Nikola Tesla monument

I gave a talk at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, today. It was on my Van de Graaff research. It went very well and I met some fabulous fellow Science & Technology Studies students from MIT, Cornell, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute including one older student like myself who had, as a professor during his undergraduate days, William Buechner - a friend and colleague of Robert J. Van de Graaff! We chatted and swapped business cards so we can follow up.

On the way home, Iris (my YorkU STS colleague who came down with me to also give a talk) had never seen Niagara Falls (she's an PhD exchange student from China) so we stopped there for half an hour so she could have a look and take some photos. I did, too, and snapped a few photos of the Nikola Tesla monument by the Falls (Canadian side). My wife and I attended the unveiling a several years ago. Tesla's grandnephew was there and gave a speech. I was going to post a shot of the partly-frozen Falls but the lighting was crappy due to the lateness of the hour and the overcast skies. So, instead, I got Tesla which is rather fitting. Tesla was, like Van de Graaff, a high-voltage scientist. Also, Tesla reviewed Van de Graaff's massive generator (which is now in the Museum of Science in Boston). Additionally, Van de Graaff's partner and friend, John Trump (The Donald's uncle) was the scientist charged with reviewing Tesla's papers after his death to see if there was anything of use to America's WWII technologies. Sadly, there was not.

So, it a roundabout way, Tesla is standing in to represent my talk about Van de Graaff and my visit to Niagara Falls. Oh, and Tesla was the guy who set up the generators at Niagara Falls in the late 19th century thus giving birth to alternating current generation and distribution and, thus, the Electric Age.