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Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius Paperback – August 30, 2016

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• Print length 576 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Citadel
• Publication date August 30, 2016
• Dimensions 5.94 x 1.18 x 8.93 inches
• ISBN-10 0806539968
• ISBN-13 978-0806539966
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About the author, excerpt. © reprinted by permission. all rights reserved., the life and times of nikola tesla biography of a genius, kensington publishing corp..

Hardly is there a nation which has met with a sadder fate than the Servians. From the height of its splendor, when the empire embraced almost the entire northern part of the Balkan peninsula and a large portion of what is now Austria, the Servian nation was plunged into abject slavery, after the fateful battle of 1389 at the Kosovo Polje, against the overwhelming Asian hordes. Europe can never repay the great debt it owes to the Servians for checking, by the sacrifice of its own liberty, that barbarian influx.

Nikola Tesla

It was during a crackling summer storm in Smiljan, a small hamlet at the back edge of a plateau set high in the mountains, when Nikola Tesla was born. The Serbian family resided in the province of Lika, a plateau and gentle river valley in Croatia where wild boar and deer still dwell and farmers still travel on ox-drawn wagons. Only a cart ride from the Adriatic, the land is well protected from invasion by sea, by the Velebit ridge to the west, which runs the length of the province and towers over the coastline as a steep cliff, and by the Dinaric Alps to the east, a chain of mountains that emerge from Austria, span the Balkan peninsula and culminate in the south as the isle of Crete.

Though hidden, Smiljan was centrally located, fifteen miles east of the tiny seaport of Karlobag, six miles west of the bustling town of Gospic and forty-five miles southwest of the cascading wonder known as Plitvice Lakes, an interlinking chasm of caves and streams and magnificent waterfalls that lie at the base of the Dinaric chain.

In the early 1800s, having been briefly part of Napoleon's Illyrian provinces, Croatia was now a domain of Austria-Hungary. With its neighboring Slavic countries of Bosnia, Hercegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, Croatia was sandwiched between the ruling Hapsburg dynasty to the north and the Ottoman Empire to the south.

In ancient times, and for many centuries, much of the coastline along the Adriatic was ruled by the Illyrians, a piratical tribe believed to have descended from regions around Austria. Successfully protecting their borders from such rulers as Alexander the Great, many Illyrians rose into social prominence; some, at the time of Christ, became emperors.

Slavs, traveling in close-knit clans known as zadrugas, were first recognized by the Byzantines in the second century A.D. in the areas around what is now Belgrade. Tesla's appearance resembled the characteristic features of the Ghegs, a tribe described as being tall and having convex-shaped noses and flat skulls. Like other Slavs, these people were originally pagans and worshiped nature spirits and a god of thunder and lightning. Tesla's early ancestors were probably born in the Ukraine. They most likely traveled down through Romania into Serbia and lived near Belgrade, along the Danube. After the Battle of Kosovo in the latter part of the fourteenth century, they crossed the Kosovo plains into Montenegro and continued their migration northward into Croatia in the latter part of the eighteenth century.

All Slavs speak the same language. The major distinction between Croats and Serbs stems from the differences in the histories of their respective countries. The Croats adopted the pope as their spiritual leader and followed the Roman form of Catholicism; the Serbs adopted a Byzantine patriarch and the Greek Orthodox view. Whereas Roman priests remain celibate, Greek Orthodox priests may marry.

In the east and central regions Slavs were more successful in maintaining their own control over what came to be called the kingdom of Serbia; whereas in the west, in Croatia, outside rulers, such as Charlemagne in A.D. 800, occupied the region. While Croatia maintained the Christianization policies of the Franks, the Serbs and Bulgarians drove out the papacy and revived their own pagan faith, which included animal sacrifice and pantheism. Many of the ancient pagan gods were made saints and were celebrated in higher esteem than Jesus. Tesla's patron saint Nicholas was a fourth-century god who protected sailors.

To further alienate the two groups, although speaking the same verbal language, Croats adopted the Latin alphabet, whereas Serbs and Bulgarians took on the Cyrillic alphabet used by the Greek Orthodox church.

Before Turkish rule, from the ninth century until the 1300s, Serbia had maintained autonomy. For Serbia, this period was its golden age, as the Byzantines accepted its autonomous status. Due to the philanthropic nature of its kings, a dynamic medieval art flourished, and great monasteries were erected.

Croatia, on the other hand, was in much more turmoil. Influenced by western Europe, the ruling class attempted unsuccessfully to institute a feudal system of lords and serfs. This policy directly opposed the inherent structure of the democratic zadrugas, and so Croatia was never able to establish a unified identity. Nevertheless, one independent offshoot of Croatia, Ragusa (Dubrovnik), which had established itself as a port of commerce and a rival of Venice as a major sea power, became a melting pot for south Slavic culture and a symbol for the Illyrian ideal of a unified Yugoslavia.

The identity of Serbia as a nation, however, changed for all time on June 15, 1389, the day 30,000 Turks obliterated the Serbian nation in the Battle of Kosovo. Cruel conquerors, the Turks destroyed Serbian churches or converted them to mosques. Drafting the healthiest male children into their armies, they skewered and tortured the men and forced the women to convert and marry Turks. Many Serbs fled, taking up residence in the craggy mountains of Montenegro or the hidden valleys of Croatia. Some of those that remained became wealthy as Turkish vassals; others, mostly of mixed blood, became pariahs.

The Battle of Kosovo is as important to the Serbs as the Exodus to the Jews or the Crucifixion to the Christians. It is commemorated every year on the anniversary of the tragedy as Vidov Dan, the day "when we shall see." As one Serb told the author, "It follows us always." The massacre and ensuing defilement of the kingdom became the dominant motif of the great epic poems which served to unify the identity of the Serbian people through their centuries of hardship.

Unlike the Croats, who did not have this kind of all-embracing exigency, the Serbs had Kosovo. Combined with their adherence to the Greek Orthodox religion in a twofold way, Serbs, no matter where they lived, felt united.

The century of Tesla's birth was marked by the rise of Napoleon. In 1809 the emperor wrested Croatia from Austro-Hungarian rule and established French occupation. Extending his domain down the Adriatic coast, Napoleon reunited the Illyrian provinces and introduced French libertarian ideals. This philosophy helped dismantle the outmoded feudal system of lords and serfs and reawaken the idea of a unified Balkan nation. At the same time, the occupation created an identity with the French culture. Tesla's paternal grandfather and maternal great- grandfather both served under the French emperor.

With support from the Russians, Serbian bands united in 1804 under the leadership of the flamboyant hog farmer George Petrovich, known as Kara-George (in Turkish, Black George), a man of Montenegrin heritage trained in the Austrian army. However, in 1811, Napoleon invaded Russia; thus, support for Serbia evaporated.

Forty thousand Turks marched against the Serbs, leveling towns and butchering citizens. Serbs were often executed by impalement, their writhing bodies lined up along the roads to the city. All males captured above the age of fifteen were slaughtered, and women and children were sold as slaves. Kara-George fled the country.

Milosh, the new Serbian leader, was a sly and treacherous character, able to walk a thin line between Serbs and the sultan. In 1817, when Kara-George returned, he was decapitated, his head sent by Milosh to Istanbul. A tyrant as terrible as any Turkish pasha, Milosh became the official head of Serbia in 1830.

One of the more sapient figures of the day was the scholar and Serb Vuk Karadjich (1787-1864). Schooled in Vienna and St. Petersburg, Vuk believed "all Yugoslavs were one."

Pleading with Milosh to build schools and to form a constitution, Vuk created, with a student, a Serbo-Croatian dictionary that combined the two written languages. He published the epic folk ballads, which gained the attention of Goethe, and through this means the Serbian plight and also its unique literature were translated and spread to the western world.

In Croatia, the land of Tesla's birth, Emperor Ferdinand of Austria, in 1843, issued a proclamation forbidding any discussion about Illyrianism, thereby helping keep the Serbs and Croats a separate people. In 1867 the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy was created, and Croatia became a semiautonomous province of the new empire. Simultaneously, in Serbia, Michael Obrenovich was finally able to "secure the departure ... of the Turkish garrisons from Belgrade" and convert the state into a constitutional monarchy.

Tesla's background was thus a mixture of crossed influences, a monastic environment, a Byzantine legacy of a once great culture, and incessant battles against barbarous invaders. As a Serb growing up in Croatia, Tesla inherited a rich mix of tribal rituals, egalitarian rule, a modified form of Greek Orthodox Catholicism, pantheistic beliefs, and myriad superstitions. Women cloaked their bodies in black garb, and men packed a cross in one pocket and a weapon in another. Living at the edge of civilization, Serbs saw themselves as protectors of Europe from the Asian hordes. They bore that responsibility with their blood for many centuries.

CHILDHOOD (1856-74)

I cannot exaggerate the effect of this marvelous sight on my childish imagination. Day after day I asked myself what is electricity and found no answer. Eighty years have gone by since and I still ask the same question, unable to answer it.

NIKOLA TESLA

Nikola Tesla descended from a well established frontier zadruga whose original family name had been Draganic. By the mid-1700s the clan had migrated to Croatia, and the Tesla name arose. It was "a trade name like Smith ... or Carpenter," which described a woodworking ax that had a "broad cutting blade at right angles to the handle." Supposedly, the Teslas gained the name because their teeth resembled this instrument.

The inventor's grandfather, also named Nikola Tesla, was born about 1789 and became a sergeant in Napoleon's Illyrian army during the years 1809-13. Like other Serbs living in Croatia, Nikola Tesla, the elder, was honored by fighting for an emperor who sought to unify the Balkan states and overthrow the oppressive regime of the Austro-Hungarians. He "came from a region known as the military frontier which stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the plains of the Danube including ... the province of Lika [where the inventor was born]. This so-called 'corpus separatum' in the Hapsburg monarchy had its own military administration different from the rest of the country, and therefore [they were] not subjects of the feudal lords." Mostly Serbs, these people were warriors whose responsibility was to protect the territory from the Turks. And in return, unlike the Croats, Serbs were able to own their own land.

Shortly after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Nikola Tesla married Ana Kalinic, the daughter of a prominent officer. After the collapse of Illyria, the grandfather moved to Gospic, where he and his wife could raise a family in a civilized environment.

On February 3, 1819, Milutin Tesla, the inventor's father, was born. One of five children, Milutin was educated in a German elementary school, the only one available in Gospic. Like his brother Josip, Milutin tried to follow in his father's footsteps. In his late teens he enrolled in an Austro-Hungarian military academy but rebelled against the trivialities of regimented life. He was hypersensitive and dropped out after an officer criticized him for not keeping his brass buttons polished.

Whereas Josip became an officer and later a professor of mathematics, first in Gospic and then at a military academy in Austria, Milutin became politically active, wrote poetry, and entered the priesthood. Influenced by the philosopher Vuk Karadjich, Milutin promulgated the "Yugoslav idea" in editorials published in the local newspapers under the nom de plume Srbin Pravicich, "Man of Justice." Tesla wrote that his father's "style of writing was much admired ... pen[ning] sentences ... full of wit and satire." He called for social equality among peoples, the need for compulsory education for children, and the creation of Serbian schools in Croatia.

Through these articles, Milutin attracted the attention of the intellectual elite. In 1847 he married Djouka Mandic, a daughter from one of the more prominent Serbian families.

Djouka's maternal grandfather was Toma Budisavljevic (1777-1840), a regal, white-bearded priest who was decorated with the French Medal of Honor by Napoleon himself in 1811 for providing leadership during the French occupation of Croatia. Soka Budisavljevic, one of Toma's seven children, followed the family tradition by marrying a Serbian minister, Nikola Mandic, who himself came from a distinguished clerical and military family. Their daughter, Djouka, who was born in 1821, was Tesla's mother.

Eldest daughter of eight children, Djouka's duties increased rapidly, for her mother was stricken with failing eyesight and eventually became blind.

"My mother ... was a truly great woman of rare skill and courage," Tesla wrote. Probably due to the magnitude of her responsibilities, which included, at age sixteen, preparing for burial the bodies of an entire family stricken with cholera, Djouka never learned to read. Instead, she memorized the great epic Serbian poems and also long passages of the Bible.

Tesla could trace his lineage to a segment of the "educated aristocracy" of the Serbian community. On both sides of the family and for generations there could be found clerical and military leaders, many of whom achieved multiple doctorates. One of Djouka's brothers, Pajo Mandic, was a field marshal in the imperial Austro-Hungarian army. Another Mandic ran an Austrian military academy.

Petar Mandic, a third brother and later favorite uncle of Nikola's, met with tragedy as a young man when his wife passed away. In 1850, Petar entered the Gomirje Monastery, where he rose in the clerical hierarchy to become the regional bishop of Bosnia.

In 1848, through the help of the Mandic name, Milutin Tesla obtained a parish at Senj, a northern coastal fortress located just seventy-five miles from the Italian port of Trieste. From the stone church, situated high on austere cliffs, Milutin and his new bride could overlook the blue-green Adriatic Sea and the mountainous islands of Krk, Cres, and Rab.

For eight years the Teslas lived in Senj, where they sired their first three children: Dane (pronounced Dah-nay), born in 1849, the first son, and two daughters, Angelina, born the following year, who would later become the grandmother to the current honorary head of the Tesla Memorial Society, William Terbo, and Milka, who followed two years later. As with her other two sisters and like her mother, Milka would eventually marry a Serbian Orthodox priest.

Djouka was proud of her son, Dane, who used to sit with the fishermen on the shore and bring back stories of great adventure. Like his younger brother, who was yet to be born, Dane was endowed with extraordinary powers of eidetic imagery.

Due to a profound sermon on the subject of "labor," as a result of which Milutin was awarded a special red sash by the archbishop, the minister was promoted to a congregation of forty homes in the pastoral farming village of Smiljan, situated only six miles from Gospic. Milutin was returning home, where his father still lived. In 1855, the young minister, his pregnant wife, and his three children packed their oxcart and made the fifty-mile journey over the Velebit ridge through the Lika valley to their new dwelling.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Citadel; Reprint edition (August 30, 2016)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 576 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0806539968
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0806539966
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.94 x 1.18 x 8.93 inches
• #9 in Physics of Electricity
• #22 in History of Technology
• #114 in Scientist Biographies

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Author Marc J. Seifer describes a segment from Wizard.

Marc Seifer

Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla | A True Genius!

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About the author

Marc j. seifer.

Marc J. Seifer, PhD has been a handwriting expert for more than 35 years and was editor-in-chief of The Journal of the American Society of Professional Graphologists for more than a decade. He has worked for the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office and Crime Laboratory, the Department of Defense, Undersea Warfare, United Parcel Service, and numerous banks, insurance agencies, and lawyers. He was featured on the History Channel discussing the Howard Hughes Mormon Will and on Associated Press International TV on the handwriting of bin Laden and on PBS American Experience discussing Nikola Tesla. He has lectured at Oxford University, Cambridge University, Brandeis, Cranbrook Retreat, and numerous conferences around the world. Featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and MIT's Technology Review, his articles have appeared in Wired, Civilization, The Historian, Extraordinary Science and Psychiatric Clinics of North America.

Having lived an extraordinary life in a variety of fields, Marc set out to fictionalize his interests and aspects of his life in THE RUDY STYNE QUADRILOGY, four novels spanning over 30 years of writing. In the first novel, RASPUTIN'S NEPHEW, having taught Parapsychology and having worked with a number of super psychics, Marc covers this complex and controversial field in an exciting thriller involving assassination and the attempted kidnapping of a super psychic by the Russians uncovered by his hero, ace reporter for Modern Times Magazine, Rudy Styne.

The next two novels, DOPPELGANGER and CRYSTAL NIGHT, continue the exploits of ace reporter Rudy Styne in the modern story as Rudy seeks to track down a major computer hacker. And in the back story, starting in 1906, Marc creates a full-bodied saga about the Maxwells, a Jewish family who build an elite airline in southern Germany, as we follow their travails as one of the brothers, Simon Maxwell, flies with the Red Baron and Hermann Goring for the Kaiser in World War I, and as the Maxwells work hard to maintain their airline as Hitler rises to power through the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II.

And in the fourth novel, FATE LINE, Marc fictionalizes aspects of his life as a handwriting expert by constructing a graphological murder mystery as he takes Rudy Styne to Bountiful Utah to track down a kidnapper of a child-star ice-skater, and then back to New York, Indiana, Florida and Rhode Island in his quest to uncover a diabolical plot involving the mystery killings of handwriting experts in all of these states.

Along the way, as with each novel, Marc constructs his stories so that the reader learns a great deal of history about each of these fields. These are unique stories that do not follow formula. They are original works that create characters that will stay with the reader long after the last page of each book has been turned.

A retired teacher of psychology and forensic graphology at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, his book WIZARD: THE LIFE & TIMES OF NIKOLA TESLA: BIOGRAPHY OF A GENIUS, translated into nine languages has been called "Revelatory" by Publisher's Weekly (a boxed and starred review), "Serious Scholarship" by Scientific American, a "Masterpiece" by Nelson DeMille and is "Highly Recommended" by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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20 Best Books on Nikola Tesla (2022 Review)

September 19, 2020 by James Wilson

DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, I receive a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nikola Tesla is a popular scientist, famous inventor and modern visionary, who is known for his work on the modern day Alternative Current (AC) we use. He also worked on several more popular inventions which have made our lives easier today.

What are the Best Nikola Tesla Books to read?

Tesla was born in the Croatia, where he learned about modern engineering along with principles of physics through informal training. He mastered electrical and mechanical techniques through his work in various companies after he immigrated to the United States. Eventually he earned enough to finance his own inventions which he later patented.

His later work focused on wireless communication. Although he could not complete his work in his lifetime, his ingenious workings were the blueprint for the technology we have today. After his death, the SI unit for magnetic flux density was termed ‘Tesla’, as an honour to his scientific contributions.

He was not very popular during his lifetime or even after his death. However, recently his workings have come to light and the science community has renewed its interest in his work. This has given rise to many books on him, some of which are reviewed below:

Best Nikola Tesla Books: Our Top 20 Picks

Here are some of the best Nikola Tesla books that you can consider to expand your knowledge on the subject:

1. My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla

This is an extensive autobiography of the great scientist. It is as detailed as it could be in a first-hand account. He was a genius and this book is enough proof of this.

His early life, his training and his working on numerous inventions are the main content of this book. His narrations are engaging and his work fascinating making it hard to put it down once you start it. His narration of his own life is gripping in a unique way.

Since his work has been underground for very long, this autobiography is ideal for someone who wants to find out more about his life. He was a very gifted scientist, with a wicked sense of humour. This is a highly recommended book for those who are interested in science and history.

• Authors : Nikola Tesla (Author)
• Publisher : Merchant Books; Illustrated Edition (October 2, 2013)
• Pages : 92 pages

2. Tesla: Man Out of Time

This is a comprehensive biography of the wizard scientist, Nikola Tesla. His early life, through his life’s peak years, and up to his death are covered in detail by the author. His amazing story has been told as intriguingly as it could possibly have.

Tesla had developed an outlook of a mad scientist during his work. His theories, inventions and incomplete experiments were famous for being extraordinary, somewhat dangerous, and definitely ahead of his time. It was for this reason he never gained a good popularity until at least the 1990, when we started understanding his works’ true potential.

The author has shined a bright light on the misunderstood genius in this masterpiece. How he spent his life making a mark for centuries to come it is definitely worth a read!

• Authors : Margaret Cheney (Author)
• Publisher : Touchstone; Illustrated Edition (October 9, 2001)
• Pages : 400 pages

3. Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla : Biography of a Genius

Yet another biography on the amazing work of Nikola Tesla, this one focuses entirely on his inventions and theories, and how he was deprived of several patents due to politics and conspiracies.

It is widely known now that many inventions that are originally the work of Tesla have been wrongly attributed to other people. Further, many of his working blueprints have yet to be given a physical form or even considered for use in modern times. All such unfortunate details form the main content of this volume.

Tesla’s unique personality traits and his inability to make a name for himself during his lifetime add an interesting personal touch to this book. His unfair treatment and falling victim to conspiracy theories are very interesting making this book a must-have for fans.

• Authors : Marc Seifer (Author)
• Publisher : Citadel; First Edition (November 1, 1996)
• Pages : 542 pages

4. Nikola Tesla: A Life From Beginning to End (Biographies of Inventors)

One of the many biographies on his life, this one follows through his birth in Croatia, to his later life spent in the United States. It is short but covers all the major events in his life, right up to the point of his death. Some of his work is also discussed to give perspective to his life.

The author walks us through how Nikola Tesla developed an interest in the field of engineering as well as in physics, his work with various companies, his inventions and his later life being misunderstood and even feared by his generation. It goes into important details becoming monotonous and boring.

The crisp, to the point and relevant information given in this book is ideal for someone who wants to know more about Tesla’s life, his discoveries, theories and his inventions, without going into unnecessary details or drama.

• Authors : Hourly History (Author)
• Publisher : Independently published (April 19, 2017)
• Pages : 48 pages

5. Tesla : The Lost Inventions (Tesla Technology Series)

Nikola Tesla was unfairly famous more for his dangerous theories and less for his amazing contribution to development of AC current and sources of renewable energy. His experiments include fascinating machines and blueprints for inventions that are termed dangerous even today.

This book is a unique read in that it describes some of these inventions and their mechanisms. It includes inventions which have never been actually developed physically, but have a lot of interest due to their potential benefits for the modern world. Tesla believed there is infinite energy in the universe available anywhere and his inventions made use of such sources.

This book is a like dream come true for science buffs. Its contents make it highly desirable for scientists, students and fans of the amazing mind.

• Authors : George Trinkaus (Author)
• Publisher : High Voltage Press; First Edition (July 2, 2011)
• Pages : 36 pages

6. The Problem of Increasing Human Energy

Written by the genius himself, this book is a piece of art from Tesla. He talks about how mankind is living on this planet and using up energy resources, and how he can optimise his living with renewable energy resources.

The contents of this book prove that Nikola Tesla was not just a scientist or an inventor, but a smart visionary as well. His correct understanding of where human activities are leading the world to and his proposed solutions show how much he cared about the human race. It also shows how misunderstood he was in his time.

For those who care about the planet and the diminishing energy resources, this book is a must-read. It has been written by one of the most genius minds of modern times, which warrants a fair consideration.

• Publisher : Kessinger Publishing, LLC (September 10, 2010)
• Pages : 42 pages

7. Who Was Nikola Tesla?

Targeted towards younger audience of primary school age, this book introduces Nikola Tesla to the young scientists. It covers the working life of Tesla after he arrived in the United States and his numerous inventions and discoveries of the electric current and wireless communication.

Tesla had a short working relationship with another famous, more widely known scientist of the time, Thomas Edison. This biography talks about their work and eventual separation. Young children would be fascinated to know more about how Tesla contributed to the modern machines and wireless communication that we take for granted today.

If you have a young kid interested in science, or teach primary school, this one is highly recommended as a fair and interesting introduction to one of the most innovative minds of the twentieth century.

• Authors : Jim Gigliotti (Author), Who HQ (Author), John Hinderliter (Illustrator)
• Publisher : Penguin Workshop; Illustrated Edition (December 4, 2018)
• Pages : 112 pages

8. The Nikola Tesla Treasury

Another compilation of the legacy of Nikola Tesla, this one compiles his lectures and articles from various sources. Also included are his letters to the editors, covering the works of Marconi and Edison, and Tesla’s comments on several issues during that time.

The contents of this compilation demonstrate the true genius and visionary that he was. He highlighted several aspects not noticed by a common man. It also shines light on the amazing mind that he had as the letters and articles are unedited and are narrated in Tesla’s own words.

Although this is not a biography, not written as a narrative, the contents are all self-explanatory. It is of more use to engineers and skilled people than to the common man, since it talks about the technical aspects of Tesla’s inventions.

• Publisher : Start Publishing LLC (July 1, 2013)
• Pages : 670 pages

9. Tesla: Inventor of the Modern

Nikola Tesla is the man behind almost every technology or machine we use today, whether directly or indirectly. He invented the induction motor, the AC current, wireless communication, cell phones, internet, robots and remote control, amongst many others. Some of his work even gives details on death-ray weapons and interstellar communication, both of which have not yet been developed into their physical forms.

Given all this, it is fair to conclude that he is the man behind all modern inventions. This book depicts just this fact. It talks about his unmatched role in development of the modern world. His mind was way ahead of its time and his work are a true depiction of an almost miraculous standard.

This book reinforces the true visionary image that we should have of the great scientist, but unfortunately his genius was covered up in political controversies.

• Authors : Richard Munson (Author)
• Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company; 1st Edition (October 15, 2019)
• Pages : 20 pages

10. Prodigal Genius: The Extraordinary Life of Nikola Tesla

Going into more personal details rather than focusing on his work, this biography is unique in its approach. It talks about how Tesla’s mind worked; how he developed an interest in engineering, learned the subject, and went on to invent mind-blowing technologies.

The author relates very interesting stories about Tesla’s life. Very few people know how Tesla was robbed of accreditation to several of his inventions, which even led to missing out on the Nobel Prize. The conspiracies and politics around his life sadly prevented him to the reach the fame he deserved.

The true beauty of his genius mind and the sad reality of how he was defamed and ridiculed, not to mention ignored in the books of history, presents a sad and tragic fairy tale of what mad scientists have to face.

• Authors : John J. O’Neill (Author)
• Publisher : CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1st Edition (November 1, 2014)
• Pages : 322 pages

11. Nikola Tesla: Prophet Of The Modern Technological Age

Tesla was a man way ahead of his time. His work on various inventions was nothing short of near-miracle genius. His inventions while welcomed by many were also feared and even envied by several.

This book goes into the details of Tesla’s friendship with Mark Twain, competition with Thomas Edison, strained ties with J. P. Morgan and furious enmity with Albert Edison. His relationship with the other famous geniuses of his time, narrated in the words of the author, is a very intriguing read.

Tesla led a troubled life due to his eccentricities and almost super-human intelligence. However, his life workings left us with many technologies making our lives easier. His inventions are considered advanced even in today’s world. A fair tribute to his life, this book is highly recommended.

• Authors : Michael W. Simmons (Author)
• Publisher : Make Profits Easy LLC (April 13, 2016)
• Pages : 242 pages

12. The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla: With Special Reference to His Work in Polyphase Currents and High Potential Lighting

This book is an interesting collection of some of the most important works of Nikola Tesla. His useful inventions, extensive researches and engaging writings have all been compiled in one volume. A special attention has been given to his most important invention to date: the electricity we use today.

The works have all been included as images in their original form, meaning we get to see exactly how Tesla worked through and his thought process. Due accreditations have been added with legal copyright information referring to the libraries where his working papers are originally held.

This compilation presents a unique tribute to one of the true geniuses the world has seen. Since it is Tesla’s own writings, the originality of the scientist is preserved. It is a must-have book for science buffs and avid readers alike.

• Authors : Thomas Commerford Martin (Author), Nikola Tesla (Author)
• Publisher : Andesite Press (August 8, 2015)
• Pages : 522 pages

13. Master of Electricity – Nikola Tesla: A Quick-Read Biography About the Life and Inventions of a Visionary Genius

This one is quite a short biography on the infamous genius scientist. The author talks about Tesla’s early life, his achievements for science and technology, and the las part of his life ending with his death. Although short, it covers all the main details of his life happenings.

Tesla’s life tragedy was him not getting due credit for all his genius and inventions. His work was acknowledged at least 50 years after his death. And even then, due to alterations in recorded history, several of his masterpieces remain missing or ignored. This book is an attempt to return the glory to the forgotten hero, without whom a basic life necessity such as electricity would not have been possible.

This book is quite short, ideal for those who want a main idea of this modern genius.

• Authors : Cynthia A. Parker (Author)
• Publisher : Timber Publishing; 1st Edition (February 28, 2015)
• Pages : 70 pages

14. The Tesla Papers: Nikola Tesla on Free Energy & Wireless Transmission of Power

An interesting compilation of some of Tesla’s most amazing working papers, this book focuses on the energy harnessing solutions that Tesla presented. It also includes the blueprints for his various inventions, which have been unfairly credited to other scientists.

Tesla wrote a unique paper on how energy of the human body can be increased by the sun, and this has been termed as his master blueprint for the future. His papers on wireless communication, anti-gravity, free energy and solar power. He presented his work to the US Navy, but it was not accepted and considered too advanced for the day.

Nikola Tesla was probably one of the best inventors of the modern times and a super-human visionary, who understood the problems of the future. The papers in this compilation are a fascinating and amazing read for all.

• Publisher : Adventures Unlimited Press (December 1, 2000)
• Pages : 100 pages

15. Electrical Wizard: Candlewick Biographies: How Nikola Tesla Lit Up the World

This book tells the story of the young Tesla working hard on all his inventions, despite opposition from his would-be mentor, Thomas Edison. He succeeded in developing the alternating current even in such a situation, and also invented many smart machines still in use today.

He was a man of many eccentricities. He liked to display his inventions with flair. Some of his famous shows include demonstrating the AC current at the Chicago World Fair and using the energy from Niagara Falls to produce electricity for New York. The stories and their aftermath are discussed engagingly in this interesting book.

The book narrates the incident almost like a storybook, which are aptly supported with bright attractive pictures of the inventions. This biography is an important addition to the many books written on the great man.

• Authors : Elizabeth Rusch (Author), Oliver Dominguez (Illustrator)
• Publisher : Candlewick; Illustrated Edition (September 8, 2015)
• Pages : 56 pages

16. Tesla: The Life and Times of an Electric Messiah (Oxford People)

With a great mind come greater challenges. Tesla is widely known as the inventor of the alternating current we use today. He is also responsible for radio signals, robots, fluorescent lights and several other modern everyday items that we take for granted.

However, few know the unique challenges he faced for being a misunderstood genius in his time. Although he had a photographic memory and could do complicated calculus and physics calculations in his head, he also suffered from hallucinations and what would today be diagnosed as obsessive compulsive disorder.

This book offers a unique perspective on how difficult life is for extraordinary minds. The challenges faced by geniuses such as Tesla cannot be comprehended by the common man. This book is therefore a must-read for those who sympathise with the modern ‘mad scientists’.

• Authors : Nigel Cawthorne (Author)
• Publisher : Chartwell Books; Illustrated Edition (April 5, 2014)
• Pages : 192 pages

17. Nikola Tesla: Lectures and Patents

This volume is a compilation for skilled scientist for their reference and information. It contains several of Tesla’s lectures which he gave to explain his discoveries and inventions, and also lists many of his patented designs.

There are five high-interest lectures included where Tesla talks about his work on high frequency technologies, high voltage machines, oscillators and other related machineries. These fascinating lectures are followed by 112 patents which Tesla had registered at the Patent Office of United States. These are organised categorically and chronologically, and include electricity producing motors, circuitry, aircrafts and wireless telecommunication devices.

This book is ideal for those who want to focus on Tesla’s amazing work. It is high level writing targeted for those learned readers who understand the technical aspects of Tesla’s inventions.

• Authors : Nikola Tesla (Author), Vojin Popovic (Author), Radoslav Horvat (Author), Nikola Nikolic (Author), Rodoljub Colakovic (Introduction)
• Publisher : CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1st Edition (December 1, 2014)
• Pages : 736 pages

18. Inventions Researches & Writings Nikola

This book records the many, many inventions, research and narratives of the great scientist. His working on inventing technologies like the electricity we have today, the various motor designs, wireless transmissions, X-rays etc. are exemplary and are stated in this book in detail.

His findings in the field of engineering are quite astonishing, unique to the point where scientists are baffled even today. His intelligence outshined many geniuses of the times, and it was for this reason he has been misunderstood, envied and even shunned by the science community.

This beautiful compilation lists many of his working papers, inventions and ideas, which form a fascinating read for the scientists of today. Few men are as gifted as Tesla was and his futuristic work is valid proof of that.

19. Nikola Tesla: My Life, My Research

An engaging autobiography, this book talks about everything the history books did not. Tesla was not understood or cherished during his life, or even later. This meant that his work was either ignored by historians or credited to someone else. As unfair as it was to him, there is little the modern world could do to correct that.

This autobiography was an attempt by the great scientist himself to put right the misconceptions surrounding his life. He talks about his work and inventions as well as his role in developing many innovative technologies in use today, like electricity, wireless transmission and fluorescent lights, to name a few.

This book is divided into three main parts: his autobiography, his major research work and several good quality images of some of his life’s main events and highlights.

• Publisher : CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1st Edition (June 30, 2014)
• Pages : 336 pages

20. The Wall of Light: Nikola Tesla and the X-12 Spaceship

Nikola Tesla was an eccentric believer of the extra-terrestrial. He claimed to see and hear voices and even have met alien lifeforms. One of these meetings has been described in this book by his friend, the author.

Tesla claimed to have met a couple from Venus, “Frank and Frances”, who are claimed to be Commander Thor and his wife Deena. The author gives an account of this meeting and the incidents that followed. It was believed that his work was influenced by this meeting encounter, and the author has focused on this belief while narrating the happenings.

Although there are many who do not believe in the existence of extra-terrestrial life, and therefore disregard this book as being a work of fiction, several also claim that Tesla himself was out of his world because of his unique genius.

• Authors : Arthur H. Matthews (Author), Gray Barker (Author), Nikola Tesla (Contributor)
• Publisher : CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (February 27, 2017)
• Pages : 146 pages

Choosing the Best Nikola Tesla Books

Nikola Tesla was a true visionary, a genius scientist and an unfairly treated inventor. He has been robbed of his due credit to his inventions like electricity, radio and modern telecommunication. His inventions and work have long been buried under the history books of the more famous names like Thomas Edison and Marconi, discovered and acknowledged only recently. If his published works gave us electricity, radio and the internet, who knows what wonders and miracles his unpublished papers are capable of giving he modern world!

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Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius

“The story of one of the most prolific, independent, and iconoclastic inventors of this century . . . fascinating.”—Scientific American Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), credited as the inspiration for radio, robots, and even radar, has been called the patron saint of modern electricity. Based on original material and previously unavailable documents, this acclaimed book is the definitive biography of the man considered by many to be the founding father of modern electrical technology. Among Tesla’s creations were the channeling of alternating current, fluorescent and neon lighting, wireless telegraphy, and the giant turbines that harnessed the power of Niagara Falls. This essential biography is illustrated with sixteen pages of photographs, including the July 20, 1931, Time magazine cover for an issue celebrating the inventor’s career. “Wizard is a truly remarkable biography of a remarkable man. The expression ‘ahead of his time’ is used too loosely and too often today but in the case of Nikola Tesla ‘ahead of his time’ barely describes the genius of this man. Marc Seifer makes us understand not only the man but the times in which he lived.”—Nelson DeMille “A deep and comprehensive biography of a great engineer of early electrical science—likely to become the definitive biography. Highly recommended.”—American Association for the Advancement of Science “Vivid, revelatory . . . the fullest account yet of Tesla as an entrepreneur, experimental physicist and inventor.”—Publishers Weekly

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History of Science & Knowledge

Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age

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

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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.

Awards and Recognition

• Winner of the 2015 Sally Hacker Prize, Society for the History of Technology
• Winner of the 2015 IEEE William and Joyce Middleton Electrical Engineering History Award, History Committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
• One of Amazon.com’s 2013 Best Science Books
• One of Booklist Online’s Top 10 Science & Health Books for 2013
• One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2013
• One of The Guardian’s Best Popular Physical Science Books of 2014, chosen by GrrlScientist
• Honorable Mention for the 2013 PROSE Award in Biography & Autobiography, Association of American Publishers
• Longlisted for the 2014 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books

"[An] assiduous, endlessly patient biography. . . . In Carlson's eyes, Tesla's relationship with modernity in all its forms—its fixation with progress and explanation, capital and connection, but also its fragmentation of narrative and self—is more complex and revealing than even the conspiracy nuts have imagined."—Richard Barnett, London Review of Books

"Carlson takes a historian's approach to piecing together Tesla's life. He resists the temptation to focus only on Tesla's persona as an eccentric genius with a flair for drama. . . . Instead, Carlson sets out to answer three questions: 'How did Tesla invent? How did his inventions work? And what happened as he introduced his inventions?'"—Maggie Fazeli Fard, Washington Post

"Impressive."—Graham Farmelo, Daily Telegraph

"Carlson deftly weaves the many threads of Tesla's story."—Nicola Davis, Times

"Run, don't walk, to buy this book for the Nikola Tesla cultist in your life. . . . [Carlson] is the first trained academic historian of technology to approach this topic, and he snaps the intense, romantic Serb back into his proper context."—Colby Cosh, Maclean's Magazine

"Splendid."—Jon Turney, Times Higher Education

"Superb. . . . Carlson brings to life Tesla's extravagant self-promotion, as well as his eccentricity and innate talents, revealing him as a celebrity-inventor of the 'second industrial revolution' to rival Thomas Alva Edison."—W. Patrick McCray, Nature

"Carlson sheds light on the man and plenty of his inventions. . . . [An] electric portrait."— Publishers Weekly

"An enjoyable biography."—Brian Clegg, Popular Science

"Eminently readable, it provides a balanced examination of the man and his work, focusing particularly on Tesla's distinctive style of invention."— Natural History

"Carefully researched and thoughtfully written. . . . Clearly surpassing earlier accounts, [this] will be the gold standard for Tesla biography."—Thomas J. Misa, Science

"A scholarly, critical, mostly illuminating study of the life and work of the great Serbian inventor."— Kirkus Reviews

"Carlson provides not only a more detailed explanation of Tesla's science but also a more focused psychological account of Tesla's inventive process than do his predecessors. Carlson also surpasses his predecessors in showing how Tesla promoted his inventions by creating luminous illusions of progress, prosperity, and peace, illusions so strong that they finally unhinge their creator. An exceptional fusion of technical analysis of revolutionary devices and imaginative sympathy for a lacerated ego."—Bryce Christensen, Booklist

"This is a fascinating glimpse into the life of a monumental inventor whose impact on our contemporary world is all too unfamiliar to the general public. Carlson relates the science behind Tesla's inventions with a judicial balance that will engage both the novice and the academic alike. Highly recommended to serious biography buffs and to readers of scientific subjects."—Brian Odom, Library Journal

"Required reading for any would-be innovator."—Christine Evans-Pughe, Engineering and Technology

"Carlson has written an exhaustive biography of Tesla, remarkable for its breadth and thoroughness. He explores and details all his major inventions, providing illustrations and in some cases even reproductions of the patent applications. This is as fair and balanced a biography of Tesla as one could hope for, no mean feat for a man so full of contradictions."—Gino Segre, Physics in Perspective

"A balanced and nuanced scholarly treatment of Tesla in the technical and social contexts of his time. . . . Carlson's easy-to-read style and almost flawless exposition of technical matters will make this book attractive for everyone from general readers to engineers and historians. It is well illustrated and indexed with extensive footnotes. This book is likely to become the standard scholarly biography of Tesla for decades to come."— Choice

"Since the death of Nikola Tesla in 1943, his life has deserved a worthy biography. Bernard Carlson has delivered that in Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age , which portrays Tesla as intensely human. . . . Anyone, whether simply an interested reader or a professional historian, engineer, or physicist, will finish Tesla with a deepened understanding of his world, character, and accomplishments."—Robert Rosenberg, Physics Today

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

"The author Bernard Carlson has put a herculean effort in presenting a detailed biographical study of one of the greatest engineer-scientists of human history, Nikola Tesla. . . . The book may be treated as a benchmark by future biographers of inventors and scientists."—Mainak Sengupta, Current Science

"It is a very readable work and presents the whole picture of Tesla both as an electrical wizard and as a human being with all the associated foibles. I particularly liked the way Carlson interspersed the narrative with commentary on the inventive process, the role of illusion, and the social implications of his technologies on bringing about positive changes in society as a whole. If you wish to read a factual book about Tesla, this is the one."—Eric P. Wenaas, IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

"[Readers] will certainly see this volume as an indispensable guide to one of the most fascinating yet controversial and misunderstood innovators of the modern era."—Graeme Gooday, Metascience

"[A] masterly study of the man and his work, explaining how business interests as well as scientific curiosity drove Tesla. Carlson shows how engineers, just as much as artists, benefit from creativity, imagination and idealism."—Roger Backhouse, Journal of the Society of Model & Experimental Engineers

"The most objective and balanced Tesla biography to date."—Tibi Puiu, ZME Science

" Tesla is a tour de force of sound scholarship and cogent analysis that brings to life one of the most eccentric and enigmatic characters in the history of technology."—Michael Brian Schiffer, Register of The Kentucky Historical Society

"An eminently readable history that, while avoiding hagiography, reconstructs the intellectual development of one of history's great electrical inventors and the social contexts in which he worked."—Benjamin Gross, Chemical Heritage

"Carlson's book is likely the definitive biography of Tesla. It is a challenging read, but a rewarding one. It also contributes in the wider context to the reinvention of scientific biography as a prism of cultural history."—Guillaume de Syon, Canadian Journal of History

"Carlson has written an outstanding work, exhibiting a true understanding of the complex person who was Nikola Tesla. The book is alternatively uplifting—as it reveals how Tesla's mind worked, creating prototypes of inventions which have changed the world—and heartbreaking. . . . The book is much more than a biography, as Carlson examines the art of invention as it applied to Tesla. He skillfully weaves into the narrative insights as to why Tesla approached his work in the way he did."—John Bowditch, Technology and Culture

"An indispensable guide to one of the most fascinating yet controversial and misunderstood innovators of the modern era."—Graeme Gooday, Metascience

"[ Tesla ] sheds light on many misconceptions perpetuated in some popular Tesla biographies."— Nexus Magazine

"The problem for any biographer is that there are really two distinctly different Nikola Teslas. One is the towering genius shunned by the ignorant establishment, whose greatest works are still suppressed; this is the Tesla adored by the alternative science community and the popular media. . . . The other Tesla is the miserable failed inventor whose great plans and endless boasts came to nothing. . . . Carlson manages the impressive feat of steering a middle course between these two."—David Hambling, Fortean Times

"The great strength of Carlson's biography is that, throughout his account of these complex developments, he tries to evaluate Tesla’s work and behaviour without falling into the twin perils of hero-worship or skepticism. . . . Carlson’s biography not only provides us with an account of a man whose achievements amazed the world and contributed significantly to the emergence of the electrical age. It is also provides valuable insights into the way in which innovation can be projected into the popular media and arouse the interest of financiers."—Peter J. Bowler, European Legacy

"The great strength of Carlson's biography is that, throughout his account of these complex developments, he tries to evaluate Tesla’s work and behaviour without falling into the twin perils of hero-worship or skepticism. . . . Carlson’s biography not only provides us with an account of a man whose achievements amazed the world and contributed significantly to the emergence of the electrical age. It is also provides valuable insights into the way in which innovation can be projected into the popular media and arouse the interest of financiers."—Peter J. Bowler, European Legacy

"Carlson has written a serious, rigorous book grounded in the academic history of technology, but also a page-turner that any fan of Tesla will enjoy."—Robert MacDougall, Western University

"Nikola Tesla, like one of his oscillators, flickered between different states so quickly that they can easily blur. Carlson captures this extraordinary, contradictory life—inventor, futurist visionary, showman, and, at times, ranting narcissist. We get to see how Tesla scrambled like mad, built with ambition, and in his later efforts failed monumentally. Here is a book that guides us through this wild ride with empathy and without hagiography."—Peter Galison, Harvard University

"Combining archival research with the latest scholarship from the history of technology, Carlson has written the balanced, scholarly biography that Nikola Tesla has long deserved. This is the definitive study of his life and work."—David E. Nye, University of Southern Denmark

"Most biographies of Tesla lack technical background and are uncritical and adulatory in their approach. Carlson's perspective as a historian—particularly a historian of technology—is indispensable for understanding Tesla's place in the rapidly changing American society of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His style is engaging and accessible, and the book will clearly be of value to the historical community."—Bernard S. Finn, curator emeritus, Smithsonian Institution

" Tesla is a tour de force of scholarship and analysis. This is the definitive work on Tesla that brings to light much new information about his life, his inventions, and the changing socioeconomic context in which he worked. Carlson has mined the primary sources to an unprecedented depth and breadth. The book is nothing less than extraordinary."—Michael Brian Schiffer, author of Power Struggles: Scientific Authority and the Creation of Practical Electricity before Edison

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The 5 Best Books on Nikola Tesla

Essential books on nikola tesla.

There are numerous books on Nikola Tesla, and it comes with good reason, he made significant contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system, as well as conducted a range of experiments with mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, and early X-ray imaging.

“My brain is only a receiver, in the Universe there is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength, and inspiration. I have not penetrated into the secrets of this core, but I know that it exists,” he remarked.

In order to get to the bottom of what inspired one of history’s most consequential figures to the heights of societal contribution, we’ve compiled a list of the 5 best books on Nikola Tesla.

Wizard by Marc J. Seifer

Nikola Tesla, credited as the inspiration for radio, robots, and even radar, has been called the patron saint of modern electricity. Based on original material and previously unavailable documents, this acclaimed book is the definitive biography of the man considered by many to be the founding father of modern electrical technology. Among Tesla’s creations were the channeling of alternating current, fluorescent and neon lighting, wireless telegraphy, and the giant turbines that harnessed the power of Niagara Falls.

My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was a prophet of the electronic age. His research laid much of the groundwork for modern electrical and communication systems, and his impressive accomplishments include the development of the alternating-current electrical system, radio, the Tesla coil transformer, wireless transmission, and fluorescent lighting.

Tesla’s research was so groundbreaking that many of his contemporaries failed to understand it, and other scientists are unjustly credited for his innovations.

The visionary scientist speaks for himself in this volume, originally published in 1919 as a six-part series in Electrical Experimenter magazine. Tesla recounts his boyhood in Croatia, his schooling and work in Europe, his collaboration with Thomas Edison, and his subsequent research. Written with wit and elan, this memoir offers fascinating insights into one of the great minds of modern science.

The Problem of Increasing Human Energy by Nikola Tesla

Part philosophical ponderings on humanity’s relationship to the universe, part scientific extrapolation on what technological advancement might bring to that understanding, this long essay, first published in Century Illustrated Magazine in June 1900, is yet another example of the genius of Nikola Tesla, the revolutionary scientist who forever changed the scientific fields of electricity and magnetism.

From the possibilities presented by robotics to the “civilizing potency of aluminum,” from a “self-acting engine” to one of the first proposals to use solar power to run industrial civilization, and much more, this is a wide-ranging but illuminating look into the thoughts of an unsung hero of scientific philosophy.

The Inventions, Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla’s pioneering work in electrical engineering represented the state of the art when this summary of his research and inventions was published in 1893, and the book became a foundational treatise for students of the subject. This handsomely produced reprint is a facsimile of the original with a brief biography of Tesla followed by chapters describing his experiments and discoveries, including the alternating current technologies for which he is best known.

Prodigal Genius by John J. O’Neill

Even the gods of old, in the wildest imaginings of their worshipers, never undertook such gigantic tasks of worldwide dimension as those which Tesla attempted and accomplished. The subject of this biography was a close friend of Pulitzer Prize-winning author John J. O’Neill, and here, O’Neill captures the man as a scientist and as a public figure, exploring how Tesla’s father inspired his life in engineering, why he clung to his theories of electricity in the face of opposition, his friendship with Mark Twain, the story of his lost Nobel Prize, and his dabblings in the paranormal.

If you enjoyed this guide to essential books on Nikola Tesla, check out our list of The 10 Best Books on Thomas Edison !

Nikola Tesla

Serbian American scientist Nikola Tesla invented the Tesla coil and alternating-current (AC) electricity, in addition to discovering the rotating magnetic field.

Quick Facts

When was nikola tesla born, nikola tesla and thomas edison, solo venture, how did nikola tesla die, legacy: movies, electric car, and wardenclyffe tower renovation, who was nikola tesla.

Engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla designed the alternating-current (AC) electric system, which is the predominant electrical system used across the world today. He also created the “Tesla coil” that is still used in radio technology. Born in modern-day Croatia, Tesla immigrated to the United States in 1884 and briefly worked with Thomas Edison before the two parted ways. The Serbian American sold several patent rights, including those to his AC machinery, to George Westinghouse . Tesla died at age 86 in January 1943, but his legacy lives on through his inventions and the electric car company Tesla that’s named in his honor.

FULL NAME: Nikola Tesla BORN: July 10, 1856 DIED: January 7, 1943 BIRTHPLACE: Smiljan, Croatia ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer

Tesla was born on July 10, 1856, in the Austrian Empire town of Smiljan that is now part of Croatia.

He was one of five children, including siblings Dane, Angelina, Milka, and Marica. Nikola’s interest in electrical invention was spurred by his mother, Djuka Mandic, who invented small household appliances in her spare time while her son was growing up.

Tesla’s father, Milutin Tesla, was a Serbian orthodox priest and a writer, and he pushed for his son to join the priesthood. But Nikola’s interests lay squarely in the sciences.

Tesla received quite a bit of education. He studied at the Realschule, Karlstadt (later renamed the Johann-Rudolph-Glauber Realschule Karlstadt) in Germany; the Polytechnic Institute in Graz, Austria; and the University of Prague during the 1870s.

After university, Tesla moved to Budapest, Hungary, where for a time he worked at the Central Telephone Exchange. It was while in Budapest that the idea for the induction motor first came to Tesla, but after several years of trying to gain interest in his invention, at age 28, Tesla decided to leave Europe for America.

In 1884, Tesla arrived in the United States with little more than the clothes on his back and a letter of introduction to famed inventor and business mogul Thomas Edison , whose DC-based electrical works were fast becoming the standard in the country. Edison hired Tesla, and the two men were soon working tirelessly alongside each other, making improvements to Edison’s inventions.

Several months later, the two parted ways due to a conflicting business-scientific relationship , attributed by historians to their incredibly different personalities. While Edison was a power figure who focused on marketing and financial success, Tesla was commercially out-of-touch and somewhat vulnerable. Their feud would continue to affect Tesla’s career.

In 1885, Tesla received funding for the Tesla Electric Light Company and was tasked by his investors to develop improved arc lighting. After successfully doing so, however, Tesla was forced out of the venture and, for a time, had to work as a manual laborer in order to survive. His luck changed two years later when he received funding for his new Tesla Electric Company.

Throughout his career, Tesla discovered, designed, and developed ideas for a number of important inventions—most of which were officially patented by other inventors—including dynamos (electrical generators similar to batteries) and the induction motor.

He was also a pioneer in the discovery of radar technology, X-ray technology, remote control, and the rotating magnetic field—the basis of most AC machinery. Tesla is most well-known for his contributions in AC electricity and for the Tesla coil.

AC Electrical System

Tesla designed the alternating-current (AC) electrical system, which quickly became the preeminent power system of the 20 th century and has remained the worldwide standard ever since. In 1887, Tesla found funding for his new Tesla Electric Company, and by the end of the year, he had successfully filed several patents for AC-based inventions.

Tesla’s AC system soon caught the attention of American engineer and businessman George Westinghouse , who was seeking a solution to supplying the nation with long-distance power. Convinced that Tesla’s inventions would help him achieve this, in 1888, he purchased his patents for $60,000 in cash and stock in the Westinghouse Corporation.

As interest in an AC system grew, Tesla and Westinghouse were put in direct competition with Thomas Edison , who was intent on selling his direct-current (DC) system to the nation. A negative press campaign was soon waged by Edison, in an attempt to undermine interest in AC power.

Unfortunately for Edison, the Westinghouse Corporation was chosen to supply the lighting at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and Tesla conducted demonstrations of his AC system there.

Hydroelectric Power Plant

In 1895, Tesla designed what was among the first AC hydroelectric power plants in the United States, at Niagara Falls. The following year, it was used to power the city of Buffalo, New York—a feat that was highly publicized throughout the world and helped further AC electricity’s path to becoming the world’s power system.

In the late 19 th century, Tesla patented the Tesla coil, which laid the foundation for wireless technologies and is still used in radio technology today. The heart of an electrical circuit, the Tesla coil is an inductor used in many early radio transmission antennas.

The coil works with a capacitor to resonate current and voltage from a power source across the circuit. Tesla used his coil to study fluorescence, x-rays, radio, wireless power, and electromagnetism in the earth and its atmosphere.

Wireless Power and Wardenclyffe Tower

Having become obsessed with the wireless transmission of energy, around 1900, Tesla set to work on his boldest project yet: to build a global, wireless communication system transmitted through a large electrical tower that would enable information sharing and provide free energy throughout the world.

With funding from a group of investors that included financial giant J. P. Morgan , Tesla began work on the free energy project in earnest in 1901. He designed and built a lab with a power plant and a massive transmission tower on a site on Long Island, New York, that became known as Wardenclyffe.

However, doubts arose among his investors about the plausibility of Tesla’s system. As his rival, Guglielmo Marconi —with the financial support of Andrew Carnegie and Thomas Edison —continued to make great advances with his own radio technologies, Tesla had no choice but to abandon the project.

The Wardenclyffe staff was laid off in 1906, and by 1915, the site had fallen into foreclosure. Two years later, Tesla declared bankruptcy, and the tower was dismantled and sold for scrap to help pay the debts he had accrued.

After suffering a nervous breakdown following the closure of his wireless power project, Tesla eventually returned to work, primarily as a consultant. But as time went on, his ideas became progressively more outlandish and impractical. He grew increasingly eccentric, devoting much of his time to the care of wild pigeons in the parks of New York City . Tesla even drew the attention of the FBI with his talk of building a powerful “death ray,” which had received some interest from the Soviet Union during World War II.

Poor and reclusive, Tesla died of coronary thrombosis on January 7, 1943, at the age of 86 in New York City, where he had lived for nearly 60 years.

The legacy of Tesla’s work lives on to this day. In 1994, a street sign identifying “Nikola Tesla Corner” was installed near the site of his former New York City laboratory, at the intersection of 40 th Street and 6 th Avenue.

Several movies have highlighted Tesla’s life and famous works, most notably:

• The Secret of Nikola Tesla , a 1980 biographical film starring Orson Welles as J. P. Morgan .
• Nikola Tesla, The Genius Who Lit the World , a 1994 documentary produced by the Tesla Memorial Society and the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, Serbia.
• The Prestige , a 2006 fictional film about two magicians directed by Christopher Nolan , with rock star David Bowie portraying Tesla.

In 2003, a group of engineers founded Tesla Motors, a car company named after Tesla dedicated to building the first fully electric-powered car. Entrepreneur and engineer Elon Musk contributed over $30 million to Tesla in 2004 and serves as the company’s co-founder and CEO.

Tesla Motors unveiled its first electric car, the Roadster, in 2008. A high-performance sports vehicle, the Roadster helped changed the perception of what electric cars could be. In 2014, Tesla launched the Model S, a lower-priced model that, in 2017, set the MotorTrend world record for 0 to 60 miles per hour acceleration at 2.28 seconds. The company’s designs showed that an electric car could have the same performance as gasoline-powered sports car brands like Porsche and Lamborghini.

Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe

Since Tesla’s original forfeiture of his free energy project, ownership of the Wardenclyffe property has passed through numerous hands. Several attempts have been made to preserve it, but efforts to declare it a national historic site failed in 1967, 1976, and 1994.

Then, in 2008, a group called the Tesla Science Center (TSC) was formed with the intention of purchasing the property and turning it into a museum dedicated to the inventor’s work. In 2009, the Wardenclyffe site went on the market for nearly $1.6 million, and for the next several years, the TSC worked diligently to raise funds for its purchase. In 2012, public interest in the project peaked when Matthew Inman of TheOatmeal.com collaborated with the TSC in an Internet fundraising effort, ultimately receiving enough contributions to acquire the site in May 2013.

Wardenclyffe Tower finally joined the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. Work on its restoration is still in progress. A $20 million redevelopment broke ground in April 2023, but those efforts were complicated by large fire that November. The site is closed to the public “for the foreseeable future” for reasons of safety and preservation, according to the Tesla Science Center.

• Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more.
• I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men.
• The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.

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My inventions : the autobiography of Nikola Tesla

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My Inventions, Autobiography of Nikola Tesla [Paperback] Nikola Tesla Paperback – 1 February 2021

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• Nikola Tesla's personal account of his life, inventions, and discoveries
• Provides insights into the mind of a scientific genius and his revolutionary ideas
• Chronicles Tesla's groundbreaking contributions to electrical engineering and technology
• Reveals Tesla's fascinating vision for wireless power transmission and other groundbreaking concepts
• A captivating and inspiring read for science enthusiasts, inventors, and admirers of Nikola Tesla's genius
• Book 1 of 1 The Unabridged Tesla
• Print length 104 pages
• Language English
• Dimensions 12.7 x 19.69 x 1.5 cm
• Publisher Fingerprint! Publishing
• Publication date 1 February 2021
• ISBN-10 9354401473
• ISBN-13 978-9354401473
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Fingerprint! Publishing (1 February 2021); Prakash Books India Pvt Ltd, 113A, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002, +9111-23265358
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 104 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9354401473
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9354401473
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ Customer suggested age: 14 years and up
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 200 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.7 x 19.69 x 1.5 cm
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ India
• Net Quantity ‏ : ‎ 1 count
• Importer ‏ : ‎ Prakash Books India Pvt Ltd
• Packer ‏ : ‎ Prakash Books India Pvt Ltd
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