Tesla : man out of time

Format:

Book

Title:

Tesla : man out of time

Author:

Cheney, Margaret.

ISBN:

9780743215367

9780440390770

Edition:

1st Touchstone ed.

Publication Information:

New York : Simon & Schuster, 2001.

Physical Description:

396 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 22 cm

General Note:

"A Touchstone book."

Contents:

Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Modern Prometheus -- 2. A Gambling Man -- 3. Immigrants of Distinction -- 4. At the Court of Mr. Edison -- 5. The War of the Currents Begins -- 6. Order of the Flaming Sword -- 7. Radio -- 8. High Society -- 9. High Road, Low Road -- 10. An Error of Judgment -- 11. To Mars -- 12. Robots -- 13. Hurler of Lightning -- 14. Blackout at Colorado Springs -- 15. Magnificent and Doomed -- 16. Ridiculed, Condemned, Combatted -- 17. The Great Radio Controversy -- 18. Midstream Perils -- 19. The Nobel Affair -- 20. Flying Stove -- 21. Radar -- 22. The Guest of Honor -- 23. Pigeons -- 24. Transitions -- 25. The Birthday Parties -- 26. Corks on Water -- 27. Cosmic Communion -- 28. Death and Transfiguration -- 29. The Missing Papers -- 30. The Legacy -- Bibliographical Essay -- Reference Notes -- Postscript -- Index.

Summary:

In Tesla: Man Out of Time, Margaret Cheney explores the brilliant and prescient mind of one of the twentieth century's greatest scientists and inventors. Called a madman by his enemies, a genius by others, and an enigma by nearly everyone, Nikola Tesla was, without a doubt, a trailblazing inventor who created astonishing, sometimes world-transforming devices that were virtually without theoretical precedent. Tesla not only discovered the rotating magnetic field -- the basis of most alternating-current machinery -- but also introduced us to the fundamentals of robotics, computers, and missile science. Almost supernaturally gifted, unfailingly flamboyant and neurotic, Tesla was troubled by an array of compulsions and phobias and was fond of extravagant, visionary experimentations. He was also a popular man-about-town, admired by men as diverse as Mark Twain and George Westinghouse, and adored by scores of society beauties.

From Tesla's childhood in Yugoslavia to his death in New York in the 1940s, Cheney paints a compelling human portrait and chronicles a lifetime of discoveries that radically altered -- and continue to alter -- the world in which we live. Tesla: Man Out of Time is an in-depth look at the seminal accomplishments of a scientific wizard and a thoughtful examination of the obsessions and eccentricities of the man behind the science.

Personal Subject:

Tesla, Nikola, 1856-1943.

Tesla, Nikola, 1856-1943 (OCoLC)fst00028173

Subject(s):

Electrical engineers -- United States -- Biography.

Inventors -- United States -- Biography.

Geographic Term:

Genre:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Salem Main Library	921 Tesla, Nikola 2001	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Called a madman by some, a genius by others, and an enigma by nearly everyone, Nikola Tesla was possibly the greatest inventor the world has ever known. He was, without a doubt, a trail blazer who created astonishing, sometimes world-transforming, devices that were virtually without theoretical precedent. It was Tesla who introduced us to the fundamentals of robotry, computers, and missile science and helped pave the way for such space-age technologies as satellites, microwaves, beam weapons, and nuclear fusion. Yet, Tesla still remains one of the least-recognized scientific pioneers in history.
Certainly he was one of the strangest of scientists - almost supernaturally gifted, erratic, flamboyant, and neurotic nearly to the point of madness. A dandy and popular man-about-town, he was admired by men as diverse as George Westinghouse and Mark Twain and adored by scores of society beauties. Yet his bewildering array of compulsions and phobias extended from such mundane subjects as food and clean linen to pearls and women's ears. He was fond of creating violent, neighborhood-threatening electrical storms in his apartment laboratory and once nearly knocked down a tall building by a attaching a mysterious "black box" to its side. ( He claimed he could have destroyed the entire planet with a similar device.) And because he kept so few notes, to this day we can only guess at the details of many of the fantastic scientific projects that occupied this fevered intellect.
Margaret Cheney has written the definitive in-depth biography of this astonishing figure. From Tesla's childhood in Yugoslavia to his death in New York in the 1940's, Cheney both paints a compelling human portrait and chronicles a lifetime of discoveries that radically altered - and continue to alter - the world we live in. Cheney also casts important light on one of the central mysteries associated with Tesla - the whereabouts of the famous "missing scientific papers" that vanished at the time of the inventor's death.

Tesla is a riveting journey into the mind and life of the eccentric wizard who was Edison's enemy, Mark Twain's friend, J.P Morgan's client, and hero and mentor to many of the 20th century's most famous scientists.

Author Notes

Margaret Cheney is a biographer of unusual versatility. In addition to her two major studies of Tesla (most recently Tesla: Master of Lightning, with Robert Uth), she has written Midnight at Mabel's, a biography of the great cabaret singer and song stylist Mabel Mercer. Cheney is also the author of Meanwhile Farm and Why: The Serial Killer in America. She lives in California.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

Nicola Tesla (1856-1943), the ""eccentric inventor"" incarnate, is an irresistible subject, even in this mawkish biography. The man who developed the alternating current method of transmitting electricity (and, we now know, predated Marconi in the invention of radio) was an impeccably turned-out dandy, a convinced bachelor, and a favorite of New York's 400. In his palmier days he lived at the Waldorf-Astoria, where he preceded his solitary meals by an obligatory polishing of plate and silver, using the 13 linen napkins arranged before him for that purpose. Yet he had arrived in New York, in 1884, as a penniless Serbian immigrant. Despite Cheney's Victorian schoolmarmish style (""But soon the seduction of the laboratory claimed his time again,"" etc.) and her transparent devotion to her subject, all this makes for delicious reading--peopled with literati, robber barons, and rivals. The animosity between Tesla and his first employer, Edison, ran deep: Edison, Cheney recounts, would ruthlessly electrocute stray cats and dogs to warn the public of the dangers of AC (and Westinghouse) compared with DC (and General Electric). And while Tesla built models of, or conceived the operating principles for, a host of latter-day marvels (remotely guided missiles and torpedoes, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, radar, television) and also, presciently, envisioned harnessing solar and geothermal energy, he was fully capable, too, of dead wrong or preposterous ideas. He pooh-poohed Einstein and relativity; believed Mars to be inhabited and signaling Earth; had no doubt he could build a death ray. Cheney does some psychoanalyzing to sort out these various strands; but it's the oddity of Tesla and his multifarious, incongruent activities that's fascinating here. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Modern Prometheus

A Gambling Man Immigrants of Distinction

At the Court of Mr. Edison

The War of the Currents

Begins Order of the Flaming Sword Radio

High Society High Road, Low Road

An Error of Judgment To Mars

Robots Hurler of Lightning Blackout at Colorado Springs

Magnificent and Doomed Ridiculed, Condemned, Combatted

The Great Radio Controversy Midstream Perils

The Nobel Affair Flying Stove Radar

The Guest of Honor Pigeons Transitions

The Birthday Parties Corks on Water Cosmic Communion Death and Transfiguration

The Missing Papers

The Legacy

Bibliographical Essay

Reference Notes

Postscript

Index

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

Table of Contents