My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla

By Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla has been called the most important man of the twentieth century. Certainly he contributed more to the field of electricity, radio, and television than any other person living or dead. Ultimately he died alone and impoverished having driven all of his friends away through his neurotic and eccentric behavior. Tesla was never able to fit into the world that he found himself in. This autobiography, originally serialized in Electrical Experimenter, is an intensely fascinating glimpse into the mind of a genius, his inventions, and the magical world in which he lived.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
• Release date: Nov 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781627930239

Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) was a Serbian-American inventor, writer, physicist, and engineer, best known for his work on the alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.

Reviews for My Inventions

[bookson23rd · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Aren't there any good books written about Nikola Tesla?? This is the second one I've read, and both have been below par. "Fantastic Inventions" has entire chapters consisting of Tesla's patent drawings, none of which I can understand, being that I know nothing about how electricity works. But even if I did, there are no explanations accompanying the drawings, so what good are they? Other chapters seem to be lectures or articles he wrote. The Appendix is a partial transcript of a trial -just the part where witnesses are trying to describe the conditions of Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower before it was demolished. Some reprints of newspaper articles and photographs of the laboratories liven things up, but this books was very disappointing overall.
I took out of this two things of interest; One, that in his article of March 5, 1904 (Electrical World and Engineer) he states "... A cheap and simple device, which might be carried in one's pocket, may then be set up somewhere on sea or land, and it will record the world's news or such special messages as may be intended for it. Thus the entire earth will be converted into a huge brain, as it were, capable of response in every one of its parts." (Sounds like cell phones w/Internet access to me!) Two, that the mad scientist in the very first Max Fletcher "Superman" cartoons of the early 1940's were most likely patterned after Tesla, who believed that he had created a "Death-Beam" in 1934.

[ban485 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A frustratingly tiny glimpse into the life and mind of a genius. Tesla not only invented some of the electrical systems devices that became the foundation of modern life but foresaw other developments such as nuclear power, the computer and the positive impact that worldwide distribution of information, like the Internet, would have on humanity. This book was fascinating and funny I just wish it was longer.