Tesla: Man Out of Time (Paperback)

by Margaret Cheney (Author) "Promptly at eight o'clock a patrician figure in his thirties was shown to his regular table in the 'Palm Room of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel..." (more)
Key Phrases: gambling man, cosmic communion, great radio controversy, New York, Nikola Tesla, Colorado Springs (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The Sunday Times, London Uncommonly colorful...absorbing. -- Review

Review
Discover

A dramatic and poignant portrait.

American Scientist

Excellent...a significant contribution to the recent history of science...informative and delightful to read.

Publishers Weekly

Well documented, sympathetic, and engaging.

Choice

Cheney's excellent biography of one of the most idiosyncratic and truly enigmatic "scientists" is both comprehensive and well written...very warmly recommended.

The Sunday Times, London

Uncommonly colorful...absorbing.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; 1 edition (October 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743215362
• ISBN-13: 978-0743215367
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,690 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( T ) > Tesla, Nikola
  #3 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Patents & Inventions
  #35 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Scientists

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

131 of 141 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Very Eye Opening Book, June 1, 2002

By	TheHighlander (Richfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews

I, like many others, have heard the name of Tesla and knew that he was far-sighted and a great inventor. Many rock fans will remember the group "Tesla" and their album "The Great Radio Controversy". I only mention this because I feel it opened the door for a great many young people to have an interest in Tesla.

This book was engrossing from start to finish. The number of patents, the ideas he presented so far ahead of his time and the inventions he brought forth literally changed the world. He does not get credit for most of what he did. He was just recently added to the Smithsonian Museum for his invention of the radio which many still believe was invented by Marconi. And children are still taught in school that "Thomas Edison invented electricity" but in fact the type of of electrity we use today was put forth by Tesla.

His awesome intelligence invented so many components of micro technology that inventors for years after did not comprehend. For instance, this book brings for the facts that "Inventors of modern computer technology in the last half of the twentieth century repeatedly have been surprised, when seeking patents, to encounter Tesla's basic ones, already on file."

To list Nikola Tesla's ideas, discoveries and inventions would take an entire book in itself but some included the Atom Smasher, X-Rays, Radio, electro-magnetic power, AC electricity, Solar Heating, Vacuum Tubes, Remote Control Vehicles, Torpedoes, Force Fields, Microwave Transmissions, Diathormy, High Voltage Conducters, Wireless Communications, World Wide Broadcasting Systems, Flying Saucers, Transisters, The Atomic Clock, Cosmic Rays, Phosphorescent Lighting, The Heating Pat, Robots, Liquid Oxygen, Under Ground Power LInes, Cryogenics, Radar, Guided Missiles, Automobile Speedometer, Highway Systems, Parking Garages, Interplanetary Communications, Laser Beams, Death Rays, Modern Warfare, Geothermal Steam Plants, and the list can go on and on. He once produced an earth quake in New York City and blew out electric plants in Colorado with his experiments. He was so far ahead of his time that the US Air Force is still researching his ideas and the US Government, in posession of his papers, denies that they have any of his notes. What they did acknowledge they had is still classified.

Nikola Tesla was a dapper man who spoke eight languages fluently and onced signed away riches for the benefit of a friend (George Westinghouse) who had supported him in the past. He was a naturalized U.S. citizen and this he considered his greatest accomplishement. His experiments through most of his life were constanty in need of funds and he approached the US Government several times. One can only wonder what might have come of his knowledge if the government had agreed to fund him. Thankfully his devotion was to the United States because both Russia and Germany approached him and he turned them down. As it turns out the US Government expressed much more interest in his experiments after his death than when he was alive. Apparently taking his notes and classifying them and also moving forward in his ideas.

This book presents a great overview with a little insight into his experiments. It covers the man, the experiments, his friends and his times. It's a great introduction to Nikola Tesla and I highly recommend it to anyone who is searching for the truth about historic inventions. Big companies and powerful men continued to keep Tesla's inventions either ignored, ridiculed (until later knowledge proved them right) or stolen so he could not profit to the full extent that he should have. A study in the down side of capitalism.

Buy this book, open your ideas, enjoy history and think about what you have been taught. Fascinating!

62 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Subject, Questionable Treatment, May 19, 2000

By	Robert Carlberg (Seattle) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Tesla: Man Out of Time (Hardcover)

Tesla was such a fascinating scientist -- trailblazing, mysterious and quirky -- that it would be hard to write a boring book about him. Cheney's bio, however, makes a valiant attempt.

Her material is poorly organized. She jumps back and forth in time, from the young Tesla to the old Tesla, with no warning or pattern. She jumps around in subjects almost as willfully. Her treatment of Tesla is reverent and laudatory one minute, dismissive and belittling the next.

She gives almost no firm dates, so I found myself often bewildered about exactly which Tesla was being discussed. Her description of Tesla's science makes it clear that she was no scientist herself, and in fact makes Tesla's accomplishments all the harder to decipher. And most damning of all, she alludes to Tesla's odd habits and personal quirks, but never once comes right out and describes them.

Tesla's story makes for a fascinating biography, but Cheney's may not be it.

71 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE Definite Tesla Biography, September 8, 2002

By	William Hefner (EUREKA, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The best biography written on one of the most amazing men of the 20th century, or perhaps of all-time.

Nikola Tesla was one of the world's greatest inventors, and definitely its most mysterious. To say that Telsa was ahead of his time is putting it rather mildly. Most of his inventions were so advanced that the public had a difficult time grasping just how important they really were.

Although Marconi is often credited with the invention of radio, the real credit goes entirely to Tesla. A long-running battle between the two ended when American courts essentially invalidated Marconi's radio patent, and awarded credit for the invention to Nikola Telsla.

In addition to radio, Tesla also invented Alternating Current (AC), which is the form of electricity used to deliver power to most homes and businesses on earth. He also patented hundreds of other inventions, many of which are in use today. Others are yet to be understood by modern scientists.

Probably just as fascinating as Tesla's inventions was Telsa himself though. He was the original, real-life "mad scientist", and often discussed his invention of the "death ray" with the popular press. The world has never seen an inventor the likes of Nikola Tesla, and may never see one again. This book is a fascinating look at an amazing individual.