As a magician, I'm always interested in performances that incorporate elements of illusion.
身为魔术师，错觉艺术一直是我的最爱。
And one of the most remarkable was the tanagra theater, which was popular in the early part of the 20th century.
在二十世纪初期极受欢迎的Tanagra大剧院，就是错觉艺术的典范。
It used mirrors to create the illusion of tiny people performing on a miniature stage.
剧院使用了一组镜子来制造小矮人在微缩舞台上表演的假象。
Now, I won't use mirrors, but this is my digital tribute to the tanagra theater. So let the story begin.
不过今天我不会使用镜子，而是用数码设备向Tangara剧院致敬。故事开始了。
On a dark and stormy night -- really! -- it was the 10th of July, 1856.
那是1856年7月10日，一个风雨交加...真是狂风暴雨啊...的夜晚。
Lightning lit the sky, and a baby was born. His name was Nikola, Nikola Tesla.
一道闪电击穿了乌云，一个小男孩出生了。小男孩叫做尼古拉。尼古拉·特斯拉。
Now the baby grew into a very smart guy. Let me show you.
小男孩长大后成为了一个聪明的人。我让你们见识一下。
Tesla, what is 236 multiplied by 501?
特斯拉，236乘501等于几？
The result is 118,236.
等于118236。
Now Tesla's brain worked in the most extraordinary way.
特斯拉的思维非常神奇。
When a word was mentioned, an image of it instantly appeared in his mind.
每当人们说到一个词，特斯拉的脑子里立刻就会出现一个画面。
Tree. Chair. Girl. They were hallucinations, which vanished the moment he touched them. Probably a form of synesthesia.
“树”，“椅子”，“女孩”。这些画面只是幻觉。这要他用手一碰，它们就会消失。这也许是一种特殊的感知力。
But it was something he later turned to his advantage.
不过长大后的特斯拉已经能够很好的运用它了。
Where other scientists would play in their laboratory, Tesla created his inventions in his mind.
当其他科学家还在实验室里埋头用工时，特斯拉在自己的脑海里进行创造。
To my delight, I discovered I could visualize my inventions with the greatest facility.
太好了，我发现我可以用最棒的方式“看见”我的发明！
And when they worked in the vivid playground of his imagination, he would build them in his workshop.
当这些创意在特斯拉脑海里遨游之后，他便在工作室里把这些发明制造出来。
I needed no models, drawings or experiments.
我不需要模型，不需要草图，不需要实验。
I could picture them as real in my mind, and there I run it, test it and improve it. Only then do I construct it.
我在脑子里就能构想它们的模样，启动，调试，改进它们。然后我才会制作。
His great idea was alternating current.
他的伟大发明是交流电。
But how could he convince the public that the millions of volts required to make it work were safe?
可他如何说服大家，这项发明能够安全地在百万伏特的电压下运行？

To sell his idea, he became a showman.
为了推销他的发明，他成为了表演家。
We are at the dawn of a new age, the age of electricity.
我们正在一个新时代的黎明，一个电的时代。
I have been able, through careful invention, to transmit, with the mere flick of a switch, electricity across the ether.
通过精密的设计，我只需要轻轻触动开关，就能将电力传遍世界。
It is the magic of science.
这是科学的魔力！
Tesla has over 700 patents to his name: radio, wireless telegraphy, remote control, robotics.
特斯拉拥有700多项专利发明：广播，无线电报，远程遥控，机器人技术。
He even photographed the bones of the human body.
他甚至拍摄过人体骨骼。
But the high point was the realization of a childhood dream:
但是对他最重要的还是实现儿时的梦想：
harnessing the raging powers of Niagara Falls, and bringing light to the city.
利用尼加拉瀑布的巨大能量来照亮城市。
But Tesla's success didn't last.
但他的成功没能持续下去。
I had bigger ideas. Illuminating the city was only the beginning.
我有更大的梦想。照亮城市只是第一步。
A world telegraphy center -- imagine news, messages, sounds, images delivered to any point in the world instantly and wirelessly.
我要造一个世界电报中心。想象一下：新闻，讯息，声音，图像，能无线地瞬间传遍世界每一个角落。
It's a great idea; it was a huge project. Expensive, too.
这是个伟大的计划。这是个庞大而昂贵的工程。
They wouldn't give me the money.
他们不会资助我的。
Well, maybe you shouldn't have told them it could be used to contact other planets.
好吧，也许你不该告诉他们这东西能用来联络外星人。
Yes, that was a big mistake.
哎，这是个重大的失误。
Tesla's career as an inventor never recovered. He became a recluse.
特斯拉的发明家生涯再也没有好转过。他成为了隐士。
Dodged by death, he spent much of his time in his suite at the Waldorf-Astoria.
躲避死亡，大部分时间他都住在位于Waldorg-Astoria的小房子里。
Everything I did, I did for mankind, for a world where there would be no humiliation of the poor by the violence of the rich,
我做的每件事都是为了全人类，都是为了穷人们不再被富人欺负，
where products of intellect, science and art will serve society for the betterment and beautification of life.
为了智慧，科学与艺术的产物能过造福社会，美化我们的生活。
Nikola Tesla died on the 7th of January, 1943.
尼古拉·特斯拉逝世于1943年1月7日。
His final resting place is a golden globe that contains his ashes at the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade. His legacy is with us still.
他最终长眠于位于贝尔格莱德的特斯拉博物馆里的一座金色球形棺材里。但他带给人们的财富流传至今。
Tesla became the man who lit the world, but this was only the beginning. Tesla's insight was profound.
特斯拉照亮了世界，而这只是一个开始。特斯拉的思想意义深远。
Tell me, what will man do when the forests disappear, and the coal deposits are exhausted?
告诉我，当森林被伐尽，煤矿被采光时，我们该怎么办？
Tesla thought he had the answer. We are still asking the question. Thank you.
特斯拉曾经觉得他有办法。直到今天我们依然在问相同的问题。谢谢。