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My Inventions and Other Writings
The fascinating autobiography of the legendary inventor behind the radio, wireless energy, robotics, and much more.
Famous for his pioneering contributions to the electronic age, his lifelong feud with Thomas Edison, and his erratic behavior, Nikola Tesla was one of the most brilliant and daring inventors and visionaries of his time. My Inventions is Tesla's autobiography, with meditations on his major discoveries and innovations, including the rotating magnetic field, the magnifying transmitter, and the Tesla coil. This volume also includes three articles by Tesla, as well as an enlightening introduction that discredits many of the myths surrounding the thinker's eccentric life. This rare window into the industrial age's most tragic genius will fascinate historians, scientists, aspiring inventors, and curious fans alike.
Famous for his pioneering contributions to the electronic age, his lifelong feud with Thomas Edison, and his erratic behavior, Nikola Tesla was one of the most brilliant and daring inventors and visionaries of his time. My Inventions is Tesla's autobiography, with meditations on his major discoveries and innovations, including the rotating magnetic field, the magnifying transmitter, and the Tesla coil. This volume also includes three articles by Tesla, as well as an enlightening introduction that discredits many of the myths surrounding the thinker's eccentric life. This rare window into the industrial age's most tragic genius will fascinate historians, scientists, aspiring inventors, and curious fans alike.
167 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1919
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About the author
Nikola Tesla
288Ìýbooks1,393ÌýfollowersNikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist. He is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.
Born and raised in the Austrian Empire, Tesla first studied engineering and physics in the 1870s without receiving a degree. He then gained practical experience in the early 1880s working in telephony and at Continental Edison in the new electric power industry. In 1884 he emigrated to the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen. He worked for a short time at the Edison Machine Works in New York City before he struck out on his own. With the help of partners to finance and market his ideas, Tesla set up laboratories and companies in New York to develop a range of electrical and mechanical devices. His AC induction motor and related polyphase AC patents, licensed by Westinghouse Electric in 1888, earned him a considerable amount of money and became the cornerstone of the polyphase system which that company eventually marketed.
Attempting to develop inventions he could patent and market, Tesla conducted a range of experiments with mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, and early X-ray imaging. He also built a wirelessly controlled boat, one of the first ever exhibited. Tesla became well known as an inventor and demonstrated his achievements to celebrities and wealthy patrons at his lab, and was noted for his showmanship at public lectures. Throughout the 1890s, Tesla pursued his ideas for wireless lighting and worldwide wireless electric power distribution in his high-voltage, high-frequency power experiments in New York and Colorado Springs. In 1893, he made pronouncements on the possibility of wireless communication with his devices. Tesla tried to put these ideas to practical use in his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project, an intercontinental wireless communication and power transmitter, but ran out of funding before he could complete it.
After Wardenclyffe, Tesla experimented with a series of inventions in the 1910s and 1920s with varying degrees of success. Having spent most of his money, Tesla lived in a series of New York hotels, leaving behind unpaid bills. He died in New York City in January 1943. Tesla's work fell into relative obscurity following his death, until 1960, when the General Conference on Weights and Measures named the International System of Units (SI) measurement of magnetic flux density the tesla in his honor. There has been a resurgence in popular interest in Tesla since the 1990s.
Born and raised in the Austrian Empire, Tesla first studied engineering and physics in the 1870s without receiving a degree. He then gained practical experience in the early 1880s working in telephony and at Continental Edison in the new electric power industry. In 1884 he emigrated to the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen. He worked for a short time at the Edison Machine Works in New York City before he struck out on his own. With the help of partners to finance and market his ideas, Tesla set up laboratories and companies in New York to develop a range of electrical and mechanical devices. His AC induction motor and related polyphase AC patents, licensed by Westinghouse Electric in 1888, earned him a considerable amount of money and became the cornerstone of the polyphase system which that company eventually marketed.
Attempting to develop inventions he could patent and market, Tesla conducted a range of experiments with mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, and early X-ray imaging. He also built a wirelessly controlled boat, one of the first ever exhibited. Tesla became well known as an inventor and demonstrated his achievements to celebrities and wealthy patrons at his lab, and was noted for his showmanship at public lectures. Throughout the 1890s, Tesla pursued his ideas for wireless lighting and worldwide wireless electric power distribution in his high-voltage, high-frequency power experiments in New York and Colorado Springs. In 1893, he made pronouncements on the possibility of wireless communication with his devices. Tesla tried to put these ideas to practical use in his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project, an intercontinental wireless communication and power transmitter, but ran out of funding before he could complete it.
After Wardenclyffe, Tesla experimented with a series of inventions in the 1910s and 1920s with varying degrees of success. Having spent most of his money, Tesla lived in a series of New York hotels, leaving behind unpaid bills. He died in New York City in January 1943. Tesla's work fell into relative obscurity following his death, until 1960, when the General Conference on Weights and Measures named the International System of Units (SI) measurement of magnetic flux density the tesla in his honor. There has been a resurgence in popular interest in Tesla since the 1990s.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
February 20, 2020
“Of all things, I liked books best.�
Tesla was a bit of an enigma. He clearly operated in a way that most men couldn’t handle. He spent so much of his time alone, detached from society and all others; yet, he created some incredible things that altered civilisation as we know it.
This quote here sums up much of his dealings with people:
The real tragedy of his life and work is that so few people know of his enduring legacy. And he seems so removed from his time. His ideas were brilliant and innovative, and there were probably very few people he could discuss them with. He saw the world in ways most people wouldn’t imagine. He had crazy visions for the future. Imagine if he was alive today. The things he could accomplish with the tech we now have would be astonishing. Reading his words made me realise how unique an individual he was.
“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success . . . Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.�
He describes the way his mind works with powerful clarity. And if anyone else were writing it I would doubt their sanity. He never used blueprints or models to project his ideas, instead preferring to perfect his inventions in his mind until he turned them into reality, which is, in itself, an astonishing feat. He was also a environmentalist and feared for the future, a future where we had exploited and extinguished all our natural resources.
However, the surface level of his prose is not the most engaging. His writing has no real flare or energy; his ideas do, but his words do not convey them with any particular passion. And that’s a real shame. He clearly wasn’t any sort of orator or the type who could sway with the power of language. He put all his stock into what he could actually show people. He was serious, persistent and determined and that all comes through here.
As such it’s an interesting read, and certainly a bit of a curiosity, though it is a little bit of a slog even for a short book.
Tesla was a bit of an enigma. He clearly operated in a way that most men couldn’t handle. He spent so much of his time alone, detached from society and all others; yet, he created some incredible things that altered civilisation as we know it.
This quote here sums up much of his dealings with people:
The real tragedy of his life and work is that so few people know of his enduring legacy. And he seems so removed from his time. His ideas were brilliant and innovative, and there were probably very few people he could discuss them with. He saw the world in ways most people wouldn’t imagine. He had crazy visions for the future. Imagine if he was alive today. The things he could accomplish with the tech we now have would be astonishing. Reading his words made me realise how unique an individual he was.
“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success . . . Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.�
He describes the way his mind works with powerful clarity. And if anyone else were writing it I would doubt their sanity. He never used blueprints or models to project his ideas, instead preferring to perfect his inventions in his mind until he turned them into reality, which is, in itself, an astonishing feat. He was also a environmentalist and feared for the future, a future where we had exploited and extinguished all our natural resources.
However, the surface level of his prose is not the most engaging. His writing has no real flare or energy; his ideas do, but his words do not convey them with any particular passion. And that’s a real shame. He clearly wasn’t any sort of orator or the type who could sway with the power of language. He put all his stock into what he could actually show people. He was serious, persistent and determined and that all comes through here.
As such it’s an interesting read, and certainly a bit of a curiosity, though it is a little bit of a slog even for a short book.
December 5, 2016
Introduction
A Note on the Text
--My Inventions
--Tesla Would Pour Lightning from Airships to Consume Foe
--The Action of the Eye
--The Problem of Increasing Human Energy: With Special Reference to the Harnessing of the Sun's Energy
A Note on the Text
--My Inventions
--Tesla Would Pour Lightning from Airships to Consume Foe
--The Action of the Eye
--The Problem of Increasing Human Energy: With Special Reference to the Harnessing of the Sun's Energy
September 9, 2021
99.99% of people believe in the concept of veracity via consensus i.e. if the majority of "scientists" believe in something that makes it true, contrary proof notwithstanding. Tesla was considered a "maverick" (today he would simply be labeled a "moron") because he was a real scientist who depended on empirical evidence through experimentation and observation with subsequent objective proof. Take his rejection of the notion that the Moon rotates on its axis. Everyone knows that the Moon rotates on its axis, because 99.99% of people (including "scientists") believe it is so. Therefore, it is so (to believe differently would be "moronic"), and this is why Tesla's anti-axial lunar rotation articles (proofs included) are usually left out of "My Inventions . . ." But TESLA WAS RIGHT AND THE MOON ROTATES ON THE EARTH'S AXIS AND NOT ITS OWN!!! Kudos to LibriVox for including all fourteen (not just six) of the Tesla and Tesla related articles which were published in "Electrical Experimenter" between Feb. and Oct. 1919.
Note: scanned copies of the relevant issues of "Electrical Experimenter" are available on Internet Archive (archive.org).
Note: scanned copies of the relevant issues of "Electrical Experimenter" are available on Internet Archive (archive.org).
December 23, 2017
Nikola Tesla was a visionary, inventor, writer, and more...I'm fascinated by his mind, and his passion for creating. Really enjoyed reading this book. Definitely inspiring, but I do wish his achievements would've been more recognized.
January 5, 2019
If terms like dynamos and turbines resonate with you, then this is your book. For me, it was the idea of invention itself. We can all appreciate the skill of a mechanic who can get our car fixed, but what about the engineer who invents? This book inspires. Tesla was certainly a gifted man. His driven mindset never doubts his quest to achieve.
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March 19, 2013Nowadays, we're mostly familiar with the Tesla basics - archetypal mad scientist, ripped off by the charlatans Edison and Marconi, and A Bit Odd. But reading his own writings is still a revelation, in that however smart and however odd you think he is, you're barely halfway there. You know in a film or comic, where someone supersmart is shown accomplishing astonishing physical feats through lightning-quick calculation of the physics of a situation? Tesla could do that, and turn in mid-air like a cat at age 59. The concluding essay here, 'The Problem of Increasing Human Energy', is at once a massively ahead-of-its-time plea for renewable energy, and a bonkers tract of mechanical mysticism which wouldn't be out of place as a tract for the insane cult of Gordelpus in Stapledon's Last and First Men. At times (the obsolescence of copper in a world which has mastered aluminium), he's flat-out wrong, and he's one of the long line of techno-utopians who thought new inventions would bring world peace - yet you can't help wondering if, with Tesla at the helm, they might have done.
Oh, and apparently his brother, who died when they were very young, was considered the smart one. Now there's an alternate reality I'd love to visit...
Oh, and apparently his brother, who died when they were very young, was considered the smart one. Now there's an alternate reality I'd love to visit...
May 26, 2015
The author compiled a lot of Tesla's essays from The Electrical Experimenter magazine to piece meal together a short autobiography. I found it fascinating that Tesla experienced flashing lights in his brain that caused him to be able to look at things in 3D, he could see them not just imagine them - he could both construct and operate them in his mind. Not just ideas, but words triggered his brain to enable him to see the objects as 3 dimensional pictures. Tesla holds the patent for and is credited for designing the 1st radio, even though Marconi has his name in the History books. He also is responsible for our modern day electrical system of alternating current. A system that caused him quite a bit of grief from his rival Thomas Edison. His ideas are so tripped out and 100s of years ahead of his time. In one of his essays he goes on and on about producing a machine to fight our wars, a machine that possesses intelligence, a machine with the ability to make decisions, and think. Yes, a robot with a mind! Tesla often referred to himself as an Automaton (robot). Not a great read, but scientifically interesting.
September 17, 2020
A fog has been lifted! Reading the words of a legendary man, shrouded in pop-culture mystery, has had the beautiful effect of brining him down to Earth. His upbringing, philosophies, inventions, and electrical experiments are all here in this short collection.
Notable mentions: electromotive power in units of horses, the beginnings of a beatle powered society thwarted, the coming power of wireless communication to remove all distances between man, the inventor of wireless communication is skeptical of Maxwell and cannot reproduce Hertz's experiments.
Notable mentions: electromotive power in units of horses, the beginnings of a beatle powered society thwarted, the coming power of wireless communication to remove all distances between man, the inventor of wireless communication is skeptical of Maxwell and cannot reproduce Hertz's experiments.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2025
A fascinating look inside the mind of a genius. Tesla’s writing can be somewhat nebulous and confusing at times, but for the most part this book is a look into the mind of a man who invented or predicted so many facets of modern technology. Contains various essays he wrote over the years for different publications, and includes background information to assist in understanding the somewhat tragic tale of this often unrecognized inventor.
March 10, 2020
An amazing work, short but brilliant.
Should be made standard reading for school children everywhere as a supreme example of what a curious and enquiring mind can achieve.
The fires of dreams have been stoked by this legendary man's efforts, let alone our modern world.
Should be made standard reading for school children everywhere as a supreme example of what a curious and enquiring mind can achieve.
The fires of dreams have been stoked by this legendary man's efforts, let alone our modern world.
March 27, 2022
Tesla has always been a hero for me, and he has always been one of the principal reasons why I love electricity. Reading these words composed by this genius was an absolute honor, a moving event in my life. Understanding Tesla is much deeper than learning the physics or math behind electricity; it is more about recognizing the beauty of how energy manifests itself in the universe, and how to successfully model and harness it. My reading of this genius has enabled me to have an idea about his comprehensive outlook of energy, and I always look upon that as an inspiration. This man, who was a genius polymath, inventor, a mechanical and electrical engineer, had a global insight into the transmission of energy. I have always found in Tesla a powerful inspiration when it comes to the fields of Mathematics and Electrical engineering. I only wish that we had in our possession more books composed by this man; if a hundred pages alone had this effect, imagine the influence other books could have had. I've read this book about seven times now, and I'll read it over and over again.
Additional comments after my most recent read (March 2022):
Although it's a small book, "My Inventions" is a very dense read. Each chapter has to be carefully scrutinized if one wishes to benefit the most out of it. Undoubtedly, Tesla was an unparalleled Genius and Pioneer. Over a 100 years ago, he accurately predicted the needs that are preponderant in our modern world more than ever. Even though I have read this book many times earlier on, I believe that a certain level of maturity is prerequired to truly grasp what Tesla was trying to point out regarding the energy consumption of our species. That is why I will have to read it in future years as my professional understanding of Electricity and energy evolves. Just like planting seeds, hands that work for the future expect not to reap the fruits of their labor. Instead, they plan for the benefit of the posterity.
Harnessing the energy we need from natural and clean resources is achievable, but it will require some time to become manifest. We must think of a gradual regression from the usage of fossil fuels, for a sudden shift would do more harm than good on a financial level, especially in global markets. Not only should we plan those steps carefully, we must also focus on our ability of wirelessly transferring this harnessed electrical energy in the most efficient manner possible. Focusing on Green energy on a mass level without considering the problems of storage and proper transmission would cause more problems on the long run.
Just like oxygen, electrical energy can be free for all people on Earth and as equally accessible. People would no longer have to live in cities in such massive amounts. We would learn to cultivate our own food, striking the perfect balance between our professional and more 'human' lives. Our food consumption would differ, directly affecting our intelligence, mentality, and spirituality. Generally speaking, people would become less angry and more aware of their surroundings. Upon solving the problem of increased energy consumption, countries would have fewer reasons to fight wars, and we would find alternative solutions to never-ending conflicts. I believe that there is a problem of efficiency with the path we are currently taking, but our situation could definitely be much worse.
Tesla taught me that Mathematics and Electrical Engineering, two domains that I have had the privilege to pursue, are directly connected to core problems of human existence. We must have a vision related to several professional fields, especially those of economics, politics, and on a more profound level, the philosophy of living.
I can't wait to read this book with the mind I'd be evolving in my upcoming time of existence as a mortal human being. Simultaneously, I believe that the efficient engineer has to be on the lookout for something that transcends that, equally focusing on what happens next: the post-mortal existence of man in a higher realm of pure metaphysical knowledge.
Additional comments after my most recent read (March 2022):
Although it's a small book, "My Inventions" is a very dense read. Each chapter has to be carefully scrutinized if one wishes to benefit the most out of it. Undoubtedly, Tesla was an unparalleled Genius and Pioneer. Over a 100 years ago, he accurately predicted the needs that are preponderant in our modern world more than ever. Even though I have read this book many times earlier on, I believe that a certain level of maturity is prerequired to truly grasp what Tesla was trying to point out regarding the energy consumption of our species. That is why I will have to read it in future years as my professional understanding of Electricity and energy evolves. Just like planting seeds, hands that work for the future expect not to reap the fruits of their labor. Instead, they plan for the benefit of the posterity.
Harnessing the energy we need from natural and clean resources is achievable, but it will require some time to become manifest. We must think of a gradual regression from the usage of fossil fuels, for a sudden shift would do more harm than good on a financial level, especially in global markets. Not only should we plan those steps carefully, we must also focus on our ability of wirelessly transferring this harnessed electrical energy in the most efficient manner possible. Focusing on Green energy on a mass level without considering the problems of storage and proper transmission would cause more problems on the long run.
Just like oxygen, electrical energy can be free for all people on Earth and as equally accessible. People would no longer have to live in cities in such massive amounts. We would learn to cultivate our own food, striking the perfect balance between our professional and more 'human' lives. Our food consumption would differ, directly affecting our intelligence, mentality, and spirituality. Generally speaking, people would become less angry and more aware of their surroundings. Upon solving the problem of increased energy consumption, countries would have fewer reasons to fight wars, and we would find alternative solutions to never-ending conflicts. I believe that there is a problem of efficiency with the path we are currently taking, but our situation could definitely be much worse.
Tesla taught me that Mathematics and Electrical Engineering, two domains that I have had the privilege to pursue, are directly connected to core problems of human existence. We must have a vision related to several professional fields, especially those of economics, politics, and on a more profound level, the philosophy of living.
I can't wait to read this book with the mind I'd be evolving in my upcoming time of existence as a mortal human being. Simultaneously, I believe that the efficient engineer has to be on the lookout for something that transcends that, equally focusing on what happens next: the post-mortal existence of man in a higher realm of pure metaphysical knowledge.
November 24, 2018
This book is a good read but marred by the fact that the publishers failed to add any of the diagrams from the original publication. Why my Penguins do you spend so much time and money paying lefty fools to do introductions about the matriarchy, "which doesn't fit with the book", as an introduction to Jane Austens' Pride and Prejudice, when it could have been better spent to add the diagrams to this book and make it legible.
No point adding refrences to diagrams in the text if they do not exist.
Just ridiculous!
No point adding refrences to diagrams in the text if they do not exist.
Just ridiculous!
October 9, 2012
A fascinating read. I found it best not to try and understand every detail, and he certainly makes some giant leaps of imagination but you can feel Tesla's passion in the colour of his anecdotes and explanations. His curiousity is infectious! I read this in a single sitting I was so engaged and I will visit it again.
January 16, 2023
Tesla was a strange bird. For example, he got severe anxiety when he saw a woman wearing earrings. Or if she had any jewelry with a pearl. He saw flashes of light that no one could explain that he equated with flashes of genius.
He made his inventions by picturing them in his mind, not by physical experiments.
This book was him describing himself, and it was all over the place. He would start a story, then jump to several other topics before coming back to the original, if he ever did.
I listened to this on audiobook. I almost DNF’d it a couple of times, but hung in there. It was strange.
He made his inventions by picturing them in his mind, not by physical experiments.
This book was him describing himself, and it was all over the place. He would start a story, then jump to several other topics before coming back to the original, if he ever did.
I listened to this on audiobook. I almost DNF’d it a couple of times, but hung in there. It was strange.
Read
March 28, 2021Child genius, engineer, inventor and physicist, Nikola Tesla died on 7 January 1943. Nikola Tesla, 1856-1943. Library of Congress. ... He died alone on 7 January 1943, at the age of 86, in Room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel.
April 18, 2023
I need to come back to this in like 20 or 30 years when I'm older and wiser. Maybe by then I'll understand the majority of what he says
November 25, 2024
Enlightening, if you'd pardon my pun.
The philosophical underpinnings of the man are contradictory at times, but that is the duality that comes with all of us.
The man was a genius in many ways. But like all geniuses, their viewpoints must be filtered through with a moral comb.
A good read.
The philosophical underpinnings of the man are contradictory at times, but that is the duality that comes with all of us.
The man was a genius in many ways. But like all geniuses, their viewpoints must be filtered through with a moral comb.
A good read.
February 16, 2017
A really inspiring life he had. In some ways, he did have strong gifts from nature. But, there's still enough to inspire; like the desire to be resourceful, the immense concentration, keeness in finding new problems, the desperate devotion to achieve success in solving the problems that come up.
When I ordered it, I had intended to kick myself into a lifestyle of active work, from the grumpy inertia I was in.
Still grumpy I am to some extent.
When I ordered it, I had intended to kick myself into a lifestyle of active work, from the grumpy inertia I was in.
Still grumpy I am to some extent.
October 3, 2013
This is the first book I've read that is incomplete-by-design: it refers to figures that are not present in the text. I wonder what the publisher had in mind.
While I deeply admire Tesla, this book is eminently unreadable. I think it's a collector's item to be used more as a reference work than a book to be read from cover to cover. I say this because it reads like a personal diary; there's no continuity, no story.
Nevertheless, it offers a wonderful insight into Tesla's mind, how he regarded his achievements and his eccentricities. It also shows how Tesla was way ahead of his time. I take it that deep understanding of a subject gives one powerful abilities of prediction. Some parts of the book read as 'familiar' because of how precise Tesla saw into our time and beyond.
While I deeply admire Tesla, this book is eminently unreadable. I think it's a collector's item to be used more as a reference work than a book to be read from cover to cover. I say this because it reads like a personal diary; there's no continuity, no story.
Nevertheless, it offers a wonderful insight into Tesla's mind, how he regarded his achievements and his eccentricities. It also shows how Tesla was way ahead of his time. I take it that deep understanding of a subject gives one powerful abilities of prediction. Some parts of the book read as 'familiar' because of how precise Tesla saw into our time and beyond.
June 12, 2012
If you haven't heard of him before, you will never forget him after reading this collection of his writings, inventions, thoughts and process. A humanitarian, creator and persona of immense presence and prescience this work gives you a view of history and the world seldom seen. Peppered with names and inventions that changed life for mankind in the early 20th Century, Nikola Tesla imagined life in the 21st. Read it.
June 27, 2024
This was an insightful look into the life and mind of a man who was ahead not only of his time, but our own. The greed of lesser men stole this man from our society, and it is a great tragedy of history.
As a good companion piece, I recommend the documentary Tesla: Tower to the People. It sheds light on the power-transmission experiments he alludes to in the later chapters of this work.
As a good companion piece, I recommend the documentary Tesla: Tower to the People. It sheds light on the power-transmission experiments he alludes to in the later chapters of this work.
October 11, 2016
I had high expectations to this book (mostly because of the words on the back of the cover, saying that my life would never be the same after this read). Unfortunately it has minimal literary value. Big thinkers are not always great writers.
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July 27, 2024I enjoyed reading his own words and although I did not understand a lot of the scientific jargon, I got a lot out of this book. I feel like I know him better as a person. I am very interested in his inventions, and I will read more about them.
February 18, 2013
This is a good collection of Nicola Tesla's original writings. It does not contain any pictures nor photographs. I enjoyed it.
November 26, 2014
Fascinating, bewildering, and brilliant all at once. Full review here:
August 24, 2014
Known as an inventor, Tesla was truly an astonishing thinker, so far ahead of his time as to be almost too advanced in his own mind frame. Great read.
August 12, 2016
The book is very difficult to follow, and the "Other Writings" is extremely boring.
March 6, 2022
Serbian American inventor and engineer who discovered and patented the rotating magnetic field, the basis of most alternating-current machinery. He also developed the three-phase system of electric power transmission. He immigrated to the United States in 1884 and sold the patent rights to his system of alternating-current dynamos, transformers, and motors to George Westinghouse. In 1891 he invented the Tesla coil, an induction coil widely used in radio technology.
Tesla was from a family of Serbian origin. His father was an Orthodox priest; his mother was unschooled but highly intelligent. As he matured, he displayed remarkable imagination and creativity as well as a poetic touch.
Training for an engineering career, he attended the Technical University at Graz, Austria, and the University of Prague. At Graz he first saw the Gramme dynamo, which operated as a generator and, when reversed, became an electric motor, and he conceived a way to use alternating current to advantage. Later, at Budapest, he visualized the principle of the rotating magnetic field and developed plans for an induction motor that would become his first step toward the successful utilization of alternating current. In 1882 Tesla went to work in Paris for the Continental Edison Company, and, while on assignment to Strassburg in 1883, he constructed, after work hours, his first induction motor. Tesla sailed for America in 1884, arriving in New York with four cents in his pocket, a few of his own poems, and calculations for a flying machine. He first found employment with Thomas Edison, but the two inventors were far apart in background and methods, and their separation was inevitable.
In May 1888 George Westinghouse, head of the Westinghouse Electric Company in Pittsburgh, bought the patent rights to Tesla’s polyphase system of alternating-current dynamos, transformers, and motors. The transaction precipitated a titanic power struggle between Edison’s direct-current systems and the Tesla-Westinghouse alternating-current approach, which eventually won out.
Tesla soon established his own laboratory, where his inventive mind could be given free rein. He experimented with shadowgraphs similar to those that later were to be used by Wilhelm Röntgen when he discovered X-rays in 1895. Tesla’s countless experiments included work on a carbon button lamp, on the power of electrical resonance, and on various types of lighting.
In order to allay fears of alternating currents, Tesla gave exhibitions in his laboratory in which he lit lamps by allowing electricity to flow through his body. He was often invited to lecture at home and abroad. The Tesla coil, which he invented in 1891, is widely used today in radio and television sets and other electronic equipment. That year also marked the date of Tesla’s U.S. citizenship.
Westinghouse used Tesla’s alternating current system to light the World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. This success was a factor in their winning the contract to install the first power machinery at Niagara Falls, which bore Tesla’s name and patent numbers. The project carried power to Buffalo by 1896.
In 1898 Tesla announced his invention of a teleautomatic boat guided by remote control. When skepticism was voiced, Tesla proved his claims for it before a crowd in Madison Square Garden.
In Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he stayed from May 1899 until early 1900, Tesla made what he regarded as his most important discovery—terrestrial stationary waves. By this discovery he proved that Earth could be used as a conductor and made to resonate at a certain electrical frequency. He also lit 200 lamps without wires from a distance of 40 km (25 miles) and created man-made lightning, producing flashes measuring 41 metres (135 feet).
Tesla was from a family of Serbian origin. His father was an Orthodox priest; his mother was unschooled but highly intelligent. As he matured, he displayed remarkable imagination and creativity as well as a poetic touch.
Training for an engineering career, he attended the Technical University at Graz, Austria, and the University of Prague. At Graz he first saw the Gramme dynamo, which operated as a generator and, when reversed, became an electric motor, and he conceived a way to use alternating current to advantage. Later, at Budapest, he visualized the principle of the rotating magnetic field and developed plans for an induction motor that would become his first step toward the successful utilization of alternating current. In 1882 Tesla went to work in Paris for the Continental Edison Company, and, while on assignment to Strassburg in 1883, he constructed, after work hours, his first induction motor. Tesla sailed for America in 1884, arriving in New York with four cents in his pocket, a few of his own poems, and calculations for a flying machine. He first found employment with Thomas Edison, but the two inventors were far apart in background and methods, and their separation was inevitable.
In May 1888 George Westinghouse, head of the Westinghouse Electric Company in Pittsburgh, bought the patent rights to Tesla’s polyphase system of alternating-current dynamos, transformers, and motors. The transaction precipitated a titanic power struggle between Edison’s direct-current systems and the Tesla-Westinghouse alternating-current approach, which eventually won out.
Tesla soon established his own laboratory, where his inventive mind could be given free rein. He experimented with shadowgraphs similar to those that later were to be used by Wilhelm Röntgen when he discovered X-rays in 1895. Tesla’s countless experiments included work on a carbon button lamp, on the power of electrical resonance, and on various types of lighting.
In order to allay fears of alternating currents, Tesla gave exhibitions in his laboratory in which he lit lamps by allowing electricity to flow through his body. He was often invited to lecture at home and abroad. The Tesla coil, which he invented in 1891, is widely used today in radio and television sets and other electronic equipment. That year also marked the date of Tesla’s U.S. citizenship.
Westinghouse used Tesla’s alternating current system to light the World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. This success was a factor in their winning the contract to install the first power machinery at Niagara Falls, which bore Tesla’s name and patent numbers. The project carried power to Buffalo by 1896.
In 1898 Tesla announced his invention of a teleautomatic boat guided by remote control. When skepticism was voiced, Tesla proved his claims for it before a crowd in Madison Square Garden.
In Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he stayed from May 1899 until early 1900, Tesla made what he regarded as his most important discovery—terrestrial stationary waves. By this discovery he proved that Earth could be used as a conductor and made to resonate at a certain electrical frequency. He also lit 200 lamps without wires from a distance of 40 km (25 miles) and created man-made lightning, producing flashes measuring 41 metres (135 feet).
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November 10, 2020My first impressions from Tesla's own writings, published originally by Hugo Gernsback (often regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Science Fiction publishing industry) in The Electrical Experimenter, were that the man was a bit of a grandiose braggart, as well as being completely obsessive-compulsive. Perhaps his saving grace was that his obsession with his projects led him to pursue them so diligently that he often came up with incredible inventions, though it is difficult to understand how a man so brilliant could also be convinced of the truth of some radically improbable, even mystical, ideas.
One of the amazing things about Tesla's mind was that he had developed the ability to completely visualize in his head a working model of whatever piece of machinery he planned to build - a mental CAD, if you will.
As a very young man, fresh out of school, he was hired by the telegraph office of the Hungarian government and put in charge of designing and implementing their telephone exchange.
"I made several improvements in the Central station apparatus and perfected a telephone repeater..."
He was the first to perfect a method of generating alternating current and running electrical machinery with AC, as well as inventing a turbine engine, and radio transmission long before Marconi's feat.
This is a difficult book to read. Although Tesla prided himself on his very organized mind, and way of thinking, his writings do not reflect that, and seem to bounce all over the place, with unfinished thoughts and gaps in logic throughout. Brilliant but erratic. His tendency to believe that he could accomplish anything he could imagine, and he accomplished a great deal, make it difficult to sort out which of his ideas are mere flights of fancy, and actually not possible, versus those he merely never got round to completing. Transmitting electrical power wirelessly around the world?
One of his more intriguing ideas seems to presage the whole idea of mutually assured destruction that dominated the Cold War. He envisioned a fleet of dirigibles which contained a machine designed by him which would call lightning from the sky, wreaking utter destruction on ground targets below. Whichever country obtained it first could enforce peace upon the world.
Still searching for a good Tesla bio.
One of the amazing things about Tesla's mind was that he had developed the ability to completely visualize in his head a working model of whatever piece of machinery he planned to build - a mental CAD, if you will.
As a very young man, fresh out of school, he was hired by the telegraph office of the Hungarian government and put in charge of designing and implementing their telephone exchange.
"I made several improvements in the Central station apparatus and perfected a telephone repeater..."
He was the first to perfect a method of generating alternating current and running electrical machinery with AC, as well as inventing a turbine engine, and radio transmission long before Marconi's feat.
This is a difficult book to read. Although Tesla prided himself on his very organized mind, and way of thinking, his writings do not reflect that, and seem to bounce all over the place, with unfinished thoughts and gaps in logic throughout. Brilliant but erratic. His tendency to believe that he could accomplish anything he could imagine, and he accomplished a great deal, make it difficult to sort out which of his ideas are mere flights of fancy, and actually not possible, versus those he merely never got round to completing. Transmitting electrical power wirelessly around the world?
One of his more intriguing ideas seems to presage the whole idea of mutually assured destruction that dominated the Cold War. He envisioned a fleet of dirigibles which contained a machine designed by him which would call lightning from the sky, wreaking utter destruction on ground targets below. Whichever country obtained it first could enforce peace upon the world.
Still searching for a good Tesla bio.
April 11, 2022
A series of articles written by Tesla that give autobiographical insight into his development into an inventor. These articles show how his mind seemed constantly curious about how things worked. It seems he saw the world as cause and effect or stimulus and response from emotions to disease to war to machines - everything is a response to a stimulus and may be solved or explained like an equation. He speculated the problem of human energy could be solved by food, peace and work (pg. 127), three solutions to the problem of human energy. He said most people lack observations which creates ignorance, and that people could find lost things or understand events if they were more observant of cause and effect (pg. 79).
An unexpected finding was the clarity of his thoughts in his writing. He said he envisioned his inventions and worked out the problems before creating them; maybe his thoughts were that clear before he wrote a word. His writing is easy to read, but his brilliance is hard to understand in places. I had to research Tesla's accomplishments on the internet to understand what he was describing or theorizing.
The change in spelling caught my attention since he spelled past tense words with -t rather than -ed such as possest, exprest, obsest or wrote words phonetically such as tho for though, or thoroness for thoroughness.
I love that he investigated whatever caught his attention from water to frogs to harnessing energy from the sun, wind or tides, or the mysterious workings of the human eye and light. I wish there was more information on the kitchen and household inventions his mother created. Inventing was in his blood from a frog hook to electrical, magnetic, wireless and automatic robotic systems. He predicted robots and artificial intelligence revolutionizing industry. These writings explain Tesla's wireless electric fields demonstrated by light bulbs in the movie The Prestige and much more. It was an enjoyable journey into the mind and life of a genius.
An unexpected finding was the clarity of his thoughts in his writing. He said he envisioned his inventions and worked out the problems before creating them; maybe his thoughts were that clear before he wrote a word. His writing is easy to read, but his brilliance is hard to understand in places. I had to research Tesla's accomplishments on the internet to understand what he was describing or theorizing.
The change in spelling caught my attention since he spelled past tense words with -t rather than -ed such as possest, exprest, obsest or wrote words phonetically such as tho for though, or thoroness for thoroughness.
I love that he investigated whatever caught his attention from water to frogs to harnessing energy from the sun, wind or tides, or the mysterious workings of the human eye and light. I wish there was more information on the kitchen and household inventions his mother created. Inventing was in his blood from a frog hook to electrical, magnetic, wireless and automatic robotic systems. He predicted robots and artificial intelligence revolutionizing industry. These writings explain Tesla's wireless electric fields demonstrated by light bulbs in the movie The Prestige and much more. It was an enjoyable journey into the mind and life of a genius.
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