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The Oatmeal's Fundraiser Tops $1M Toward Tesla Museum

Posted by timothy on from the how-many-cars-will-fit? dept.

The Oatmeal's call to raise funds for a museum celebrating Nikola Tesla seems to have electrified enough people. From Digital Trends: "The Oatmeal has raised over $1 million on IndieGoGo in an effort to secure Wardenclyffe, the site of Tesla's final laboratory, to build a museum dedicated to Tesla. ... [Oatmeal founder and artist Matthew] Inman’s original goal of $850,000 would buy just half of the cost of the property, but the state of New York has agreed to match contributions, bringing total funds up to $1.7 million. Raising the capital to build a museum from the property will be another cost, but from the looks of it, with 36 days left and having already surpassed the $1 million mark, there should be funds to spare."

9 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. Good thing Edison is not alive... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    He would probably buy it and install a McDonald's...

  2. Excellent! This is worthwhile. by jimbodude · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If they are to build it, I would visit a Tesla museum with my children, especially if they can have hands-on attractions. What kid wouldn't be inspired by a live Tesla coil? I know I was when I was a child.

    1. Re:Excellent! This is worthwhile. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They should build a Maker Center there, it could support it self in no time.

      Education and invention.

  3. Audience by vlm · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I superficially glanced at this but couldn't figure out if the museum audience is supposed to be:
    1) 10 years old
    2) -or- electrical engineers and fellow travelers
    3) -or- homeopathic crystal therapy conspiracy theory vampire worshipers

    Its pretty hard to appeal equally to all 3, so I'm curious which audience the museum is aimed at.

    --
    "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  4. Obviously... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's meant for the 10 year old electrical engineers working on homeopathic crystal therapies for vampires.

  5. He did by aNonnyMouseCowered · · Score: 5, Informative

    "If only he had gotten as much attention as the media now tend to spend on famous trash, the world would be a much better place."

    Tesla was actually quite famous in his day. His fame might have fallen by the time he died, but Time magazine did feature him in its cover. See:

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Nikola_Tesla_on_Time_Magazine_1931.jpg

    Surely, at a time where TV broadcasting was in its infancy at best, appearing on the cover of Time is as good a claim a fame as appearing on Fox News or American Idol.

    Blame his failure to equal the status of Edison, not to mention Einstein, on his decision to withdraw from society in his later years.

  6. Another Tesla museum? by Ken_g6 · · Score: 4, Informative

    There's apparently one in Belgrade. There is another small one in Colorado Springs - I've been there.

    --
    (T>t && O(n)--) == sqrt(666)
    1. Re:Another Tesla museum? by HistoryNerd · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The one you have been to in Colorado Springs was almost certainly what has now been closed. The current one, which is extremely limited in scope by any measure, is actually basically in someone's basement and can be visited by appointment only.

      The Belgrade one is the one really notable true museum, but the view of many is there should be one in the U.S. where his most significant scientific accomplishments occurred, especially since most people are not going to happen to go to Belgrade.

  7. Re:This is great news by mirix · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It seems the museum in Belgrade is vastly superior. He was Serbian after all, and it looks like they inherited a lot of his artifacts -- including him. (his urn is there).

    I've been to BG a few times in the past, and never stopped at the museum. WTF is wrong with me?

    --
    Sent from my PDP-11