Even the gods of old, in the wildest imaginings of their worshipers, never undertook such gigantic tasks of world-wide dimension as those which Tesla attempted and accomplished. -from Chapter One First published in 1944 and long a favorite of Tesla fans, this is a definitive biography of the man without whom modern civilization would not exist. Nikola Tesla, pioneer of electrical engineering, was a close friend of Pulitzer Prize-winning author 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 Tesla clung to his theories of electricity in the face of opposition . how the shy but newly popular Tesla navigated the social life of New York in the gay 1890s . Tesla’s friendship with Mark Twain . the story of Tesla’s lost Nobel Prize .
Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla
$12.00
- Publisher : Cosimo Classics (November 1, 2006)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 280 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1596057130
- ISBN-13 : 978-1596057135
- Author : John J. O’Neill
Bertram A. Magnus (verified owner) –
Ever stop to think about what makes your car go? Well, spark plugs ignite the fuel under pressure, Spark Plugs get their “Spark” from Tesla Coils, a device that takes a low voltage and transforms it into a very high voltage, high enough to cause a spark. Ever wonder why a hose under water dont collapse when suction is applied, well it is because a young man by the name of Nicolo Tesla dove into the water one day to see why a pump was not drawing water to put out a fire and found that the hose had collapsed. So he designed what is used today by fire departments as a suction hose… Read all about it in a book properly titled, The Prodigal Genius.
MT (verified owner) –
The book was originally published (or at least written) in 1944, by a friend/colleague of Tesla, who inserts himself into the storyline a bit too often. The author obviously idolized Tesla, and even in pointing out his flaws does so in a way that largley minimizes them. The story of Tesla’s life, achievements, and oddities is truly remarkable, but I had hoped for a much better written account. The writing style seemed rather awkward to me, especially early in the book, and I found it to be distracting. The author engages in a good deal of speculation and moralizing, presents a very partial and stereotyped picture of Tesla.
Brandon (verified owner) –
I order the autobiography which is a shorter version of this first 5 chapters of this book and not as much detail as this one.
Kai Lee (verified owner) –
This is a remarkable biography in several aspects. First, the author knew Tesla, and had interviewed Tesla personally. Of the many biographies I have read, this is one of the very few that the author and subject had met.
Second, the characters in the narrative included not only another famous inventor, Thomas Edison, but also business magnates George Westinghouse and John Pierpont Morgan, as well as the humorist Samuel Langhorne Clemens, commonly known as Mark Twain.
Third, the author, a journalist and writer by profession, not only documented the numerous inventions of Telsa but also explained the principles behind the working of every one of them mentioned in the book. The explanations are difficult to follow even for someone with a major in electrical engineering. How a journalist can do this is a mystery to this reader.
Matt Galvan (verified owner) –
I am not quite done with this book but I am really enjoying it, especially the second half. The format makes it a little tough to read though (still giving this 5 stars because I’m not a strong reader, so take the below portion with a grain of salt).
I found it difficult to read because there are very small margins on the top and bottom of each page. This is more intimidating than anything. Most books break up long chapters by putting an empty line between paragraphs where the subject changes a bit but this book did not do that. It was just page after page of words. Again, more intimidating for a light reader like me. It took me longer to read this than most books because of these factors.
Still, a great book on a very interesting person. It is detail oriented and gives a great account of Tesla’s experiments and life. I never realized how much of our modern world was a result of the things he did.
Bernard D Geller (verified owner) –
Very factual!