My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla

Publisher's Summary

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist, who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. 

Born and raised in the Austrian Empire, Tesla received an advanced education in engineering and physics in the 1870s and gained practical experience in the early 1880s working in telephony and at Continental Edison in the new electric power industry. He emigrated to the United States in 1884, where he would become a naturalized citizen. He worked for a short time at the Edison Machine Works in New York City before he struck out on his own. 

With the help of partners to finance and market his ideas, Tesla set up laboratories and companies in New York to develop a range of electrical and mechanical devices. His alternating current (AC) induction motor and related polyphase AC patents, licensed by Westinghouse Electric in 1888, earned him a considerable amount of money and became the cornerstone of the polyphase system that the company would eventually market. Attempting to develop inventions he could patent and market, Tesla conducted a range of experiments with mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, and early X-ray imaging. He also built a wireless-controlled boat, one of the first ever exhibited. Tesla became well known as an inventor and would demonstrate his achievements to celebrities and wealthy patrons at his lab, and was noted for his showmanship at public lectures.

Public Domain (P)2018 Dreamtown Publishing

A true Genius

This is a great way to be introduced to one of the greatest Inventors and a unique individual who had amazing creativity.

The Narrator does a great job in giving this quick book to listeners in a way that would hold their interest.


Unlike other Inventors and thinkers in America must people only know this man from the Company that makes
Electric Cars but he had a variety of interests and many Inventions.



This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Tesla as told by Tesla

Accounts in autobiographies must always be taken with a grain of salt. Tesla, as brilliant as he was, still falls into the trap of human pride and so at times comes off as almost ludicrously arrogant, such as when he claims that his weight never fluctuated one pound for over 30 years of adulthood, or that his abstinence from sex imbued him with increased dexterity.

However, that is always the curse of autobiographies: everyone wants to put themselves into the best light. As such, it's more important to view this less as a factual history, and more of an insight into the mind behind the man who nearly made electricity free. Tesla believed that his 'magnifying transmitter', colloquially known as a Tesla Coil, would become his greatest invention, not just for economical purposes but for humanitarian benefits.

Interestingly, despite Tesla's bad luck with stolen patents, most notoriously losing them to Thomas Edison, Tesla speaks very little of Edison, of which mentions not one of the slights against the Serbian-American inventor.

Stephen Aulridge, Jr narrates the autobiography clearly, concisely, and with enough energy that can keep one focused on words written nearly a century ago, a world very different from modern culture; where humanity had only achieved heavier-than-air flight less than two decades prior, the Versailles treaty had just ended the "War to End All Wars" barely six months before publication; and America's (white) women had just gained the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment.

**I was provided with a free promotional copy, at my request, and have voluntarily left a fair and honest review**

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Absolutely Fascinating.

I can’t imagine what his contemporaries would have thought of him. He is more intensely visionary than I am comfortable with. He is the prototype of the mad scientist, and you think he is crazy but then again, he invented the kind of electricity that charges your phone through the cigarette lighter in your car. What a fascinating historical figure. I definitely need to look into this guy further.

Great narration! Fantastic content. Listen to this now!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Tesla was brilliant

After this audiobook I now question if Tesla had a brain that was more advanced in design?

This has only served to further drive my quest for more insight on this man.

This is a difficult book to get interested in,

perhaps this is mostly due to the period in which this was written but I could not maintain interest in this. Mr Tesla is introspective, a bit self absorbed and opinionated, or at least that's how he came across in this.
I didn't make it very far in and I can't say much more than that.

Too late to improve the organization/layout

Such a fascinating description of wireless communications (obviously cell phone), robots and missile control systems that Tesla had devised and experimented with prior to 1900. Most laughed at his ideas and inventions - yet his inventions imbue all of our lives today. I found somewhat plausible his idea that every event that seems spiritual or supernatural can be explained by what one has seen or heard prior to the "spiritual occurrence." But he explains most humans have not - perhaps cannot - hone their powers of observation to recall where they encountered the impressions that comprise the "supernatural event."
Aulridge is easy to listen to and presents a clear interpretation of Tesla's feelings and journalistic descriptions of his inventions.
I found it disconcerting and confusing when the text ran from one topic to another without a break or new subtitle. I often wondered as I listened, "How did we get here from what was being discussed a moment ago?" Even chapter headings would have helped. In performance, a slightly longer pause when topic changed would help listener recognize and transition to a new topic. This is more a criticism of what must have been the layout of the text than of the performance.
I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who wants to know about this man who was ahead of his time and who was not given proper credit for his inventions that today surround and empower our lifestyles and warfare. At one point, I wondered if he was describing a drone.
I was given a free copy of this book at my request and offer this honest review.

Interesting Person

It's always interesting to learn more about someone so famous. Good listen.
I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

A Beautiful Mind

Although I knew a bit about “Nikola Tesla” prior to listening to this audiobook, I didn’t know he was such a talented and interesting individual! He was clearly one of those SUPER GENIUSES that emerges from humanity’s ranks every hundred years or so (like Mozart and Sir Isaac Newton). I believe that people like Tesla are given extended glimpses into parts of God’s mind-while the rest of us stand around with our mouths agape (even though we eventually profit from their immense talent!)

Many of Tesla’s inventions and ideas were obviously years ahead of their time. Although men like Thomas Edison often take credit for the work of men like Tesla, there is no getting around the fact that Tesla was a true genius who bestowed upon the world a great many novel inventions and ideas.

I LOVED hearing about Tesla’s life in his own words! He comes across as a bit of an oddball (like every genius, I suppose), but he’s got a lively and engaging personality that shows up in his writing. In fact, some of Tesla’s remarks and observations are HILARIOUS!

Something that Tesla repeatedly mentions in his writing is an ability to visualize and manipulate images within his mind. His ability to visualize was extraordinary, and it seemed to precede most of of his revelations and breakthroughs. It appears that this ability was the key to his genius.

The narrator did an excellent job narrating this audiobook. He was engaging and made me feel as if I was listening to Tesla himself.

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review

Great Voice artist

The talented voice artist brings the autobiography to life with just the right tone and rhythm. Well done.

Tesla

This was a good autobiography.I enjoyed hearing Mr Teslas stories of childhood and how things affected him.Stephen Paul Aulridge Jr. was a good narrator.I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.