Science and Inquiry discussion

We have a winner by a fairly large margin this month:
Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius for May 2013.

You can use this thread to post questions, comments, and reviews at any time.

I've just finished reading ... ummm ... listening to Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius. Here's my review:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

BetseaK, your review is great! I just finished the book myself, and found it to be fascinating. I really knew nothing about Tesla. The book claims that there may have been a range of conspirators who tried to take credit for Tesla's discoveries and inventions. These claims may be true.

Here is my review.

Is anybody else reading this book?

I finished the book a month ago and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure whether I would write a review. I haven't been writing reviews lately, and need to write one for another book.

David wrote: "BetseaK, your review is great! I just finished the book myself, and found it to be fascinating. I really knew nothing about Tesla. The book claims that there may have been a range of conspirators ..."

Thank you David. Your review is much better than mine!

David wrote: "BetseaK, your review is great! I just finished the book myself, and found it to be fascinating. I really knew nothing about Tesla. The book claims that there may have been a range of conspirators ..."

Wow, David, your review is great. You managed to capture the essence of the book so neatly and concisely. (BetseaK, you already know that I love your review ;))

As for me, I'm in the process of reading The Wizard. It's such an engrossing read! I'm also making notes along the way, so I will do a review when I'm done reading.

I'm not far into it yet and feeling rather frustrated. Tesla is a fascinating subject for a biography, but thus far Seifer seems intent on being so meticulous that he's missing the interesting story. Quite bogged down in the details.
Does it get better?

Has anyone read Margaret Cheney's book?

Tesla: Man Out of Time

I'm wondering how it compares.

Margie wrote: "I'm not far into it yet and feeling rather frustrated. Tesla is a fascinating subject for a biography, but thus far Seifer seems intent on being so meticulous that he's missing the interesting sto..."

Interesting how things depend on the point of view. I like The Wizard because of the details. Tesla's life story is very exciting, and the multitude of details just paint a fuller, richer picture for me.

Checking back to report that I've finished The Wizard. The book really held my interest, and upon reading it in whole, I can say that I really like it. It's a great read, and I would recommend it to almost anyone. Those would be my thoughts in brief, I elaborate more in my review.

Martina wrote: "Checking back to report that I've finished The Wizard. The book really held my interest, and upon reading it in whole, I can say that I really like it. It's a great read, and I would recommend it t..."

Wonderful review, Martina! Love it!:)

@BetseaK: Awww, shucks :) Thank you so much.

Margie wrote: "I'm not far into it yet and feeling rather frustrated. Tesla is a fascinating subject for a biography, but thus far Seifer seems intent on being so meticulous that he's missing the interesting sto..."

I am also a bit frustrated, not so much with the details (I like detail) but the author seems to jump around a lot, and there are lots of characters. But I am enjoying it even though it's slow going for me. Tesla knew a lot of famous people. I found a cool timeline of his life at this website: http://www.teslauniverse.com/nikola-t...

I'm with Martina in that I really enjoyed the book. Unfortunately, I read it at a time when I didn't have time to write a review and now I'm into reading about the Middle East.

I've reached the part of the book dealing with the Wardenclyffe project. Good stuff! There is a group trying to restore the grounds and turn it into a Tesla Museum. Here is an article from the NY Press about the project: http://www.longislandpress.com/2013/0...

Glynn wrote: "I've reached the part of the book dealing with the Wardenclyffe project. Good stuff! There is a group trying to restore the grounds and turn it into a Tesla Museum. Here is an article from the NY P..."

I'll have to take a trip to the museum when it's done. Thanks, Glynn.

Aloha wrote: "I'm with Martina in that I really enjoyed the book. Unfortunately, I read it at a time when I didn't have time to write a review and now I'm into reading about the Middle East."

A pity you didn't have time, Aloha. Your review surely would have been very interesting.

Glynn wrote: "I've reached the part of the book dealing with the Wardenclyffe project. Good stuff! There is a group trying to restore the grounds and turn it into a Tesla Museum. Here is an article from the NY P..."

Thanks for the link, Glynn.

Martina wrote: "Aloha wrote: "I'm with Martina in that I really enjoyed the book. Unfortunately, I read it at a time when I didn't have time to write a review and now I'm into reading about the Middle East."

A p..."

Thank you, Martina. I'm undisciplined when it comes to writing reviews. Maybe if I say I'm not writing a review, I'll write one. Reverse psychology. :o)

Finally finished the book. I have to say that I struggled with it but am glad that I took the time to read it. I wrote something about it which you can find here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Not sure if you can call it a "review."

Ok so I finally had the time to write a review (if you can call it) for Wizard:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Finished it much faster than I thought I would.

BTW if any one is interested, "Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century" by Sean Patrick is available for free on Kindle.

Although not great in terms of detail, i think it can be nice and short follow up on Tesla's life after reading Wizard.

Thank you, Rohan. Compared to Wizard, it might be lacking in detail. But I love books, especially if they're free!

I finally struggled to the end of this one. I was disappointed that the science of tesla was not at the forefront - not being familiar with the field it was not clear what was true and what was merely speculation.
On another note, it didn't give me much confidence in the patent system, but Tesla didn't help himself in this regard either. Is innovation better off today than it was then?