17. Samuel Clemens and Nikola Tesla
Samuel Tesla had acquired his pen name – Mark Twain – and an abiding interest in technology and science from his days as a riverboat pilot. Nikola Tesla had survived a youthful illness, passing the time in part by reading the books produced by Mark Twain. The pair met in the 1890s, and Twain became a frequent visitor to the eccentric Tesla’s New York laboratories. Twain’s initial interest had been in investing in Tesla’s inventions, including in the typesetting machine through which the author suffered significant losses. Despite the financial setback, Twain was fascinated with the inventor and the machinery he produced.
Twain was not a writer of science fiction, nor science-oriented tales, though he did create a story which featured the idea of traveling back in time, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. The two men remained friends for many years, though Tesla developed a reputation for leaving the bills unpaid at the hotels in which he resided when he was finally asked to remove himself. Unknown benefactors covered his debts, Twain most likely among them, allowing the scientist to continue to polish his reputation as one of America’s oddest residents. They remained close friends until Twain’s death.
