Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age Author: W. Bernard Carlson | Language: English | ISBN:
0691057761 | Format: PDF
Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age Description
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.
- Hardcover: 520 pages
- Publisher: Princeton University Press (May 12, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0691057761
- ISBN-13: 978-0691057767
- Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Many self-described "Tesla Biographers" have taken a shot at writing a book that would be considered comprehensive and worthy of filling in the gaps of this infamous man's life, but none have done so as well as W. Bernard Carlson.
If you are expecting a light, fluff-filled read about this important inventor, please look elsewhere. This book is intelligent, articulate and technical. If your desire is to make sense of the how and why Tesla ended up where he did by the end of his life, this book will not only elaborate on common knowledge of the subject, but will open your eyes to the unfortunate truth of this genius and his fall from grace, society and his descent into poverty.
What I found fascinating about this book, was that rather than giving in to the previous biographer's desire to make Tesla look like a superhuman celebrity with an external muse that produced his creativity, this book shows the rise to fame through his eyes. His inventions are detailed and his numerous ideas and contributions to science and the field of electrical engineering is presented brilliantly. Rather than going from chapter to chapter saying "and then he did this and then he did that" this work has a very natural progression. Frequently using Tesla's own words to describe his creative process, Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age gives a much more in depth view of his life.
I had always thought of Tesla as having been someone who looked within himself to answer the great questions of life, and this book seems to agree with that notion. As someone who is also rather introspective, I appreciated the idea that Tesla turned to his own mind for answers and created his own circumstances for his early success.
Once in a while a book comes along that "sets the record straight"; it demystifies certain icons, rectifies erroneous baseless concepts and corrects preconceived public opinion. W. Bernard Carlson has produced such a book in his biography of Nikola Tesla who was heralded as a misunderstood genius, way ahead of his time, by some and a self-promoting charlatan showman by others.
Carlson's significant 500-page book is based on original sources and seems to eschew derivative opinions and unfounded gossip. It is a dense compendium of Tesla's life, his genius and ingenuity, his scientific contributions as well as his shameless self-promotion, fantastic illusions of sham inventions, business dealings with J.P. Morgan and rivalry with Thomas Edison, and an elucidation of the reasons of his destitution and penury at the end of his life.
Carlson humanizes the legend by describing Tesla's brilliance and foibles. Tesla's own words are often used to describe how he came upon a concept or reached a conclusion. The author describes the contemporary cultural and technical environment and its influence on his subject. As a scientist, Carlson is at his best when describing the science behind Tesla's inventions and goes into great details in his depiction of electrical engineering and the merits of AC versus DC (alternating vs direct) and other contraptions. This may distract or bore some readers.
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was born in Croatia, educated in Graz and Prague and was hired by Edison's branch in Paris. He was eventually transferred to the Edison Machine Works in New York but Tesla quit after a few months to work on his own. Throughout his life he created the circumstances for his success, relying on no one else.
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