Nikola Tesla And The Taming Of Electricity

by Lisa J. Aldrich

Presents the life and accomplishments of the man who created hundreds of inventions without drawing them out, and is credited with becoming "the true father of the radio."

160 pages, Library Binding

First published May 31, 2005

Reviews

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a young adult biography which condenses the life of Nikola Tesla. What drew me to reading about this person is having listened to a music cd recorded by Allan Holdsworth titled "Wardenclyffe Tower" which includes a picture of the Tesla Tower on the front of the cd notes. There is a website which gives an account of Tesla's attempt to make electricity more available at http://www.teslasociety.com/teslatowe... if you are interested. This was a person who was not appreciated during his life, but is now credited as being the father of the radio. It chronicles his battles with Thomas Edison over which type of electric current would be the standard, DC (direct current) or AC (alternating current). Mr. Edison stooped pretty low in his attempts to ruin Mr. Tesla's ideas about alternating current. Without alternating current we would not have electricity as we know it today. If you are interested in this fellow you will find this a great read!

[Amy Roebuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written for 'younger readers' in a simpler style, but she's still giving us context on Schopenhauer and patent law, among other issues.

[Jacob Aitken]

One suspects that while Aldrich probably borrowed heavily, if not relied exclusively, from the earlier biography of Tesla (*Wizard*), she is still to be commended for doing a helpful job not only of introducing Tesla to the larger world, but in explaining many basic concepts of electricity.

This book was written towards Junior High and Middle School readers. Still, anyone can benefit from it. I was moderately pleased with the book. A few errors, but they didn't take away from the book.

True, Tesla was born in what is today Croatia, but he was a militant Serb who was quite proud of his Serbian heritage. This is the only factual error I could find with the book.

Aldrich does a helpful job in summarizing in layman terms alternating currents. A few more diagrams might have helped more, but I was pleased.

Tesla's life is a tragic one. He was betrayed by almost everyone (indeed, Tesla's life is a microcosm of Serbian history: blessing the world while suffering at the hands of th world).

This book is highly recommended.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew virtually nothing about Tesla other than my older son building a Tesla coil in high school years ago. I picked up this book while subbing one day. I ended up getting it from the library so I could finish it. I thought it was well written about the life and genius of Nikola Tesla. I had no idea about his accomplishments. I felt very sorry for him always getting his ideas stolen and other people taking credit for his inventions and his not being paid for them. Even though this was a condensed version of his life, it is well worth the read.

[Pamela]

Got this one for us all to read. Tesla was a fascinating character, the true inventor of electric usage, and a mysterious genius we still know too little about. He was at least 100 years ahead of his time. If you haven't heard of him yet, be sure to check him out. You'll be amazed! Story is, he caused an earthquake in Manhattan at the time of Edison (who stole the credit for electricity).

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good starter book. I had originally checked this title out for my daughter then I read it when she was finished. I'm appalled at how badly this man was screwed over by so many people. I'm especially ticked off that we give so much credit to Thomas Edison yet our school systems don't teach that electricity as we know it today was created by Tesla.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good biography for kids: 5 to 8th grade level. It does a good job of summing up his life and contributions, and there are lots of great color pictures and quotes.

[Carol Lander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, but not entirely factual, I don't think. A little poetic license.

[Tristen Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a really good book so far.