Did Nikola Tesla consider Einstein Relatity Universe theory fairytales not up to par with Galilean relativity?

Answer 1

Tesla was critical of Einstein's relativity work, calling it:

“ ...[a] magnificent mathematical garb which fascinates, dazzles and makes people blind to the underlying errors. The theory is like a beggar clothed in purple whom ignorant people take for a king..., its exponents are brilliant men but they are metaphysicists rather than scientists...[44] ”

Tesla also argued:

“ I hold that space cannot be curved, for the simple reason that it can have no properties. It might as well be said that God has properties. He has not, but only attributes and these are of our own making. Of properties we can only speak when dealing with matter filling the space. To say that in the presence of large bodies space becomes curved is equivalent to stating that something can act upon nothing. I, for one, refuse to subscribe to such a view.[45] ”

Tesla, also believed that much of Albert Einstein's relativity theory had already been proposed by Ruđer Bošković, stating in an unpublished interview:

“ ...the relativity theory, by the way, is much older than its present proponents. It was advanced over 200 years ago by my illustrious countryman Ruđer Bošković, the great philosopher, who, not withstanding other and multifold obligations, wrote a thousand volumes of excellent literature on a vast variety of subjects. Bošković dealt with relativity, including the so-called time-space continuum...'.[46]

Answer 2

Nikola Tesla was an interesting Kook, born into an age in which the nature of science was changing too rapidly for him to be able to keep up.

He built some wonderful whangadoodles and some fantastic wooden towers, but his understanding of physical reality was crude by comparison to the knowledge of the sciences by the time he finished his education.

That may have something to do with why so few of his ideas worked. Ya' think?

Nonetheless, he was an interesting guy. And he did critique Einstein's theories on a few occasions, but I am sorry to say he did so out of ignorance. He simply did not possess the basic knowledge to understand what the Modern Physicists are talking about when they speak of the curvature of space and other problem areas that face modern physics.

Galileo, of course, did his work long before there was any thought of relativistic thinking. Galileo based his views on classical mechanics, and in his time there simply did not exist the scientific knowledge base from which to theorize such things as the relationship of light to gravity, magnetism to light, the exchange between matter and energy, or the curvature of space.

Sorry...

Answer 3

I am not aware of any comments, either disagreement or agreement, about Einstein or his theories made by Tesla.

Answer 4

I'm pretty sure he didn't believe in relativity and instead substituted his own system.... although no one really has any record of what that was. I remember seeing this somewhere on wikipedia.