal enlightenment and merging of races, and we are still far from this blissful realization.
如果不能消除戰爭發生的物質原因,那戰爭就永遠是不可能避免的。從根本上來說,這是我們生存的地球大部分地區產生衝突的原因。只有消滅了各方面的分歧與隔閡,資訊傳遞、旅客運輸、能源供應與傳輸大大發展,才能確保人類之間的永久友好與和平。現在,我們急需的是促進世界各地人民和國家之間更加親密地接觸和更加深入地理解,消滅種族中心主義和民族衝突等狂熱思想,這些東西常常讓世界陷人原始野蠻和相互廝殺之中,任何同盟條約和議會法案都不可能阻止這種災難的發生。而這些新設備只能進一步將弱者置於強者的淫威之下。
早在14年前,我就闡述過這樣的觀點。當時,幾個富有影響力的國家聯合起來,建立了所謂的神聖同盟。已經去世的安德魯.卡內基(Andrew Carnegie)對此觀點的推動表現得非常積極,甚至可以被稱為這一思想之父。總統宣導這一思想,他的宣傳和推動作用超過了此前的任何一個人。無可否認,這些方面的工作對於一些弱勢民族可能十分有益,但是根本不能讓我們實現核心目標。和平只能是全世界文明發展和民族融合的自然結果,但是我們距離這一偉大理想的實現還非常遙遠,因為很少有人承認上帝仿照自己的樣子創造了人類這一事實,也就是說,全世界人民都是一樣的。事實上,雖然膚色不同,世界上的所有人民都屬於同一個種族。基督是一個人,而他又體現在所有人類當中。那麼,為什麼一部分人非要認為自己比其他人更優越呢?
As I view the world of today, in the light of the gigantic struggle we have witnest, I am filled with conviction that the interests of humanity would be best served if the United States remained true to its traditions and kept out of "entangling alliances." Situated as it is, geographically, remote from the theaters of impending conflicts, without incentive to territorial aggrandizement, with inexhaustible resources and immense population thoroly imbued with the spirit of liberty and right, this country is placed in a unique and privileged position. It is thus able to exert, independently, its colossal strength and moral force to the benefit of all, more judiciously and effectively, than as member of a league.
鑒於目前世界存在的巨大衝突,我深深相信,美國應該堅持自己的優良傳統,堅持自己聲稱的對上帝的信仰,避免“參與任何聯盟”,只有這樣才是對人類福祉的最大貢獻。由於其特有的地理優勢,美國一直遠離各種激烈衝突,無意參與領土兼併。它擁有無窮無盡的資源和具有自由權利思想的龐大人口。所以,這個國家具有獨一無二的優越性。它完全可以獨立地利用自己強大的實力和道德力量為全人類謀利,這比加入任何聯盟都更有效,也更明智。
In one of these biographical sketches, published in the ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER, I have dwelt on the circumstances of my early life and told of an affliction which compelled me to unremitting exercise of imagination and self observation. This mental activity, at first involuntary under the pressure of illness and suffering, gradually became second nature and led me finally to recognize that I was but an automaton devoid of free will in thought and action and merely responsive to the forces of the environment. Our bodies are of such complexity of structure, the motions we perform are so numerous and involved, and the external impressions on our sense organs to such a degree delicate and elusive that it is hard for the average person to grasp this fact. And yet nothing is more convincing to the trained investigator than the mechanistic theory of life which had been, in a measure, understood and propounded by Descartes three hundred years ago. But in his time many important functions of our organism were unknown and, especially with respect to the nature of light and the construction and operation of the eye, philosophers were in the dark.
在《電子實驗者》中發表的這些傳記性文章中,我一直都在回想自己的早期生活,有一種痛苦迫使我不斷想像和自我反省。這種意識活動最初是在病痛的壓力下不知不覺出現的,但是後來慢慢變成了我的第二個性,最終我意識到這是一種缺乏思想和行動的自由意志的自動行為,只是對環境作用自然而然的反應。我們的身體具有非常複雜的結構,我們有各種各樣的行動方式,外界事物對我們感官的影響非常微妙,令人難以捉摸,所以讓普通人認識這一事實是很困難的。然而,什麼東西都沒有生命機制理論(mechanistic theory of life)對訓練有素的調查者有更大的說服力,三百年前笛卡爾(Descartes)就分析並提出了這一理論的部分內容。在他生活的那個時代,我們身體的許多重要功能還不為人知,尤其是光的性質、眼球的結構和運動形式,可以說,哲學家生活在一片黑暗中。
In recent years the progress of scientific research in these fields has been such as to leave no room for a doubt in regard to this view on which many works have been published. One of its ablest and most eloquent exponents is, perhaps, Felix Le Dantec, formerly assistant of Pasteur. Prof. Jacques Loeb has performed remarkable experiments in heliotropism, clearly establishing the controlling power of light in lower forms of organisms, and his latest book, "Forced Movements," is revelatory. But while men of science accept this theory simply as any other that is recognized, to me it is a truth which I hourly demonstrate by every act and thought of mine. The consciousness of the external impression prompting me to any kind of exertion, physical or mental, is ever present in my mind. Only on very rare occasions, when I was in a state of exceptional concentration, have I found difficulty in locating the original impulses.
近年來,由於這些領域科學研究的巨大發展,針對這一認識出版了很多專著,懷疑也越來越少了。其中,菲利克斯.勒.丹泰克(Félix Le Dantec;法國生物學家)可能是最有能力和最富口才的典型代表,他原來是巴斯德(Pasteur)的助手。雅克.洛布教授(Jacques Loeb)做過了一系列著名的向日性(heliotropism)試驗,透徹地分析了低端生物體中存在的光線控制現象,他最近出版的專著《作用力下的運動》(Forced Movements)很有啟示性。雖然科學研究人士像接受其他公認理論一樣接受了這一認識,但是對於我來說,我的每一個行動和思想都無時無刻不在展示著它。對外部影響的認識導致了我身體和思維的各種活動,而且這種認識會一直出現在腦海之中。只有在非常罕見的情況下,也就是精神高度集中的時候,我才發現自己難以確定最初的動因。
The by far greater number of human beings are never aware of what is passing around and within them, and millions fall victims of disease and die prematurely just on this account. The commonest every-day occurrences appear to them mysterious and inexplicable. One may feel a sudden wave of sadness and rake his brain for an explanation when he might have noticed that it was caused by a cloud cutting off the rays of the sun. He may see the image of a friend dear to him under conditions which he construes as very peculiar, when only shortly before he has passed him in the street or seen his photograph somewhere. When he loses a collar button he fusses and swears for an hour, being unable to visualize his previous actions and locate the object directly. Deficient observation is merely a form of ignorance and responsible for the many morbid notions and foolish ideas prevailing. There is not more than one out of every ten persons who does not believe in telepathy and other psychic manifestations, spiritualism and communion with the dead, and who would refuse to listen to willing or unwilling deceivers.
絕大多數的人根本察覺不到自己外部世界和內在世界發生的事情,數以百萬計的人因此患病並永遠死去。日常生活中發生的最常見的現象,在他們看來十分神秘和難以解釋。一個人可能突然感到非常傷心,但是絞盡腦汁也想不出答案。其實,他們本該注意到,這完全是因為一片雲彩遮蔽了太陽的光輝而巳。當他剛剛在大街上遇到自己的朋友或者在某個地方看到他的照片以後,他們可能將對方非常友好的行為理解為十分奇怪的舉動。當他領口上掉了一枚紐扣,因為不能記起原來做過的事情,不能找到所需要的東西,便會大發雷霆,咬牙切齒地咒駡好半天。不善於觀察完全是無知的表現,直接導致了眾多常見的病態認識和愚蠢的想法。每十個人之中只有不到一個人不相信心靈感應和其他精神靈異現象,不相信死人的靈性和資訊傳遞,到底有誰會拒絕傾聽有意或無意的欺騙呢?【譯註:上述觀點,在特斯拉的密友 — 大作家馬克.吐溫的遺作《神祕陌生人》(Mark Twain:The Mysterious Stranger)中有充分表達。】
Just to illustrate how deeply rooted this tendency has become even among the clearheaded American population, I may mention a comical incident. Shortly before the war, when the exhibition of my turbines in this city elicited widespread comment in the technical papers, I anticipated that there would. be a scramble among manufacturers to get hold of the invention, and I had particular designs on that man from Detroit who has an uncanny faculty for accumulating millions. So confident was I that he would turn up some day, that I declared this as certain to my secretary and assistants. Sure enough, one fine morning a body of engineers from the Ford Motor Company presented themselves with the request of discussing with me an important project. "Didn't I tell you?" I remarked triumphantly to my employees, and one of them said, "You are amazing, Mr. Tesla; everything comes out exactly as you predict." As soon as these hard-headed men were seated I, of course, immediately began to extol the wonderful features of my turbine, when the spokesmen interrupted me and said, "We know all about this, but we are on a special errand. We have formed a psychological society for the investigation of psychic phenomena and we want you to join us in this undertaking." I suppose those engineers never knew how near they came to being fired out of my office.
這種思想傾向已經深深地根植在人們的腦海之中,甚至包括那些頭腦特別清醒的美國人,為此我希望通過一個喜劇性事件說明這一問題。就在戰爭爆發前,我設計的渦輪機在這座城市展出,技術性刊物發表了大量評論。我預測,很多製造商將展開一場激戰,以便獲得這項發明的使用權。為此,我專門為那位來自底特律具有出色斂財天賦的人設計了方案。我非常自信,我堅信他某一天一定會出現在我的面前,我甚至信心十足地將這一想法告訴了自己的秘書和助手。其中一個人回答道:“你簡直太神了!特斯拉先生。你預測的事情都無一例外地變成了現實。”果不其然,一個晴朗的早晨,福特汽車公司的一群工程師出現在我眼前,要求與我協商一個重要專案。“我說的沒錯吧?”我很得意地告訴自己的員工。
當然,這些頭腦冷靜的人落座以後,我一刻沒有耽誤,大力稱讚起我發明的渦輪機的出色性能。不過,一位代表打斷我的介紹說:“這些我們都知道了,我們這次來有另外一個特殊目的。我們組建了一個心理學研究會,專門研究意識現象,我們希望你能參加這個組織。”我想,這些工程師們永遠不會知道,我當時差點兒馬上把他們趕出我的辦公室。
Ever since I was told by some of the greatest men of the time, leaders in science whose names are immortal, that I am possesst of an unusual mind, I bent all my thinking faculties on the solution of great problems regardless of sacrifice. For many years I endeavored to solve the enigma of death, and watched eagerly for every kind of spiritual indication. But only once in the course of my existence have I had an experience which momentarily impressed me as supernatural. It was at the time of my mother's death. I had become completely exhausted by pain and long vigilance, and one night was carried to a building about two blocks from our home. As I lay helpless there, I thought that if my mother died while I was away from her bedside she would surely give me a sign. Two or three months before I was in London in company with my late friend, Sir William Crookes, when spiritualism was discussed, and I was under the full sway of these thoughts. I might not have paid attention to other men, but was susceptible to his arguments as it was his epochal work on radiant matter, which I had read as a student, that made me embrace the electrical career. I reflected that the conditions for a look into the beyond were most favorable, for my mother was a woman of genius and particularly excelling in the powers of intuition. During the whole night every fiber in my brain was strained in expectancy, but nothing happened until early in the morning, when I fell in a sleep, or perhaps a swoon, and saw a cloud carrying angelic figures of marvelous beauty, one of whom gazed upon me lovingly and gradually assumed the features of my mother. The appearance slowly floated across the room and vanished, and I was awakened by an indescribably sweet song of many voices. In that instant a certitude, which no words can express, came upon me that my mother had just died. And that was true. I was unable to understand the tremendous weight of the painful knowledge I received in advance, and wrote a letter to Sir William Crookes while still under the domination of these impressions and in poor bodily health. When I recovered I sought for a long time the external cause of this strange manifestation and, to my great relief, I succeeded after many months of fruitless effort. I had seen the painting of a celebrated artist, representing allegorically one of the seasons in the form of a cloud with a group of angels which seemed to actually float in the air, and this had struck me forcefully. It was exactly the same that appeared in my dream, with the exception of my mother's likeness. The music came from the choir in the church nearby at the early mass of Easter morning, explaining everything satisfactorily in conformity with scientific facts.
以前,一些當代最偉大的科學家和創造了不朽成就的學科領袖們告訴我,我擁有一顆不同尋常的腦袋。從那時起,我就不顧一切地投人了研究工作,試圖破解最複雜的問題。多年以來,我一直孜孜不倦地工作,試圖破解死亡之謎,並時刻密切關注任何思想靈異現象。但是,有生以來,我只有一次短暫地經歷了超自然事件。這件事發生在我母親去世時。
因為過度悲痛和失眠的折磨,我徹底垮掉了。一天晚上,我被送進離我家兩個街區遠的建築中。當我無助地躺在那裡時,我想如果我不在母親床邊時她去世了,她一定會給我一個提示。兩三個月以前,我和我的朋友威廉.克魯克斯(William Crookes)正在倫敦。當時,我們正在討論唯靈論(spiritualism),而且對有關說法深信不疑。本來,我不會特別關注任何人,但是特別容易受他的影響,因為學生時期閱讀過他寫的有關放射性物質的不朽著作,我才從事了電力研究事業。我想,此時是進行幻想的最佳時間,因為我的母親是一位天才,尤其是她的知覺能力,非常罕見。整個晚上,我大腦的每一個細胞都活躍起來,希望能得到某種啟示。結果,直到第二天早晨什麼都沒有發生。然後,我昏昏沉沉地睡去,或者也有可能是昏迷過去了。我看到一片雲彩載著一群美豔絕倫的天使,其中一個很慈愛地望著我,然後慢慢地轉變成了我母親的形象。一會兒,她慢慢飄過房間,消失了。在一陣甜美得令人難以置信的歌聲中,我醒了過來。刹那間,我意識到母親去世了,這種感覺是無法用言語來表達的。後來發現,事實的確如此。對於這一預感帶來的巨大痛苦我是無法確切表達的,在這些情緒的重壓之下和糟糕的健康狀況之中,我給威廉.克魯克斯先生寫了一封信。當我身體恢復健康以後,我用了很長時間來分析造成這種奇怪精神狀態的外在原因。讓我感到欣慰的是,經過好多個月毫無結果的努力之後,我終於成功了。
我曾經看到過一位著名畫家的作品,描繪的是在一個特定的季節裡,一片雲彩載著一群天使。那片雲就像真的在空中漂浮著一樣,給我留下了極為深刻的印象。這個畫面和我夢中看到的完全一致,只是沒有我母親的形象罷了。當時,在附近一座教堂中,清晨參加復活節祈禱活動的人們合唱的歌聲清晰地撞擊著我的耳膜,以完全符合科學道理的形式完美地解釋了所有問題。
This occurred long ago, and I have never had the faintest reason since to change my views on psychical and spiritual phenomena, for which there is absolutely no foundation. The belief in these is the natural outgrowth of intellectual development. Religious dogmas are no longer accepted in their orthodox meaning, but every individual clings to faith in a supreme power of some kind. We all must have an ideal to govern our conduct and insure contentment, but it is immaterial whether it be one of creed, art, science or anything else, so long as it fulfills the function of a dematerializing force. It is essential to the peacef ul existence of humanity as a whole that one common conception should prevail.
While I have failed to obtain any evidence in support of the contentions of psychologists and spiritualists, I have proved to my complete satisfaction the automatism of life, not only through continuous observations of individual actions, but even more conclusively through certain generalizations. These amount to a discovery which I consider of the greatest moment to human society, and on which I shall briefly dwell.
這是很久以前的事了。從那以後,我再也沒有懷疑過靈異理論和靈異精神現象,雖然我沒有什麼確切的根據。這種信念是智慧發展的自然結果。人們對宗教教義的理解不再僅僅局限於其經典解釋,每一個人都相信某種極高形式的無比強大的力量。
我們每個人都必須擁有一個理想,這樣才能控制自己的行為,獲得內心的滿足感。但是,它必須是非物質形式的,例如某種宗教、藝術、科學或者其他什麼東西,只要能具有一種非物質力量的功能即可。讓全人類擁有一個共同的信念,對世界和平具有至關重要的作用。雖然我沒有任何證據支持心理學家和唯靈論學家的思想,但是我巳經以自己非常滿意的方式證明了生命的無意識自動性(satisfaction the automatism of life)。這不僅得益於我對人們行為持續不斷的觀察,甚至更多的是來源於某些歸納概括。我認為這一發現對整個人類社會具有非常重要的價值,下面我將簡要介紹一下。
I got the first inkling of this astounding truth when I was still a very young man, but for many years I interpreted what I noted simply as coincidences. Namely, whenever either myself or a person to whom I was attached, or a cause to which I was devoted, was hurt by others in a particular way, which might be best popularly characterized as the most unfair imaginable, I experienced a singular and undefinable pain which, for want of a better term, I have qualified as "cosmic," and shortly thereafter, and invariably, those who had inflicted it came to grief. After many such cases I confided this to a number of friends, who had the opportunity to convince themselves of the truth of the theory which I have gradually formulated and which may be stated in the following few words:
Our bodies are of similar construction and exposed to the same external influences. This results in likeness of response and concordance of the general activities on which all our social and other rules and laws are based. We are automata entirely controlled by the forces of the medium being tossed about like corks on the surface of the water, but mistaking the resultant of the impulses from the outside for free will. The movements and other actions we perform are always life preservative and tho seemingly quite independent from one another, we are connected by invisible links. So long as the organism is in perfect order it responds accurately to the agents that prompt it, but the moment that there is some derangement in any individual, his self-preservative power is impaired.
第一次知道這個令人驚訝的真理時,我還非常年輕,所以很多年我都把這些現象歸結為巧合。也就是說,每當我或者一個與我有關係的人,以及一個我所從事的事業被其他人以某種方式傷害或破壞時,人們常常將這種情況看成最不公平的事情,我就會經歷一種難以名狀的痛苦。為此,我為這種經歷尋找了一個很合適的詞 — 宇宙(cosmic)。不久,無一例外地,那些製造傷害或破壞的人都遭到了失敗。經過了很多這樣的事情之後,我把自己的這一發現告訴了一些朋友,使他們有機會相信我形成的一套理論。這套理論可以簡單表述如下:我們的身體結構都是類似的,並且處於相同的外部環境作用之下。於是,我們便會做出類似的反應,出現總體活動的一致性。在此基礎之上,才形成了我們所有的社會規則和法律。我們都是由媒介力量完全控制的無意識自動結構,就像被隨意丟棄在水面上的軟木塞一樣,常常將外部作用的影響當成自由意志的結果。我們的運動和其他行動都是為了維持生命的正常運轉,雖然表面上看似一個人與另外一個人不同,實際上我們是由一些看不見的鏈條聯繫起來的。只要機體處於非常良好的狀態,它就會準確地對剌激性媒介做出反應。當一個人出現某種精神錯亂時,他的自我保護能力就遭到了破壞。
Everybody understands, of course, that if one becomes deaf, has his eyesight weakened, or his limbs injured, the chances for his continued existence are lessened. But this is also true, and perhaps more so, of certain defects in the brain which deprive the automaton, more or less, of that vital quality and cause it to rush into destruction. A very sensitive and observant being, with his highly developed mechanism all intact, and acting with precision in obedience to the changing conditions of the environment, is endowed with a transcending mechanical sense, enabling him to evade perils too subtle to be directly perceived. When he comes in contact with others whose controlling organs are radically faulty, that sense asserts itself and he feels the "cosmic" pain. The truth of this has been borne out in hundreds of instances and I am inviting other students of nature to devote attention to this subject, believing that thru combined and systematic effort results of incalculable value to the world will be attained. The idea of constructing an automaton, to bear out my theory, presented itself to me early but I did not begin active work until 1893, when I started my wireless investigations. During the succeeding two or three years a number of automatic mechanisms, to be actuated from a distance, were constructed by me and exhibited to visitors in my laboratory. In 1896, however, I designed a complete machine capable of a multitude of operations, but the consummation of my labors was delayed until late in 1897.
當然,每個人都知道,如果一個人失聰、失明,或者肢體受到損傷,他的生命將會縮短。但是,還有一個事實,或者說是一個真理,由於驅動無意識自動反應的大腦出現了某些缺陷,就會加速生命的完結。一個感覺非常敏銳,非常富有觀察力的人,他髙度發育的機能完好無損,並精確按照環境變化行動,就會擁有極高品質的機械感知能力,就有能力躲避那些無法直接感知的危險。如果他與那些控制器官存在嚴重缺陷的人接觸,這種感覺就會開始作用,他就會感知到那種“宇宙性”的痛苦。
這一真理已經被無數事實所驗證,我也建議其他從事自然學研究的學生關注這一課題。我認為,通過聯合系統的努力,我們必將獲得一個極其偉大的發現,它對整個世界的巨大價值是難以估量的。為了證明我的理論,我產生了建造自動機的想法。這個想法產生的時間很早,但是直到1893年開始從事無線電研究時,我才開始做了一些有益的嘗試。在以後的兩到三年間,我建造了許多遙控啟動的自動機械,並在我的實驗室中展出,供人們參觀。然而,到了1896年,我設計了一台能夠執行多種操作的機械,但是改進工作一直持續到1897年末。
This machine was illustrated and described in my article in the Century Magazine of June, 1900, and other periodicals of that time and, when first shown in the beginning of 1898, it created a sensation such as no other invention of mine has ever produced. In November, 1898, a basic patent on the novel art was granted to me, but only after the Examiner-in-Chief had come to New York and witnesst the performance, for what I claimed seemed unbelievable. I remember that when later I called on an official in Washington, with a view of offering the invention to the Government, he burst out in laughter upon my telling him what I had accomplished. Nobody thought then that there was the faintest prospect of perfecting such a device. It is unfortunate that in this patent, following the advice of my attorneys, I indicated the control as being effected thru the medium of a single circuit and a well-known form of detector, for the reason that I had not yet secured protection on my methods and apparatus for individualization. As a matter of fact, my boats were controlled thru the joint action of several circuits and interference of every kind was excluded. Most generally I employed receiving circuits in the form of loops, including condensers, because the discharges of my high-tension transmitter ionized the air in the hall so that even a very small aerial would draw electricity from the surrounding atmosphere for hours. Just to give an idea, I found, for instance, that a bulb 12" in diameter, highly exhausted, and with one single terminal to which a short wire was attached, would deliver well on to one thousand successive flashes before all charge of the air in the laboratory was neutralized. The loop form of receiver was not sensitive to such a disturbance and it is curious to note that it is becoming popular at this late date. In reality it collects much less energy than the aerials or a long grounded wire, but it so happens that it does away with a number of defects inherent to the present wireless devices. In demonstrating my invention before audiences, the visitors were requested to ask any questions, however involved, and the automaton would answer them by signs. This was considered magic at that time but was extremely simple, for it was myself who gave the replies by means of the device.
這是特斯拉在1998年所公開展示的自動控制船隻(telautomatic boat)的描述圖。
(資料來源:Science Travler)
1900年6月,我在《世紀雜誌》上發表的文章對這一裝置的結構進行了展示和說明。此外,這篇文章也被其他媒體轉載,當它在1898年春第一次公佈時,引起了巨大轟動,這是我其他任何發明所從未遇到過的。1898年11月,我在這一裝置中使用的新技術被授予基本專利,不過這是在總審查官來到紐約,並親眼目睹了似乎不可能的效果之後才實現的。我還記得,後來當我拜訪華盛頓的一位官員,希望將我的發明轉讓給政府時,對方聽了我介紹以後竟然哈哈大笑起來,認為簡直是天方夜譚。當時,根本沒有人相信可以發明這樣一種裝置。不幸的是,在這個裝置的專利申請中,根據律師的建議,我表示它的控制功能是通過單獨的電路和非常普通的檢測器實現的。因此,我一直未能保護自己的設計方法和構造方式。事實上,我的船隻是通過幾個電路的共同作用控制的,而且排除了任何形式的干擾。
最具有普遍意義的是,我使用了環路接收電路,包括電容器也是如此,因為我使用的髙電壓發射器電離了實驗室的空氣,所以即使一個非常小的天線也可以連續數小時從周圍的空氣中吸收電量。舉例來說,我發現,一個用了很長時間的12英寸的電燈泡,如果只有一個終端並且將它連接了一根很短的電線,會連續閃爍一千多次,才會將實驗室中電離的空氣電量全部耗盡。環狀接收器對這種干擾不是很敏感,不過現在人們已經廣泛接受了,這倒是一件有趣的事情。事實上,它接受的能量遠遠低於天線或者一根長接地線,不過它確實可以消除現有無線電設備中的眾多缺陷。
為了向觀眾展示我的裝置,我們要求參觀者提出各種各樣的問題,這個自動裝置就會通過信號進行回答。在當時的人們看來,這是一件非常神奇的事情。其實,這一現象極為簡單,只不過是我利用這一裝置在回答他們的問題罷了。
At the same period another larger telautomatic boat was constructed a photograph of which is shown in this number of the ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER. It was controlled by loops, having several turns placed in the hull, which was made entirely water-tight and capable of submergence. The apparatus was similar to that used in the first with the exception of certain special features I introduced as, for example, incandescent lamps which afforded a visible evidence of the proper functioning of the machine.
These automata, controlled within the range of vision of the operator, were, however, the first and rather crude steps in the evolution of the Art of Telautomatics as I had conceived it. The next logical improvement was its application to automatic mechanisms beyond the limits of vision and at great distance from the center of control, and I have ever since advocated their employment as instruments of warfare in preference to guns. The importance of this now seems to be recognized, if I am to judge from casual announcements thru the press of achievements which are said to be extraordinary but contain no merit of novelty, whatever. In an imperfect manner it is practicable, with the existing wireless plants, to launch an aeroplane, have it follow a certain approximate course, and perform some operation at a distance of many hundreds of miles. A machine of this kind can also be mechanically controlled in several ways and I have no doubt that it may prove of some usefulness in war. But there are, to my best knowledge, no instrumentalities in existence today with which such an object could be accomplished in a precise manner. I have devoted years of study to this matter and have evolved means, making such and greater wonders easily realizable.
這是特斯拉的自動控制船隻(telautomatic boat)的其船隻原型照片(左圖)
與內部構造模型照片(右圖)。(資料來源:Science Travler)
同一時期,我建造了另外一艘規格更高的遙控船,1919年10月,《電學實驗者》(the E-lectrical Experimenter) 刊登了它的一幅照片。這艘船是由線圈控制的,船體中繞了幾圈電線。這裡是完全不透水的,所以可以放入水中。這個裝置與第一個非常相似,只是有少數特別之處,例如我使用了白熾燈,這樣人們就能觀察到裝置的運轉情況。這個自動裝置由操作者在視線所及的範圍內控制,實際上是我構想的遠端自動機相當粗糙的雛形。
下一步的改進目標就是將它的活動範圍擴展到人們的視野範圍之外,它到控制中心的距離將變得很大。從設計之初,我就希望將它開發成一種武器,使它代替槍炮。從媒體隨意發表的評論來判斷,例如,有報導說這是一項非常特別的發明,但是毫無新意,等等,我知道其實人們已經開始關注它了。雖然它還不是很完美,但是確實具有實際用途。利用現有的無線設施可以控制飛機起飛,讓它沿著一個大體的方向運動,並在數百英里以外執行某些任務,等等。還可以通過幾種不同的機械方式控制這一裝置。我堅信,它在戰爭中將大有用武之地。但是,據我所知,目前的技術還不能實現非常精確的控制。我對此進行了多年研究,提出了一些方法,可以輕而易舉地製造這一裝置和更加先進的設備。
As stated on a previous occasion, when I was a student at college I conceived a flying machine quite unlike the present ones. The underlying principle was sound but could not be carried into practice for want of a prime-mover of sufficiently great activity. In recent years I have successfully solved this problem and am now planning aerial machines devoid of sustaining planes, ailerons, propellers and other external attachments, which will be capable of immense speeds and are very likely to furnish powerful arguments for peace in the near future. Such a machine, sustained and propelled entirely by reaction, is shown on page 108 and is supposed to be controlled either mechanically or by wireless energy. By installing proper plants it will be practicable to project a missile of this kind into the air and drop it almost on the very spot designated, which may be thousands of miles away. But we are not going to stop at this. Telautomata will be ultimately produced, capable of acting as if possest of their own intelligence, and their advent will create a revolution. As early as 1898 I proposed to representatives of a large manufacturing concern the construction and public exhibition of an automobile carriage which, left to itself, would perform a great variety of operations involving something akin to judgment. But my proposal was deemed chimerical at that time and nothing came from it.
前面我已經提到,當我還是一個大學生時,我曾經構想了一種飛行裝置,與現有飛機差異很大。其基本原理很好,但是因為缺少一種極大功率的發動機而未能實現。近年來,我已經成功地解決了這一問題,我正在設計一種“沒有機翼,沒有副翼,沒有螺旋槳,沒有其他外部裝置的飛機”。它的飛行速度極高,很有可能在不久的將來為人類和平做出巨大的貢獻。這種飛機“完全通過反作用”實現續航和驅動,我曾經在自己的一份報告中進行了展示,使其既可以通過機械方式又可以通過無線方式來控制。在安裝一定的裝置之後,它就可以“將這種導彈發射到空中,然後非常精確地擊中預定目標”,而這個目標可以在數千英里之外。
不過,我們的開發工作不會就此止步。遠端自動機的開發潛力是巨大的,它們可以具備智慧性,它們的出現將引發一場新的革命。早在1898年,我就曾建議一個大型製造企業的代表建造一種自動運載裝置。它可以自行進行大量操作,包括類似判斷的動作,等等。但是,他們認為我的想法過於荒誕,所以根本沒有採取行動。
At present many of the ablest minds are trying to devise expedients for preventing a repetition of the awful conflict which is only theoretically ended and the duration and main issues of which I have correctly predicted in an article printed in the Sun of December 20, 1914. The proposed League is not a remedy but on the contrary, in the opinion of a number of competent men, may bring about results just the opposite. It is particularly regrettable that a punitive policy was adopted in framing the terms of peace, because a few years hence it will be possible for nations to fight without armies, ships or guns, by weapons far more terrible, to the destructive action and range of which there is virtually no limit. A city, at any distance whatsoever from the enemy, can be destroyed by him and no power on earth can stop him from doing so. If we want to avert an impending calamity and a state of things which may transform this globe into an inferno, we should push the development of flying machines and wireless transmission of energy without an instant's delay and with all the power and resources of the nation.
現在,很多非常聰明的人正試圖阻止理論上本該結束的可怕衝突的再次上演。其實,早在1914年12月我在《太陽報》(the Sun)上發表的一篇文章已經對這些過程和主要問題進行了正確預測。正在討論中的國際聯盟並不是一個真正有效的組織,而在很多聰明人士看來,結果很有可能適得其反。
令人感到特別悲哀的是,在確定和平條款時採用了一種懲罰性政策。我之所以說悲哀,是因為過不了幾年,國家之間可能根本不用軍隊、軍艦、槍炮,而是用更加可怕與毀滅性的、殺傷範圍幾乎是無限的武器作戰。敵人可以在遠處摧毀任何一座城市,而且世界上根本沒有什麼力量可以阻止他這麼做。如果我們希望避免這一災難,避免將地球變成地獄這樣的悲劇發生,我們就應該馬不停蹄地、動用全國所有的人力和資源開發飛行機械和無線能量傳輸。
(全文結束)
原文資料來源:http://www.institutotesla.org/NikolaTesla-MyInventions.html
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