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Wizard
- The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 22 hrs and 13 mins
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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.
Critic reviews
Featured Article: The Best Biography Audiobooks to Educate, Fascinate, and Inspire
The best biographies are ranked not only by the scale and skill of their writing, but also by the strength of their subjects. In the audiobook world, these selections are also judged for the quality of their narrative performances, making those that rise to the top all the more excellent. From lighthearted entertainment to inspirational origin stories, these titles represent the best biography audiobooks now ready for your listening pleasure.
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Since the 1930s, the scale of scientific endeavors has grown exponentially. The birth of Big Science can be traced to Berkeley, California, nearly nine decades ago, when a resourceful young scientist pondered his new invention and declared, "I'm going to be famous!" Ernest Orlando Lawrence's cyclotron would revolutionize nuclear physics, but that was only the beginning of its impact.This is the incredible story of how one invention changed the world and of the man principally responsible for it all. Michael Hiltzik tells the riveting full story here for the first time.
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An informative and thought-provoking book
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The Network
- The Battle for the Airwaves and the Birth of the Communications Age
- By: Scott Woolley
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
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This is the origin story of the airwaves - the foundational technology of the communications age - as told through the 40-year friendship of an entrepreneurial industrialist and a brilliant inventor. David Sarnoff, the head of RCA and equal parts Steve Jobs, Jack Welch, and William Randolph Hearst, was the greatest supporter of his friend, Edwin Armstrong, developer of the first amplifier, the modern radio transmitter, and FM radio.
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The Classic Struggle
- By Jean on 06-01-16
By: Scott Woolley
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The Idea Factory
- Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
- By: Jon Gertner
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
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In The Idea Factory, New York Times Magazine writer Jon Gertner reveals how Bell Labs served as an incubator for scientific innovation from the 1920s through the1980s. In its heyday, Bell Labs boasted nearly 15,000 employees, 1200 of whom held PhDs and 13 of whom won Nobel Prizes. Thriving in a work environment that embraced new ideas, Bell Labs scientists introduced concepts that still propel many of today’s most exciting technologies.
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Great story -- horrible pauses
- By Rodney on 01-29-13
By: Jon Gertner
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American Eclipse
- A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World
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In the scorching summer of 1878, with the Gilded Age in its infancy, three tenacious and brilliant scientists raced to Wyoming and Colorado to observe a rare total solar eclipse. One sought to discover a new planet. Another - an adventuresome female astronomer - fought to prove that science was not anathema to femininity. And a young megalomaniacal inventor, with the tabloid press fast on his heels, sought to test his scientific bona fides and light the world through his revelations.
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Just OK.
- By Melanie A Hwalek on 09-18-17
By: David Baron
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Chief Engineer
- Washington Roebling, the Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge
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His father conceived of the Brooklyn Bridge, but after John Roebling's sudden death, Washington Roebling built what has become one of American's most iconic structures - as much a part of New York as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building. Yet, as recognizable as the bridge is, its builder is too often forgotten - and his life is of interest far beyond his chosen field. It is the story of immigrants, of the frontier, of the greatest crisis in American history, and of the making of the modern world.
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Monumental
- By charles mueller on 07-09-19
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Robert Oppenheimer
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Robert Oppenheimer was among the most brilliant and divisive of men. As head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, he oversaw the successful effort to beat the Nazis in the race to develop the first atomic bomb – a breakthrough that was to have eternal ramifications for mankind and that made Oppenheimer the “Father of the Atomic Bomb.” But with his actions leading up to that great achievement, he also set himself on a dangerous collision course with Senator Joseph McCarthy and his witch-hunters. In Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center, Ray Monk, author of peerless biographies of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell, goes deeper than any previous biographer in the quest to solve the enigma of Oppenheimer’s motivations and his complex personality.
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A comprehensive biography
- By Jean on 10-17-14
By: Ray Monk
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Dark Sun
- The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
- By: Richard Rhodes
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- Length: 6 hrs
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Richard Rhodes' landmark history of the atomic bomb won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Now, in this majestic new masterpiece of history, science, and politics, he tells for the first time the secret story of how and why the hydrogen bomb was made, and traces the path by which this supreme artifact of 20th-century technology became the defining issue of the Cold War.
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Abridged??
- By Delano on 04-17-13
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A Mind at Play
- How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age
- By: Rob Goodman, Jimmy Soni
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
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Claude Shannon was a tinkerer, a playful wunderkind, a groundbreaking polymath, and a digital pioneer whose insights made the Information Age possible. He constructed fire-breathing trumpets and customized unicycles, outfoxed Vegas casinos, and built juggling robots, but he also wrote the seminal text of the Digital Revolution. That work allowed scientists to measure and manipulate information as objectively as any physical object. His work gave mathematicians and engineers the tools to bring that world to pass.
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I wanted more information about Information Theory
- By Bonny on 05-08-18
By: Rob Goodman, and others
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The Path Between the Seas
- The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
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The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. McCullough expertly weaves the many strands of this momentous event into a captivating tale.
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No Stone Unturned
- By Tim on 06-25-13
By: David McCullough
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The Age of Wonder
- How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
- By: Richard Holmes
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When young Joseph Banks stepped onto a Tahitian beach in 1769, he hoped to discover Paradise. Inspired by the scientific ferment sweeping through Britain, the botanist had sailed with Captain Cook in search of new worlds. Other voyages of discovery—astronomical, chemical, poetical, philosophical—swiftly follow in Richard Holmes's thrilling evocation of the second scientific revolution.
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Misleading title
- By Diane on 08-04-11
By: Richard Holmes
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Excellent Book!
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Tech, science, engineering & the people behind it.
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What listeners say about Wizard
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jean
- 01-28-12
Tesla was a hundred years ahead of his time
Simon Prebble did a great job narrating the story. The book goes into more depth surrounding the times of Tesla. It gives an overview history of Serbia and surrounding countries. In covering the education of Tesla the author also introduces the reader to the professors that influenced him. Marc Seifer also covers in depth the interaction between Edison, Bell, Westinghouse and investors such as J.P. Morgan, John Aster, Stanford White and others. Tesla health, habits and mental health are covered. Seifer goes into depth covering the wide array of invention of Tesla and many are just becoming a factor in our daily life. It was also interesting to note that there are many more invention that the department of defense placed under a blanket of national security and no information is available on these inventions. This book has only made me want to know more about Tesla and his fellow engineers of the 1890s.
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125 people found this helpful
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- Robert
- 05-18-13
Well researched book; a bit overwhelming
This book makes use of some amazing records and information from Tesla's own papers. It paints a very interesting portrait of the scientist. It does get a bit bogged down in details of patent rights, electric theory the various players who pop in and out of Tesla's life. But definitely worthwhile for anyone interested in this amazing man.
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65 people found this helpful
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- Hsmukler
- 01-01-12
Finally a Tesla Audiobook
What did you love best about Wizard?
At last an audiobook about Nikola Tesla. I've always been interested in Tesla, but just didn't have the time or energy to read one of his many biographies, I guess you could say everything I know about Tesla, I learned from Wikipedia. But the Seifer book is enjoyable enough to listen to leisurely, but detailed enough to hold my scientific interest. I loved the British accent on the reader, who I've heard before, but not sure where. He makes everything seem so profound.
What did you like best about this story?
I liked the psychological angle, Dr. Seifer is a psychologist and that tends to humanize Tesla instead of getting bogged down in all the bells and whistles of his inventions. This is really a story of men behaving both badly and wizardly (so to speak). After listening to Wizard, I feel that Tesla has become 3 dimensional for me, while Edison remains 2 dimension. That probably isn't fair to Edison, but he just seems like a guy who invents a lot of neat things, while Tesla has so much more going on in his personality.
Which scene was your favorite?
Everything to do with Edison is great. In someways this is Gates v Jobs only a century earlier, (not sure who is who) These two characters are archetypes and the differences get played out in so many fascinating ways. I also really like the theories about extra-terrestrial origins, which of course remain a little too far out to be taken seriously.
Any additional comments?
The fact that Tesla invented the foundations of the electrical era is old news. What is really interesting is that he is also the father of the wireless era of the internet, cellphones, and even those new swirly CFL light bulbs. The Seifer book paints with a broad enough stroke to encompass that fact without getting stuck merely on Tesla's electricity contributions. I think listening to the Seifer Tesla book has gotten me ready to tackle the Steve Jobs biography next, one tends to flow effortless into the other.
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- Darryl
- 07-28-12
fascinating
this was an incredible biography of a multifaceted genius. i came to this from old curiosity but also from recent listen to Pynchon's Against the Day in which Tesla is an element of the story. i became more interested in learning about Tesla and I did not regret the time. in fact a friend who also listened to Pynchon is following up Tesla. it is mind boggling to imagine the world we could have today if only a key turn in history or in Tesla's fortunes or temperament had gone differently. we literally could have leap-frogged the 20th century and have cleaner energy etc. the list of items and technologies he created or envisioned is ridiculous. i chose this bio because it appeared to be the most comprehensive and i'm glad i did. i highly recommend this one if you are curious in Tesla, but also in early 20th century, late 19th, history: the list of people and events connected even tangentially with Tesla is also staggering. and the narration is fine, just at times he does a couple voices that are similar and can confuse who's speaking a little, not major.
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- Jean
- 01-28-12
Tesla was a hundred years ahead of his time
Simon Prebble did a great job narrating the story. The book goes into more depth surrounding the times of Tesla. It gives an overview history of Serbia and surrounding countries. In covering the education of Tesla the author also introduces the reader to the professors that influenced him. Marc Seifer also covers in depth the interaction between Edison, Bell, Westinghouse and investors such as J.P. Morgan, John Aster, Stanford White and others. Tesla health, habits and mental health are covered. Seifer goes into depth covering the wide array of invention of Tesla and many are just becoming a factor in our daily life. It was also interesting to note that there are many more invention that the department of defense placed under a blanket of national security and no information is available on these inventions. This book has only made me want to know more about Tesla and his fellow engineers of the 1890s.
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55 people found this helpful
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- Jolie
- 10-02-13
My brain hurts! But in a good way.
Would you listen to Wizard again? Why?
Portions of it, but probably not the whole thing as it is very long; I might have been better off with an abridged version if one was available. There are certain chapters/sections that I found more interesting and engaging than others.
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
I find late 19th- early 20th-century history—with all its stories of innovation, wealth, and bravado—to be intriguing. I liked hearing about Tesla's interactions with other giants of science, industry, and the arts and learning about his friendships, business partnerships, and collaborations. I found the descriptions of some of his theories to be fascinating (though obviously wrong, such as his insistence that intelligent beings on Mars might be able to receive transmissions from Earth) and descriptions of many of his personal interactions to be intriguing.
I have to admit that I did, more than once, find my mind wandering during some of the lengthier science-heavy passages. I wouldn't say that the science in this book is inaccessible to the layman, but it also doesn't treat the scientific sections in an elementary way. Therefore, I, as a nonscientist, often lost focus during those sections and had to re-listen to some, but wound up skipping some as well.
Have you listened to any of Simon Prebble’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
This is my first book narrated by Simon Prebble and I intend to seek out others he's done. His narration was superb. He commands a number of accents that he uses when voicing such people as the Serbian Tesla, the Italian Marconi, and various Americans, Scots, Englishmen and women, and other ethnicities without turning any of them into caricatures. Highly engaging narration.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
No extreme reactions.
Any additional comments?
I thought I knew of most of the major players who passed through Pittsburgh (my hometown) during Tesla's era but was surprised, and pleased, to learn through this book of Tesla's work in Pittsburgh with George Westinghouse and his patent feuds with University of Pittsburgh researcher Reginald Fessenden. I like when a broad, sweeping historical narrative comes into contact with my favorite city.
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- Mr Bill
- 04-17-13
Too much of a good thing
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
Only if they were a serious Tesla fan... and enjoy long books with way more information than you ever wanted to know.
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
This book starts Agonizingly slow and really is a bit like reading a textbook. Tesla is a Brilliant inventor who simply did a poor job of marketing himself. Its interesting to learn that Edison was really the Steve jobs of his age. He did less invention and more 'modification, and improvement' to other peoples ideas.
What didn’t you like about Simon Prebble’s performance?
The reading was a bit dry, but it may also have been the material.
Was Wizard worth the listening time?
From an educational perspective it was worth it.
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- Cynthia
- 03-24-13
Complex Mind, Tragic Trust
I liked the book, but I could have done without the psychoanalysis. At one point, the author, Marc J. Seifer, a distant relative of Nikola Tesla, says that Tesla was a megalomaniac. That term has never been used by the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Wikipedia defines megalomania as, “Megalomania is a psychopathological disorder characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence.’” Wikipedia goes on to describe one characteristic as an overestimation of one’s own powers.
Tesla was not delusional. Tesla was powerful scientific mind, rivaling his one-time employer, Thomas Alva Edison; and unwillingly providing Gugliemo Marconi the foundation of wave generation and transmission that Marconi developed into long-distance radio transmission. Tesla wasn’t a dupe with respect to Marconi – Marconi used Tesla’s patents without acknowledging Tesla or compensating him. To some extent, Tesla was able to recover money in the Courts, but that was long after Marconi was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physics.
Tesla was, however, naïve about finance. Given the opportunity to share business interests 50/50 with financier J.P. Morgan, Tesla insisted that Morgan have controlling interest, 51%. Tesla believed that Morgan would take care of him, and that he and Morgan had the same idealistic world view. Morgan must have believed that Tesla’s socialistic view of technology would lessen Morgan’s profits and powers, and he abandoned Tesla – even though Tesla’s earlier inventions were the basis of much of Morgan’s success. Perhaps Tesla, whom Seifer suspects was gay, was in love with Morgan when he gave Morgan control of a key part of his future.
Tesla wasn’t always right. For example, he rejected Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, even though that supported Tesla’s much earlier discoveries about radio waves. At least, I think that’s what Seifer was saying. I didn’t understand about half the science in the book, but that’s because I lack the physics background. By analogy, Seifer’s transmission was fine; but the receiver was faulty.
“Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius” was an interesting listen. Tesla worked on developing technology, such as the wireless transmission of power, that is possible but not widely used. I liked “Wizard” because it opened the door to the future, as seen from the past.
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- Vicente
- 11-07-13
An unfortunate soul...
Any additional comments?
The only thing I knew about Tesla was the created rivalry about Tesla and Edison. I sure did get more than that.
If you separate the book into three parts early life/career, career already set, and his final years. I would say that I liked the first part and the third part the best. The book dragged on since the book covered the goings on year by year. only to go forward at times to make a point. then would go back to the year where the author left off.
I enjoyed learning about a great man. about his achievements and his failures.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-07-15
Very Disappointing
I've been listening to Audible books for more than ten years and this is the first book I didn't finish. I think Tesla is an very interesting person and his achievements are pretty amazing but the pace of the story was very slow with lots of detail about the fights over patent rights to his inventions and his personal relationships with other scientists. There's also some Serb nationalism and a weird attempt at doing a psychoanalytic analysis of Tesla. Simon Prebble is a great narrator but he didn't have much to work with.
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