Tesla

Inventor of the Modern

By: Richard Munson

Narrated by: Charles Constant

Nikola Tesla, a Serbian immigrant, invented the radio, the induction motor, the neon lamp, and the remote control. His breakthrough came in alternating current, the basis of the electric grid and long-distance electrical transmission. This pitted him against Thomas Edison's direct current empire, and bitter patent battles ensued.

But Tesla's technology was superior, and eventually, he prevailed. Unfortunately, he had no business sense and could not capitalize on this success. His most advanced ideas were unrecognized for decades: 40 years in the case of the radio patent; longer still for his ideas on laser beam technology.

Tesla's personal life was magnificently bizarre. Strikingly handsome and impeccably dressed, he was germophobic and never shook hands. He required nine napkins when he sat down to dinner. In later years, he ate only white food and conversed with the pigeons in Bryant Park. This clear, authoritative, and highly enjoyable biography takes account of all phases of this remarkable life.

©2018 Richard Munson (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

This book

Is an awesome view point in Tesla’s life. It seemed very open on non-sided to or against Tesla. Thank you to the author and the voice actor.

Great easy read. I loved it!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a very good read and educational. I knew practically nothing about Tesla. I actually thought he was from Russia and that he did all this work in Russia. Well I was completely surprised. He was also a man of the ages and it is good to see that he was also a simple human with the same foibles that we all have and struggle with. I wish he could have done better but it is what it is.

Electrifying

There was no struggle to finish this book. The information was connective and relative to all those involved with the electric and technological convieneces in which we enjoy today. I would have not have picked this novel as a topic of interest, with no regrets, I'm glad that I was influenced to do so. A novel that influences feelings of thankfulness that an inventor, intellectual, and dedicated scientist never ceased to further our lives by creating technological advances.

An electric narrative (pun intended)

In school, we were taught nothing but the greatness of Thomas Edison. It’s a crime it took me until this audiobook to learn of Tesla and what our world could’ve been had his inventions been more accepted. Great book!

Set the record straight, Thomas Edison important but not as special as Nikolai Tesla

What a wonderful book everything was laid out in such a way that I was able to come to a conclusion that,

Well it appears that Nikolai Tesla was the major guy the visionary that helped bring electricity to the masses and radio to all our ears.

interesting all the way

I really finished this book

And it was not a hard thing to do. I really liked the narrative and the way the history was told and all of the details of the life of this man. I tried other Tesla audiobooks samples and I found this the more appealing and I can say I really enjoyed it and recommend it.

Listening Again

Had some tribulation on which Tesla story to choose, and this one did NOT disappoint. Was a treat to listen to, and endlessly interesting. Looking forward to the second listen!

Loved it and learned new stuff about Tesla

I 1st met Richard Munson in Colorado Springs in 2018 when he gave a lecture at Colorado College. I finally finished this book. It was a very good read, and I learned a lot of new stuff about Tesla that I didn't know before. Richard knows his stuff!

Good, but maybe lacks something.

This is a good book about Tesla. Not sure how it compares to other books, but it seems fair to Tesla, neither fawning nor overly critical. You see the man, genuis, warts and all. But I felt like maybe something was missing. Perhaps it would have been a better book if it had diverged from Tesla's time-period more often to put his experiences in the context of present knowledge. For instance, the book notes that Tesla created a small vibration machine that he claimed could destroy buildings and bridges easily. The book mentions an episode of Mythbusters in which a similar machine was tested on an old bridge, and did not cause any serious damage. More of this sort of thing might have been interesting. I was especially curious to know if Tesla's many experiments with high voltage electricity might have harmed his health -- especially his mental health. I am not quite finished with the book, but so far that has not been discussed, though some of his eccentric behavior has been mentioned.

A great look at a great man.

Tesla is a great listen, even my 11 year old son asked me to keep listening on a recent car trip.