The Things Nikola Tesla Got Wrong During His Career

Physicist. Mechanical engineer. Inventor. Was there anything Nikola Tesla didn’t achieve during his time? It seems not. The legend made a name for himself thanks to his work on alternating currents. Still, it seems things might not have gone entirely to plan throughout Tesla’s career.

That’s right; just because he was a legend of his time - and his work has lived on in the decades since his passing - doesn’t mean he was always on the right lines. In fact, the things Nikola Tesla got wrong during his career might be just as memorable and phenomenal as the things he achieved.

Nikola Tesla didn’t agree with Albert Einstein

There’s a good chance experts in fields will always disagree with one another. However, Nikola Tesla disagreeing with Albert Einstein was one of the many things he got wrong during his career. Einstein was the one behind the theory of relativity, but Tesla claimed to believe it was for “ignorant people.” To top it off, Tesla added that “space cannot be curved” - something that’s been proven in the years since. In fact, there’s evidence that large objects and galaxies can warp space-time, and has been proven with telescopic images. 

He believed he had measured speeds faster than light

It turns out Nikola Tesla did have his reasons for not believing Albert Einstein. The biggest thing was the fact Tesla thought he had measured something that was faster than the speed of light. That moment came when he measured a cosmic ray from the brightest star found in the Scorpio constellation, Antares. Tesla believed it came in 50x faster than the top speed limit of the universe, something which can’t happen.

Nikola Tesla thought it was impossible to split an atom

All of his work with electricity meant Nikola Tesla knew a thing or two about how the world works. Still, he didn’t think it was possible to split an atom, something that has been done in the years since his career. He called one of his “best inventions” the thing that helped disintegrate atoms, but that splitting them was entirely out of the question. 

He didn’t think electrons were necessarily real

Another thing that’s surprised many in recent years is how Nikola Tesla didn’t think electrons were necessarily real. That’s right; he thought that atoms were the smallest things in the universe and that electrons could only potentially exist in a perfect vacuum. So where did electric currency come from, according to Tesla? That would be the “aether” or “ether.” 

Nikola Tesla was once in love with a pigeon

Okay, it might not be something that Nikola Tesla got wrong during his career, but many people have no idea that he was once in love with a pigeon. His final years were a little odd to many people and included a pigeon who would visit him almost every day. Tesla apparently said that he “loved that pigeon as a man loves a woman,” adding, “she loved me.” According to Tesla, having the pigeon by his side meant “there was a purpose to my life.”

The things Nikola Tesla got wrong during his career might not be entirely his fault, as things have come a long way in recent years. Still, many have no idea just how confident the inventor was with some of his views - and how they would later be proven to be wrong.