When Nicola Tesla slaps you over the head

If you have poked around the Quartex Pascal RTL you might have notice that QTX comes with a serial-number minting system. Creating unique serial numbers that can be mathematically re-traced back to a root key (number sequence) is extremely tricky business. My solution was to dip my fingers into esoteric and occult numerology, because our ancient forbearers had a knack for puzzles and number based riddles.

And here I thought I was super clever, only to discover that Nicola Tesla scribbled a similar system on a napkin back in the late 1800s (figuratively speaking). Turns out that the basis of my system is more or less identical to Tesla’s numbers and ultimately bound by their relationships, where you operate with a growth factor that is a multiple of 12, modulated and held in check by Fibonacci, Lucas or Leonardo sequencing.

So my ego got a well deserved slap (which is always healthy, we should all be humble in the presence of that man).

I have never really been that interested in Tesla until recently, and the little I have read about him makes me incredibly sad. This man was not decades ahead of his time, but centuries.

In my view, the biggest tragedy in human history is without a doubt the loss of the great library in Alexandria, Egypt. Second only with the murder of Hypatia; a series of events that would eventually catapult humanity as a whole into a dark-age that lasted for 2000 years.

But having spent some time this morning reading about Tesla, I would add him to that list of tragic events that have affected our history (or in his case, being prevented from lifting mankind up). This is a man that constructed the walkie-talkie in the late 1800s. He even theorized that both audio and video could be transmitted over a hand-held device. And this was in the late 1800s (!).

Tesla’s analysis of numbers, based on multiples of 12, each segment seeding the next

From the Quartex Pascal IDE, the serial number minting dialog

Above: The serial-number minting dialog from the IDE. Here we use 12 seed numbers to form the root key, and each serial number is grown from these using natural numbers, as employed by various mystics and esoteric traditions.

Hat off Tesla. It is a great shame that you were born into a world that neither understood or appreciated the wonders you delivered.

Nicolas Tesla’s notebooks is best read on your knees.

Now I need to scotch tape my ego back together and get to work.