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ALS signed "Nikola Tesla," one page on vellum parchment, 6.75 x 9, July 15, 1937. Fascinating handwritten letter to Universal Pictures co-founder Carl Laemmle, in full: "For the album of a man of your genius and ideals, who lives among stars, the following message I just cabled to the 'Weekly Star,' Toronto, would seem appropriate.
'Undoubtedly there are myriads of planets in the universe which were, are, or will be abodes of life in its highest forms. The same formative principles must be operative in the building up of the bodies of the inhabitants and their perceptions of the external world must be closely similar to ours. It is highly probable that many are as far, or even more, advanced than ourselves. Codes for communication and mutual understanding can be readily formulated on the basis of commonly perceived universal truths.
In 1899 I detected feeble impulses emanating from Mars which seemed to convey the idea of numbers. This discovery I announced through the Red Cross in 1900. Broadly considered, communication between two planets involves as an essential and indispensable condition the coincidence in time of the same phases of development on them. It is this rigid requirement which makes the practical solution of the problem so formidably difficult, not to mention the quick and unceasing motions of the planets. The task would be immensely simplified if the transmission could be effected with infinite velocity for then the same phases of development on the two planets would always coincide in time whatever be the distance. By my inventions it has become possible to transmit considerable amounts of energy at distances of thousands of light years and if received, it can be easily detected in many ways.'" In very good to fine condition, with areas of staining from old adhesive residue on the back, and a mottled appearance due to the nature of the vellum, not at all affecting readability.
In 1899, while conducting radio experiments at his experimental station outside of Colorado Springs, Tesla reported hearing unusual, rhythmic sounds from his receiver. In a letter to Julian Hawthorne, Tesla contended that these signals were evidence that 'intelligent beings on a neighboring planet' must be scientifically more advanced than Earthlings. In this remarkable letter, he contemplates the ease with which his hunt for extraterrestrial life could be accomplished were it not for the bounds of spacetime. As any intergalactic communication is constrained by the speed of transmission, he observes that two life forms must be sufficiently well developed at the same time in order to make contact.
It has since been hypothesized that Tesla may have intercepted Marconi's European experiments in July 1899-Marconi may have transmitted the letter S (dot/dot/dot) in a naval demonstration, the same three impulses that Tesla hinted at hearing in Colorado-or signals from another experimenter in wireless transmission. A unique and important autograph letter by the celebrated inventor, whose eccentric ways and marvelous mind doubtlessly inspired some of the 'mad scientist' characters brought to the screen by Laemmle in the 1920s and 30s.
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