Tesla: Man out of Time

by Margaret Cheney

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Matthew Ackerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cheney provides a chronological account of Nikola Tesla, his work, his life, and his legacy. While bordering on hagiography—apparent from Cheney’s recurring praise and over-reaching assignment of Tesla’s vague ideas to modern technologies (circa 1981)—the reader gets a sense of the breadth of Tesla’s work and the arc of his life as an inventor. Cheney doesn’t try to cover up Tesla’s shortcomings in personal affairs, leaving the reader to decide for themselves Nikola Tesla’s character. For the reader unfamiliar with Tesla, Cheney’s book is a good introduction, provided the claims to the reach of his ideas are not taken too seriously. Hopefully, they serve at least as an inspiration to a younger generation discovering Tesla for the first time.