Nikola Tesla: Experiments and Discoveries

by Nikola Tesla, Fall River Press

Nikola Tesla

In February 1892, maverick inventor Nikola Tesla strode onto a stage at the Royal Institution of Electrical Engineers in London. The two-hour lecture he delivered mixed groundbreaking scientific theories about electricity, motors, and electromagnetism with dazzling showmanship. It was this combination of drama and intellect that turned Tesla into the cult figure that he remains today.

 contains the complete published text of this lecture, originally titled “Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and Low Frequency,” along with numerous illustrations of Tesla's experiments, as well as a biographical sketch of Tesla and his forward-thinking paper on wireless technology: “The Transmission of Electric Energy Without Wires.” This edition also features an introduction by W. Bernard Carlson, author of  .

Genres: Science, History

133 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2015

About the author

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist. He is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.
Born and raised in the Austrian Empire, Tesla first studied engineering and physics in the 1870s without receiving a degree. He then gained practical experience in the early 1880s working in telephony and at Continental Edison in the new electric power industry. In 1884 he emigrated to the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen. He worked for a short time at the Edison Machine Works in New York City before he struck out on his own. With the help of partners to finance and market his ideas, Tesla set up laboratories and companies in New York to develop a range of electrical and mechanical devices. His AC induction motor and related polyphase AC patents, licensed by Westinghouse Electric in 1888, earned him a considerable amount of money and became the cornerstone of the polyphase system which that company eventually marketed.
Attempting to develop inventions he could patent and market, Tesla conducted a range of experiments with mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, and early X-ray imaging. He also built a wirelessly controlled boat, one of the first ever exhibited. Tesla became well known as an inventor and demonstrated his achievements to celebrities and wealthy patrons at his lab, and was noted for his showmanship at public lectures. Throughout the 1890s, Tesla pursued his ideas for wireless lighting and worldwide wireless electric power distribution in his high-voltage, high-frequency power experiments in New York and Colorado Springs. In 1893, he made pronouncements on the possibility of wireless communication with his devices. Tesla tried to put these ideas to practical use in his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project, an intercontinental wireless communication and power transmitter, but ran out of funding before he could complete it.
After Wardenclyffe, Tesla experimented with a series of inventions in the 1910s and 1920s with varying degrees of success. Having spent most of his money, Tesla lived in a series of New York hotels, leaving behind unpaid bills. He died in New York City in January 1943. Tesla's work fell into relative obscurity following his death, until 1960, when the General Conference on Weights and Measures named the International System of Units (SI) measurement of magnetic flux density the tesla in his honor. There has been a resurgence in popular interest in Tesla since the 1990s.

Reviews

[Michael K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in science history, or technological history, this is an interesting book by Nikola Tesla about his experiments. Pretty detailed and rather interesting, in my opinion. (As I was in the electronic field while in the military for twelve years.) The ideology of bluetooth and other wireless device technologies came from Nikola Tesla. A good book if you are into technology and history.

[Brent Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, when I bought the book I thought it would be a high level overview of the experiments he performed and what we've learned/been able to apply based on his findings. However, it's actually a lecture that he gave at the Royal Institution in London in 1892 to the Institution of Electrical Engineers. Being as such, the content contained within is highly technical. Even with my own background in engineering, about 75% of the material went right over my head. I expect this to be the case for the majority of readers without a degree in electrical engineering.

[Michael Huang · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book basically consists of a (long) speech and an article written by Tesla. It doesn't do a good job at all explaining Tesla or his inventions to you.

I just grabbed the book at the checkout lane in Barnes and Nobles -- bad idea in general.

[carol h · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book. I would have to do the experiments as I read.

[Camren Pidcoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good book and I liked how it was set up but I with it had more about his childhood and how he came to understand himself and learn the things he did