Tesla

00:00:40 NARRATOR: In 1891, a Serbian scientist

00:02:55 who had begun to transform the fabric of American society

00:05:21 the celebrated inventor would be grateful for.

00:07:42 "He'll be a child of the storm," the midwife said.

00:09:54 in an extraordinary feat of mind control,

00:12:02 "but he certainly never will do this."

00:14:23 He eliminated the mechanical parts

00:16:22 in his own company, presumably with the help

00:18:29 But when he described his AC motor to his boss,

00:20:52 They made him their partner and rented him a laboratory

00:23:09 and his company was overextended.

00:25:14 "Here is a simple glass tube," he told his astonished audience.

00:27:22 I've done things like that, and it hurts like hell.

00:29:58 The contract to harness Niagara Falls

00:32:13 NARRATOR: 37 years old, Tesla devoted his prodigious energies

00:34:20 In 1899, Tesla headed west.

00:36:24 it can go miles and light a bulb.

00:38:25 That same year,

00:40:41 NARRATOR: But J.P. Morgan, the most powerful financier in America,

00:42:38 So Tesla is in a very bad place.

00:44:56 why he even thought that was possible.

00:47:36 They are visions, they take full flight,

00:50:16 his fluorescent lights never marketed,

00:53:33 Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org