NIKOLA TESLA (1856 1943) was a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engi-neer, physicist, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. Tesla gained experience in telephony and electrical engineering before emigrating to the United States in 1884 to work for Thomas Edison in New York City. He soon struck out on his own with financial backers, setting up laboratories and companies to develop a range of electrical devices. His patented AC induction motor and transformer were licensed by George Westinghouse, who also hired Tesla for a short time as a consultant. His work in the formative years of electric power development was involved in a corporate alternating current/direct current "War of Currents" as well as various patent battles. The investors showed little interest in Tesla's ideas for new types of motors and electrical transmission equipment and also seemed to think it was better to develop an electrical utility than invent new systems. They eventually forced Tesla out leaving him penniless. He even lost control of the patents he had generated since he had assigned them to the company in lieu of stock. He had to work at various electrical repair jobs and even as a ditch digger for $2 per day. Tesla considered the winter of 1886/1887 as a time of "terrible headaches and bitter tears." During this time, he questioned the value of his education. Chapter 1 My Early Life: The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. It is the most important product of his creative brain. Its ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing of the forces of nature to human needs. This is the difficult task of the inventor who is often misunderstood and unrewarded. But he finds ample compensation in the pleasing exercises of his powers and in the knowledge of being one of that exceptionally privileged class without whom the race would have long ago perished in the bitter struggle against pitiless elements. Speaking for myself, I have already had more than my full measure of this exquisite enjoyment, so much that for many years my life was little short of continuous rapture. I am credited with being one of the hardest workers and perhaps I am, if thought is the equivalent of labor, for I have devoted to it almost all of my waking hours. But if work is interpreted to be a definite performance in a specified time according to a rigid rule, then I may be the worst of idlers. Every effort under compulsion demands a sacrifice of life-energy. I never paid such a price. On the contrary, I have thrived on my thoughts. In attempting to give a connected and faithful account of my activities in this series of articles which will be presented with the assistance of the Editors of the Electrical Experimenter and are chiefly addressed to our young men readers, I must dwell, however reluctantly, on the impressions of my youth and the circumstances and events which have been instrumental in determining my career. Our first endeavors are purely instinctive, promptings of an imagination vivid and undisciplined. As we grow older reason asserts itself and we become more and more sys-tematic and designing. But those early impulses, although not immediately productive, are of the greatest moment and may shape our very destinies. Indeed, I feel now that had I understood and cultivated instead of suppressing them, I would have added substantial value to my bequest to the world. But not until I had attained manhood did I realize that I was an inventor..

In 1919 Nikola Tesla had his autobiography published in The Electrical Experimenter (Hugo Gernsback's magazine). The entire text was divided into 6 parts and published in February, March, April, May, June and October. Hugo Gernsback wrote an intro to every part and an extra article "Nikola Tesla The Man" that is more about Tesla's appearance. I reckon this article is a very valuable addition for anyone who would like to know Nikola Tesla. Today the text of Tesla's autobiography can be obtained from many sources, but none of them - as far as I know - include Gernsback's intro's and article, nor most of the illustrations. Also, most sources provide a slightly modified text. In most cases these modifications are insignificant, but to get a good feel of Tesla and his time, I believe the only way to do so is to read the original text in the exact same form as it was published in 1919.So here it is, the original text in the original spelling with the original headers, commentaries and illustrations. This is as close as one can get to meeting Nikola Tesla.

Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) was a forerunner of the electronic age and one of science's greatest unsung heroes. This book, which was written with humor and élan, provides unique insights into one of the leading figures in modern science. His research created much of the foundation for contemporary electrical and communication systems. However, Tesla's name and contributions are only faintly known today. The visionary scientist speaks for himself in this volume, originally published in a six-part series in Electrical Experimenter magazine. This edition includes the essay "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy: With Special Reference to the Harnessing of the Sun's Energy," which anticipates latter-day advances in environmental technology. Written with wit and élan, this memoir offers fascinating insights into one of the great minds of modern science.

One of science's great unsung heroes, Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was a prophet of the electronic age. His research laid much of the groundwork for modern electrical and communication systems, and his impressive accomplishments include development of the alternating-current electrical system, radio, the Tesla coil transformer, wireless transmission, and fluorescent lighting. Yet his name and work are only dimly recognized today: Tesla's research was so groundbreaking that many of his contemporaries failed to understand it, and other scientists are unjustly credited for his innovations. The visionary scientist speaks for himself in this volume, originally published in 1919 as a six-part series in Electrical Experimenter magazine. Tesla recounts his boyhood in Croatia, his schooling and work in Europe, his collaboration with Thomas Edison, and his subsequent research. This edition includes the essay "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy: With Special Reference to the Harnessing of the Sun's Energy," which anticipates latter-day advances in environmental technology. Written with wit and �lan, this memoir offers fascinating insights into one of the great minds of modern science.

Tesla jolts and flows between the extraordinary life of the inventor Nikola Tesla, the making of a feature film about him by the celebrated director Michael Almereyda, and episodes from the filmmaker's own restless, quixotic career. In these pages, we encounter Tesla's colleagues and friends intermingling with Almereyda's collaborators and influences: Thomas Edison and David Lynch, Mark Twain and Sam Shepard, Sarah Bernhardt and Ethan Hawke, J.P. Morgan and Orson Welles. A rich array of illustrations - vintage and personal photographs, film stills, drawings and comic-book art - enhance the sense of time travel and parallel histories, as we read of a scheme to transmit wireless energy through the earth, of the electrocution of an elephant, of fortunes made and surrendered, and of the obsessions that propel a scientist seeking to transform the world and a director seeking to make a movie.

Ingenious and amusing illustrated inventions from the brilliant mind of Dominic Wilcox 'I love this book. Laugh-out-loud funny. I want a salty thumb lolly now!' Harry Hill As we go about our day-to-day business, we see the same stuff every day. The bath, the fridge, the lamp post, the bicycle, the tree... so far, so humdrum. But not if you are Dominic Wilcox. Dominic sees things a little differently. For him, inside each of these everyday things are hundreds of surprising ideas waiting to be discovered. The Portable Bottom Seat, the Sick Bag Beard, Wrist Nets for the Butterfingered – Dominic's unexpected inventions, conflations and modifications promise to make your life that little bit easier, or at least more amusing. Normal will never seem quite so normal again.

A global view of science and technology as it developed over the centuries.

Presents a timeline of inventions from the use of fire in prehistoric times to the iPad in 2010, with an emphasis on developments in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Inventions can be big, like roller coasters, or small, like crayons. And inventors can be scientists or athletes or even boys and girls! It's hard to imagine life without Popsicles, basketball, or Band-Aids, but they all started with just one person and a little imagination. With sixteen original poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and Julia Sarcone-Roach's imaginative artwork, Incredible Inventions celebrates creativity that comes in all shapes and sizes. What will you invent today?

Celebrating the inventor of the Crayola crayon This gloriously illustrated picture book biography tells the inspiring story of Edwin Binney, the inventor of one of the world's most beloved toys. A perfect fit among favorites like The Day the Crayons Quit and Balloons Over Broadway. purple mountains' majesty, mauvelous, jungle green, razzmatazz... What child doesn't love to hold a crayon in their hands? But children didn't always have such magical boxes of crayons. Before Edwin Binney set out to change things, children couldn't really even draw in color. Here's the true story of an inventor who so loved nature's vibrant colors that he found a way to bring the outside world to children - in a bright green box for only a nickel With experimentation, and a special knack for listening, Edwin Binney and his dynamic team at Crayola created one of the world's most enduring, best-loved childhood toys - empowering children to dream in COLOR