Product Description

The story of the twentieth century's greatest unsung scientific hero, Nikola Tesla, the uncredited inventor of electric light, radio and hydro-electric power. His life was perhaps as intriguing for its extraordinary commercial disasters and painful obscurity as for the remarkable discoveries he made.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2401925 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

Too simple for my liking
Nicola Tesla, the subject of the book, was one of the true geniuses of all time. His tale is of amazing innovation, with poor commercialisation. He made electricity travel for many miles when Edison could only transmit a few hundred meters. His radios could transmit anywhere in the world when Marconi could only transmit a few hundred meters. He completely designed the AC electrical system, which without the world would not be the same. Tesla is an excellent case of lack of business sense.

Lomas carries a grudge against the likes of Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, which is probably warranted in telling the story from Tesla's point of view. Much of the story is dedicated to describing the relationships between Tesla, Edison and Westinghouse.

This book isn't a great work. Lomas has thoroughly researched his book, although he has not referenced anything, although he does admit this. Some descriptions of engineering concepts could be a lot better. It is also relatively short. I found myself wanting more information. This book won't please the intellectual reader, who would be better off looking for a lengthier book. I enjoyed reading this book merely for the story of Tesla.

While I didn't enjoy this book that much it would be a very good read for children and teens, especially those with an interest in science. In general I recommend reading about Tesla, who is an amazing albeit forgotten character, and was responsible for the 20th century.

Excellent book
Mr Lomas' book on Nikola Tesla is an excellent book. It details a little about Tesla's childhood, his mental problems and the relationships he had (or didn't have, if you want to look at it that way). If you are new to learning about Nikola Tesla, I would recommend this book. It explains in simple terms Tesla's most important contributions to civilisation and technology: the AC electricity system we use today and radio. The books dwells a little on Tesla, Westinghouse and Edison, as one reviewer mentions.

This book will not satisfy the scientific reader. For those of you interested in further details of Tesla's engineering and scientific work, buy one of the many excellent CD compilations of his works, patents, articles, letters, etc. I have the Nu Energy Horizons CD on Tesla which is magnificent. Also grab Tesla: Man out of Time by Margaret Cheney and Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius by Marc J. Seifer.

This book's purpose is some entertaining bed-time reading (or that's my impression). First time Tesla readers will love this book, as well as those who want a biography of Tesla that's written well and isn't too technical.

Brilliant
This book is very good. It shows how brilliant he really was. I would recommend this book to anyone. You go, Mr. Tesla!