Books like Tesla by Margaret Cheney

A comprehensive, first‑hand account of Nikola Tesla’s inventions, compiled from his own notes and documents.

Nikola Tesla, an inventor and electric engineer whose breakthrough contributions—radio, electric induction motors, remote control—shaped modern technology, remains underappreciated. Richard Munson offers a detailed, balanced biographical portrait of the visionary.

Wizard: The Life of Nikola Tesla

The world at the turn of the 20th century was in the throes of "Marconi-mania" - brought on by an incredible invention that no one could quite explain, and by a dapper and eccentric figure (who would one day win the newly minted Nobel Prize) at the centre of it all. At a time when the telephone, telegraph and electricity made the whole world wonder just what science would think of next, the startling answer had come in 1896 in the form of two mysterious wooden boxes containing a device one Guglielmo Marconi had rigged up to transmit messages "through the ether". It was the birth of the radio, and no scientist in Europe or America, not even Marconi himself, could at first explain how it worked. It just did. And no one knew how far these radio waves could travel, until 1903, when a message from President Theodore Roosevelt to the king of England flashed from Cape Cod to Cornwall clear across the Atlantic. This volume is a rich portrait of the man and his era - and a captivating tale of science and scientists, business and businessmen. There are stories of British blowhards, American con artists - and Marconi himself: a character par excellence, who eventually winds up a virtual prisoner of his worldwide fame and fortune.

Tesla was an eccentric genius who out Edisoned Edison and out Marconied Marconi. Born of modest means in what is now Croatia and later becoming a naturalized American citizen, Tesla's inventions include the alternating current (AC) that powers our homes today, radio, wireless transmission, Xrays, and the electrifying Tesla coil. He even worked on development of direct energy weapons (death rays) and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. During his lifetime Tesla moved first to Paris, then to New York, and after a period of time in Colorado Springs back to New York City where he maintained two laboratories. Along the way he worked for Edison, then became his biggest rival, and formed friendships with such divergent personalities as George Westinghouse, Mark Twain, a pigeon, all while reflecting on a childhood cat. His idiosyncrasies included an obsession with numbers divisible by three, ardent gambling, and a near pathological fear of germs. He rarely slept more than a few hours at a time, often going days without rest. While generally soft spoken, he could be a consummate showman, often insisting that his Tesla coil be present while he lectured, seemingly shooting lightning bolts as he spoke. In the end he died alone and nearly penniless, having ceded perhaps billions of dollars in royalties to his friend George Westinghouse. This illustrated book takes us through Tesla's life, his experiments and contributions to science, and brings us into his complex mind. Through ample use of his writings and interviews with the societies and inventors clubs that honor his name, we explore Tesla's methods and discoveries, personality quirks, and his legacy for the modern world - both scientific and popular culture.