The Great Danton, portrayed by Hugh Jackman, believes he has the greatest trick ever. Enhanced by the inventions of Nikola Tesla, Angiers (Danton's real name) was able to duplicate himself. Every time he duplicated himself, the Angiers that went into the machine was dumped into a water tank, and then drowned. But the question is: did this technology exist at the time?
During the late 1800s, Nikola Tesla was seperated from Thomas Edison, who was now his arch nemesis. Experimenting in New York City and Colorado Springs, Tesla was working Alternating Current. He also believed that electric current could travel through the air or ground to power electrical items. In The Prestige, we see this as the field of light bulbs placed in the ground that light up on command. The bulbs are not connected to a socket, and according to Tesla's assistant, the generator is several miles away.
Tesla, classically known as a mad scientist, was working on wireless transmissions and even a lighting machine while in Colorado Springs. These experiments required large amounts of electricity, which, when released, caused many strange things to happen around the city. What movie goers saw in the film was Tesla's "magnifying transmitter". This device created huge arcs of electricity, in hopes of transmitting it to other places without the use of wires.
Taking these facts into account, we can almost be certain that this machine that he supposedly made for Angiers did not truly exist. However, Tesla was a very sheltered man in his later years, and did a lot of strange things. Nikola Tesla could have created a duplicating device, just not likely in the time of Angiers.
That is weird to think about! I like the links that you incorporate. Do you think that this machine could be around today or is the science too advanced?
ReplyDeletethis science is as some would say "far out man" and it is very interesting. How far in technology would we be today had we used nikola tesla instead of thomas edison?
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