Here's How Nikola Tesla's Childhood Cat Started His Fascination With Electricity
By age 56, Nikola Tesla, a physicist, engineer, and inventor, had lived as a recluse. Nursing his pride from the recent commercial failure of his Wardenclyffe Tower, the prolific inventor withdrew from the "blind, faint-hearted, doubting world!"
According to the Smithsonian Magazine, Tesla showed signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder. "He became consumed with cleanliness and fixated on the number three: excessively washing his hands, counting his steps, staying only in hotel rooms with numbers divisible by three, and setting 18 napkins on his table during meals."
Apart from his aversion to women's accessories, particularly pearls, the eccentric father of alternating current claimed to have an increased sensitivity to sounds and an acute sense of sight. Most intriguing of all, Tesla preferred the company of pigeons over people.
It wasn't unusual for the great scientist to be spotted at Bryant Park surrounded by pigeons he regularly fed with a mix specially prepared at his request by the chef at the Hotel New Yorker. He was also known to bring injured pigeons he found on his walks back to his hotel room to nurse them back to health.
There was one particular white pigeon that seemed to have captured the heart of the genius. He wrote "I loved that pigeon as a man loves a woman, and she loved me. As long as I had her, there was a purpose to my life."
The pigeon flew into his hotel room, and Tesla believed she did so to tell him she was dying. After seeing two powerful beams of light from the pigeon's eyes, she died in Tesla's arms, and he said that was the moment he knew his life's work was finished.
Long before the infamous pigeon, Tesla also had a childhood cat that played a significant role in his life and career.
A Story of Youth Told by Age, Nikola Tesla | PBSIn a letter to Miss Pola Fotitch in 1939, as illustrated for the PBS website, Tesla spoke of his cat Macak. Tesla was 83 when he wrote the letter, just three years before his death.
Time Magazine, 1931 | Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsIn the letter, Macak was introduced to us as Tesla's "fountain of enjoyment" and "the finest of all cats in the world."
Dickenson V. Alley | Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsTesla said Macak followed him around in his desire to protect him from perceived danger. No human or animal dared cross them when Macak rose to his full height to protect little Tesla from those who would hurt him.
Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsTesla recalled the happy memories of him and Macak rolling on the grass, clawing and purring at each other in "delirious delight." This was their favorite activity every day but refrained from doing it when it rained.
Scewing | Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsHe said his cat avoided any form of water and would jump six feet into the air to avoid getting his paws wet. Next, he told Pola of the typically dry weather in their area during winter. The infrequent warm wind that melted the snow and caused flooding in their locale was still etched in his mind nearly 80 years later.
Tumblr: CAT-GIFIn one of the driest winters he had experienced in his youth, as Tesla stroked Macak's back, something happened that he would never forget.
He wrote "In the dusk of the evening, as I stroked Macak's back, I saw a miracle that made me speechless with amazement. Macak's back was a sheet of light, and my hand produced a shower of sparks loud enough to be heard all over the house."
Tumblr: CAT-GIF
Even his father, who usually had an answer for everything, was dumbfounded. His father said, "This is nothing but electricity, the same thing you see through the trees in a storm." His mother, although charmed by Macak, urged Tesla to stop playing with the cat lest they start a fire.
PBS | llustrations by Radomir Perica
Tesla was struck by the phenomenon and wondered if the universe was a gigantic cat whose back was stroked by God.
Tesla further said he also saw an aura around Macak that night when the cat stepped down and shook his paws. "I cannot exaggerate the effect of this marvelous night on my childish imagination," he said of the events.
PBS | llustrations by Radomir Perica
The fascinating physicist said he asked himself "What is electricity?" every day since that night. Even as he wrote the letter, the question remained unanswered said Tesla.
Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
He told Pola to be skeptical of any scientist who claimed they had already answered everything about electricity. He said if they knew the answer then he would, too.
He said his chances were better than the others because he had scientific research spanning three generations in his arsenal. If only young Tesla knew what that fated winter night with Macak would spark for him and the generations after him.
