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Nikola Tesla Personality

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Nikola Tesla was an innovative intellectual of the Gilded Age whose ideas were far ahead of his time. The modern world would be nothing like it is today without Tesla’s insights. He revolutionized the scientific community and the world’s knowledge of electric current, but there were plenty of other interesting facets of his life and career. He was much more than an engineer, and unfortunately, many of his peers underestimated him on account of his quirkiness and battle with mental illness.
Tesla was born in Croatia in 1856. Even the day of his birth foreshadowed the greatness that would result from his life. Tesla was born during a strong storm and the midwife declared “he will be a child of the storm,” (“The Extraordinary Life”). From a very …show more content…

He indeed suffered mental illness and developed numerous phobias over his lifetime. Some of his fears can be logically attributed to traumatic events in his life like his fear of germs. His near death experience with cholera as a teen traces to the fact that he “practiced very strict hygiene,” (“The Extraordinary Life”). Others, such as his phobia of pearls, have no known explanation. That specific fear crippled him to the point that “he refused to speak to women wearing them,” (“8 Things”). He was known to fixate on his appearance and strictly held the belief that “in order to be successful, one needed to look successful,” (“8 Things), which may go along with his obsession over pearls. He had a strange obsession with pigeons and spent an oddly large portion of his daily life “feeding—and, he claimed, communicating with—the city’s pigeons,” (“Nikola Tesla”), while living in New York. The history books most often portray him as an isolated person who dedicated his entire life to science, but this simply is not the entire story. Surprisingly, he was quite the socialite. In his personal life he was acknowledged as having “a terrific sense of humor,” (“8 Things”). He was good friends with Mark Twain, whom he photographed “in one of the first pictures ever lit by phosphorescent light,” (“Nikola Tesla”). Mark Twain is said to have visited Tesla often and even participated in tests for some of Tesla’s inventions. Tesla even threw elaborate parties and knew “ many of the most famous people of his day,” (“The Extraordinary Life”). Tesla’s life and legacy had just as many high points as it did low points. He was a genius trapped by mental illness but human

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