Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla
Review
“John O’Neil understands me better than any man alive.” — Nikola Tesla
Tesla’s eccentric personality gives his life story the quality of the strangest romance. He made his first million before he was forty, yet gave up the royalties on his profitable invention as a gesture of friendship, and died almost in poverty. In this penetrating study of the life and inventions of a scientific superman, the life of Tesla is revealed.
See all Editorial Reviews
…
Buy Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla at Amazon
Nikola on August 9th 2009 in Tesla
Anonymous responded on 09 Aug 2009 at 8:03 pm #
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Genius
Nikola Tesla was a complete genius and certainly an eccentric character. The book is very good at portrating his incredible intelligence; though, sometimes and can get a bit…
Gali responded on 09 Aug 2009 at 10:26 pm #
5.0 out of 5 stars
The seminal biography of a staunchly ethical man of science
Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla is the amazing true-life biography of inventor extraordinaire Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), a friend of Mark Twain and George Westinghouse,…
Zephan responded on 09 Aug 2009 at 10:34 pm #
This book tells the fascinating story of an amazing Serbian boy, Nikola Tesla, who was born in 1856, in the area we now call Bosnia. The author explains how Tesla’s accomplishments brought forth our modern electrical power era and provide the foundation for the industrial system on which the entire world is built.
Tesla’s mother could repeat, without error or omission, thousands of verses of the national poetry of her country. Tesla shared her retentive memory. He had another ability that he only revealed to his mother. If Tesla thought of an object, it would appear before him exhibiting the appearance of solidity and massiveness. He used this ability to visualize the solution to creating the first alternating current generator.
The first time Tesla’s ability to visualize helped him in his quest to develop an alternating current generator, occurred when he suggested to a college professor that alternating current would solve some of the problems with a piece of electrical equipment that could be used either to generate electricity or if supplied energy could operate as a motor. As his professor demonstrated the machine, the solution to the problem came to Tesla in such a vivid, illuminating flash of understanding that he knew his visualization contained the correct and practical answer. He saw both the equipment operating without the problems and doing so efficiently, however, he could not see the essential details of how this could be accomplished.
In Feb of 1882, Tesla took a walk in the city of Budapest with a former classmate. While a glorious sunset overspread the sky, Tesla engaged in one of his favorite hobbies-reciting poetry. The setting sun reminded Tesla of some of Goethe’s beautiful lines:
The glow retreats, done is the day of toil;
It yonder hastes, new fields of life exploring;
Ah, that no wing can lift me from the soil,
Upon its track to follow, follow soaring…
Suddenly, Tesla snapped into a rigid pose as if he had fallen into a trance. “Watch me!” he said, “Watch me reverse it!”
Tesla’s friend said, “I see nothing, are you ill?”
“You do not understand,” said Tesla, “It is my alternating-current motor I am talking about. Can’t you see it right here in front of me, running almost silently? It is the rotating magnetic field that does it. See how the magnetic field rotates and drags the armature around with it? Isn’t it beautiful? I have solved the problem.”
Tesla now had an electrical system utilizing alternating current, which was much more flexible and vastly more efficient than the direct-current system then being used. But now Tesla had another problem, convincing the rest of the world that his alternating-current power system was simpler, flexible and freed electricity to be sent long distances. The direct-current systems being used at that time were not able to send electricity long distances without major problems. The fact that our power system today uses alternating-current shows that Tesla was finally successful. The book, Prodigal Genius, provides all the fascinating details of this story
Xing responded on 10 Aug 2009 at 12:22 am #
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hardly prodigal
Tesla was not prodigal by any definition of the term. He was a genius-fool with severe neurological problems.
Gurnam responded on 10 Aug 2009 at 2:47 am #
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty fascinating stuff
Once I got by the romantic flair of the first pages, I really enjoyed O’Neill’s biography of Tesla. The subject of Tesla’s life is certainly fascinating.
Humbert responded on 10 Aug 2009 at 4:42 am #
4.0 out of 5 stars
Biased, but still a good book
The reporting of Tesla’s life is biased to report the good, and gloss over the errors. Despite this, it is still a very good book, a great insight to a great inventor.
Xakery responded on 10 Aug 2009 at 6:12 am #
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiring book — great for kids or adults!
I read this book in April 1945, just after it first appeared. A fantastically inspiring book for me, then a 14-year-old would-be genius.
Waldemar responded on 10 Aug 2009 at 9:11 am #
5.0 out of 5 stars
Uterly fantastic
Having only seen a small intro on the local public television station about this person really sparked my interest. This book lays out all the information on Nikola Tesla.
Anonymous responded on 10 Aug 2009 at 11:48 am #
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiring book!
I read this book in April 1945, just after it first appeared. A fantastically inspiring book for me, then a 14-year-old would-be genius.