Wizard

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

By: Marc J. Seifer

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 22 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©1996 Marc J. Seifer (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Seifer's vivid, revelatory, exhaustively researched biography rescues pioneer inventor Nikola Tesla from cult status and restores him to his rightful place as a principal architect of the modern age." ( Publishers Weekly)

This account does justice to Tesla's life

I really enjoyed the honest and open way that the author approaches Tesla's life. And the narrator did a great job using different voice inflections and tones to characterize the many interacting people while reading their letters. This book inspired me to appreciate even more the contributions of this amazing Engineer and Inventor, particularly because he was portrayed as a human being, someone I can relate to. I strongly recommend it!

Comprehensive, but lacks cohesion

While the neither uncommon nor pervasive Freudian psychoanalysis and apologetics the author engages in sink the book, they do frequently distract from what otherwise might have been a great story. Seifer does an excellent job explaining his sources and giving an exhaustive account of Tesla's life. His lack of understanding on basic electrical engineering principles shows through, but this can be forgiven and I doubt that any Ph.D. in electrical engineering would have done nearly so well on Tesla's biography. Also, the talk on Mars seems to distract from the inventor. I wonder if Seifer was aiming to write a book on Tesla the electrical genius, Tesla the social oddity, Tesla the Freudian wonder, or Tesla the steampunk mad scientist. All of these are in the book, but Seifer does not transition well between them and does not appear to be trying to pick one to place in primacy.

I found the history of the patent fights between Tesla and his contemporaries to be fascinating. I think a book treating the topic would be worthwhile given the big patent fights today. Although, I doubt Seifer in the right author to undertake such a work. His discussion of the patent fights focus (rightly so) on the reporting of them and their impact on Tesla's life.

The narrator was good, but often mispronounced words within the field of electrical engineering or in science more broadly. It slowed down the book, which was already at a quite leisurely pace.

Facinating, cautionary, frustrating and inspiring

Exceptionally well researched and thorough account of this amazing man's life. Long, but worth it.

Excellent book but it drags a little

The book is well written and well performed. If you want to know about Tesla, this covers pretty much everything. That's its strength and its weakness. It got so detailed in a couple parts that it really dragged to the point that I almost stopped listening. However, I'm glad I didn't because once I got past the slow part, it got really interesting again and I learned quite a bit that I didn't know before.

the definitive Tesla biography.

goes into great detail about Tesla's life. Learned many new things about him. Author definitely did exhsustive research. if you are interested in Tesla's life and inventions you will definitely want to listen to this audio book. you will find he was involved in many more things than history gives him credit for.

Good but long

I really enjoyed the content of this book. The reason it didn’t get 5 stars though is because it was just too long. At times it felt like I was listening to a text because of the amount of detail provided. It made it hard to get through sometimes. I wish there was an abridged version that was about half as long. That would have been a MUCH easier listen and just as interesting for the amateur just curious to learn a little more about the iconic figure. Other than length though, it was well written in chronological order and well narrated.

impressive

this is well putting togeher. gives good insight on tesla the man and the inventor.

Tesla Wizard

It appears that Tesla became larger than life. I believe he was suppressed and arguably so from achieving an even more powerful full potential. As for his enemies, "Why buy the cow, when you can steal the milk and drink it for free?" There was a total whitewash of history as far as Tesla is concerned. Marc J. Seifer has written a masterful expose here. Centuries from Tesla's times will go down in infamy as to mankind's loss of what we could have been, if only Tesla had prevailed.

A full biography - full of wonder and mystery

Thoroughly enjoyed this biography. I admit that I am enthralled with history of this genius and his inventions and influence. Shrouded in mystery and intrigue, with villains and conceits abundant, the truth has always been elusive. This biography appears to deliver facts and suppositions that seem even handed. I will have to return to this again.

learned a lot about the wizard.

I looked up on Google about his relationship with I think it was Catherine the playwright and nothing comes up