Tesla
eBook - ePub

Tesla

Inventor of the Electrical Age

  1. 520 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Tesla

Inventor of the Electrical Age

About this book

“The gold standard for Tesla biography.”—Science
“Superb.”—Nature

The definitive account of Tesla's life and work

Nikola Tesla was a major contributor to the electrical revolution that transformed daily life at the turn of the twentieth century. His inventions, patents, and theoretical work formed the basis of modern AC electricity, and contributed to the development of radio and television. Like his competitor Thomas Edison, Tesla was one of America's first celebrity scientists, enjoying the company of New York high society and dazzling the likes of Mark Twain with his electrical demonstrations. An astute self-promoter and gifted showman, he cultivated a public image of the eccentric genius. Even at the end of his life when he was living in poverty, Tesla still attracted reporters to his annual birthday interview, regaling them with claims that he had invented a particle-beam weapon capable of bringing down enemy aircraft.

Plenty of biographies glamorize Tesla and his eccentricities, but until now none has carefully examined what, how, and why he invented. In this groundbreaking book, W. Bernard Carlson demystifies the legendary inventor, placing him within the cultural and technological context of his time, and focusing on his inventions themselves as well as the creation and maintenance of his celebrity. Drawing on original documents from Tesla's private and public life, Carlson shows how he was an "idealist" inventor who sought the perfect experimental realization of a great idea or principle, and who skillfully sold his inventions to the public through mythmaking and illusion.

This major biography sheds new light on Tesla's visionary approach to invention and the business strategies behind his most important technological breakthroughs.

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Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication Page
  5. Contents
  6. List of Illustrations
  7. Introduction: Dinner at Delmonico’s
  8. Chapter One: An Ideal Childhood (1856–1878)
  9. Chapter Two: Dreaming of Motors (1878–1882)
  10. Chapter Three: Learning by Doing (1882–1886)
  11. Chapter Four: Mastering Alternating Current (1886–1888)
  12. Chapter Five: Selling the Motor (1888–1889)
  13. Chapter Six: Searching for a New Ideal (1889–1891)
  14. Chapter Seven: A Veritable Magician (1891)
  15. Chapter Eight: Taking the Show to Europe (1891–1892)
  16. Chapter Nine: Pushing Alternating Current in America (1892–1893)
  17. Chapter Ten: Wireless Lighting and the Oscillator (1893–1894)
  18. Chapter Eleven: Efforts at Promotion (1894–1895)
  19. Chapter Twelve: Looking for Alternatives (1895–1898)
  20. Chapter Thirteen: Stationary Waves (1899–1900)
  21. Chapter Fourteen: Wardenclyffe (1900–1901)
  22. Chapter Fifteen: The Dark Tower (1901–1905)
  23. Chapter Sixteen: Visionary to the End (1905–1943)
  24. Epilogue
  25. Note on Sources
  26. Abbreviations and Sources
  27. Notes
  28. Acknowledgments
  29. Index