The following is a poem by Nikola Tesla, followed by commentary which suggests that Tesla gave credit to Archimedes for the discovery of E=mc². Dr Velimir Abramović is one of the leading Tesla biographers in the world. In Dr. Abramović's opinion, Tesla gives credit to Archimedes with the discovery of E=mc² within his interpretation of the poem.
Fragments of Olympian Gossip
Poem By Nicola Tesla
While listening on my cosmic phone
I caught words from the Olympus blown.
A newcomer was shown around;
That much I could guess, aided by sound.
“There’s Archimedes with his lever
Still busy on problems as ever.
Says: matter and force are transmutable
And wrong the laws you thought immutable.”
“Below, on Earth, they work at full blast
And news are coming in thick and fast.
The latest tells of a cosmic gun.
To be pelted is very poor fun.
We are wary with so much at stake,
Those beggars are a pest—no mistake.”
“Too bad, Sir Isaac, they dimmed your renown
And turned your great science upside down.
Now a long haired crank, Einstein by name,
Puts on your high teaching all the blame.
Says: matter and force are transmutable
And wrong the laws you thought immutable.”
“I am much too ignorant, my son,
For grasping schemes so finely spun.
My followers are of stronger mind
And I am content to stay behind,
Perhaps I failed, but I did my best,
These masters of mine may do the rest.
Come, Kelvin, I have finished my cup.
When is your friend Tesla coming up.”
“Oh, quoth Kelvin, he is always late,
It would be useless to remonstrate.”
Then silence—shuffle of soft slippered feet—
I knock and—the bedlam of the street."
According to Dr Velimir Abramović, this poem has deeper, less obvious meaning than most might assume. Archimedes thought that lever has mystical properties.a) With a bigger lever equal weight is easier to hoist than hoisting with smaller one, which is illogical.
By using this method, it is easier to hoist bigger weight load than smaller lever, because a bigger lever with a load weighs more than smaller lever with equal load.b) By changing the length of lever’s leg, material load turns to space and conversely, because of the effect of the lever is measured by product (multiplying) of lever’s length and load; momentum of length = weight X leg ; (force X space)
In this poem, Tesla, who, like all scientist appreciated Archimedes; gives us his view that Newton was wrong considering the mass (by Newton amount of matter in some (volume) and force (cause of the state change) are two separated categories, while Archimedes knew it was not the case. (mystical properties of lever b) So, according to Tesla, Archimedes has essential credits for E=mc² not Einstein, who is knocking on the open door.In Newton’s reply, Tesla alludes on Newton’s (rumored) distractions near the end of his life, which sometimes were dramatic.