When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance.
Not only this, but through television and telephony we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite intervening distances of thousands of miles; and the instruments through which we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket.
This has got to be one of the the greatest historical photos of all time. That is indeed Nikola Tesla, nearly wraith-like in the background, while Mark Twain commands control of a phenomenon Tesla discovered — the human body’s ability to conduct electricity.
The picture is accidentally a perfect portrait of both. We see the innocent, curious Tesla bathed in shadow in the background, along with Twain well lit, front and center. The well-meaning Tesla led a haunted existence, and was consigned to relative obscurity after rival Thomas Edison stole credit for his advances. The commanding Twain, on the other hand, benefitted from his fame.
The two were good friends. See History Buff for more.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 