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    Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius
    Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius
    Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius
    Audiobook22 hours

    Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius

    Written by Marc J. Seifer

    Narrated by Simon Prebble

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), credited as the inspiration for radio, robots, and even radar, has been called the patron saint of modern electricity. Based on original material and previously unavailable documents, this acclaimed book is the definitive biography of the man considered by many to be the founding father of modern electrical technology. Among Tesla's creations were the channeling of alternating current, fluorescent and neon lighting, wireless telegraphy, and the giant turbines that harnessed the power of Niagara Falls.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateNov 7, 2011
    ISBN9781452672717
    Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius

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    Reviews for Wizard

    3.5/5

    79 ratings7 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 4/5
      Interesting book. You know the name of Tesla, but not really sure what he invented...? Its worth finding out about him. An inspiring man.
    • 5/5
      Comprehensive, places the subject within his time, and avoids all the mystical mumbo jumbo. If you're interested in Tesla, it's a must read.
    • 3/5
      Very interesting and well written book. However at the end of all chapters, the sentences were cut short which became very irritating. A bad production error
    • 3/5
      Wizard: Life and Times of Nikola Tesla Audiobook

      I listened to this in my vehicle over many weeks. I have always been fascinated by Nicola Tesla and also aware that he has been "cultified" to a great extent and that some of his biographies are questionable in terms of veracity.

      This biography claims to be the most truthful it terms of the author having accessed much of the original material available and not having relied on previous biographers. I guess in this way some of the myths about Mr Tesla get debunked along the way.

      He did invent wireless as we know it and Marconi's patent was overturned by the US Supreme Court in 1943 thereby acknowledging Tesla as the inventor of wireless. Notwithstanding that, I was brought up with the belief that Marconi was the man. Just goes to show that a well repeated lie beats the truth hands down on most days.

      This biography is nothing if not comprehensive. It pretty much starts at the beginning and ends at the end and in between those points not many stones are left unturned in the attempt to portray this genius. Does it succeed? Well, I'd have to say yes to that. Did I enjoy it? Maybe, it was very long and very repetitive in places and sometimes the format got in the way of the material.

      But you don't pick up a biography for entertainment so the criteria for review are somewhat different. It is a well researched and put together piece of work. I don't think the author is impartial, I think he is a complete fan of Mr Tesla and has had to temper his enthusiasm in places. I think being a fan of the subject is not a bad thing in a biographer.

      There were a couple of bits that I struggled with, the author's Freudian analysis of Tesla's celibacy stretched my credibility and patience but I feel curmudgeonly in saying that because that piece of criticism is like saying that there was a speck of dust on the cover. If you want to know more about Nicola Tesla this is the book.

      He also covers the conspiracy theorists' subject of his "missing papers" and the "death ray".

      I guess I could list all the things that we owe to Nicola Tesla, like our AC power system that is used globally and say that he didn't just come up with the idea of how to make AC power but he presented all of it complete in one go, the generation, distribuition and deployment. And that in the face of mathematicians with "conclusive" proof that AC electricity was an impossibility. That IBM, when patenting the ideas and technology in their mainframe computer, found that they could not take out some patents because Nicola Tesla had already patented the ideas 50 years earlier.

      The man was a genius, flawed maybe but a genius nonetheless and this book will illuminate and illustrate that completely.

    • 3/5
      This is a biography of Nicola Tesla, the late 19th, early 20th century inventor, widely credited with invention of the multi-phase alternating current motor, among many other things. He is perhaps best known for his sometimes contentious rivalry with the far more celebrated contemporary, Thomas Edison. In fact, Edison who invented the mono-filament light bulb, was a champion of utilizing direct current electricity. Tesla certainly won that round.This biography follows the life of Tesla in a purely chronological manner, from his birth in Eastern Europe through his ultimate death, eighty-six years later in the United States. It touches upon many of his revolutionary ideas, along with sometimes fascinating interaction with the preeminent scientists and theoreticians of the era. Harnessing electricity and radio waves were revolutionary pursuits, undertaken by many of brightest minds of Tesla’s generation. Patents flew fast and furious and lawsuits filled the courthouses with contesting claims of priority. Tesla has become almost a mythical figure, as one whose ideas were behind many of the most groundbreaking discoveries of the era, yet failing to achieve recognition or reward, in comparison to others such as Edison and Marconi. Much of this was his fault, due to poor business decisions and an inability or refusal to translate most of his theories and inventions into practical application.The book itself contains quite a bit of very enlightening personal and historical information regarding Tesla and his contemporaries, and while it frequently ventures into the realm of hagiography, not excessively so in comparison with most biographies. My biggest complaint lies in the amount of technical information provided to the readers. Given the fact that probably less than 0.1% of readers are electrical engineers, I found the level of technical specificity to be somewhat excessive. Also, the author provides frequent quack psychological analysis that is in no way helpful.From the standpoint of biographies, this is pretty much a second-rate effort when compared to many others I have read. David McCollough would have done a much better job.
    • 3/5
      -very good education in all aspects, but had problems - gambled and quit school. -Interesting how the forefront of civilization changes, when he grew up in (present day) Croatia and Budapest (the Austro-Hungarian empire) in the 1850-80s, that was arguably among the most cutting-edge places in science, arts, etc. -had to do business with his inventions, not only make them. Same thing with Edison, for whom he briefly worked. Maybe having to do that was not so bad? -technology optimist. Worked on others to improve technology and progress so people could invent even more.-so much resources put into patent dealings...-said of Edison that with a little theory and learning he could have done much of what he did much quicker. Edison was man if trial and error.-Realized finite resources. Believed in transferring energy through the ether. If managed could transfer energy from falls etc to where needed. From Niagara Falls. -Turned increasingly eccentric. Claimed to be able to split the world in two with an oscillator generating the resonance of the earth, thereby creating eventually splitting it in two. But he did relate his ideas to science, and the author is perhaps too quick in dismissing as false those ideas and those of Newton and others on their time of making gold. First of all, at the time it may have been much less clear than now whether they were feasible, but even now we cannot claim to know them to be false. It may well be that one of the traits that do make great scientists great is an ability to entertain possibilities that seem far-fetched at first, but do so from a scientific viewpoint. -Tesla’s ideas important for Marconi’s radio.
    • 3/5
      I could write a book about the author's failings, but his archival research provides great material on the social connections and personal side of the man. There was no need for the repetitive, unconvincing psychoanalysis, handwriting analysis, or defenses against claims of his homosexuality. His personal involvement in the narrative is frequently distracting. I was never sure if the organization was chronological or thematic either. Not a good source for understanding the science, inventions or engineering (my impression was the author didn't understand himself but perhaps he didn't want to explain things from later knowledge?). A quick Wikipedia search with links to the patents and web page discussions was much better at helping me to understand the inventions themselves.