The Man Who Invented the Twentieth Century: Nikola Tesla, Forgotten Genius of Electricity Paperback – 10 Jan. 2013

This is an absolutely superb book. It is much more historical than scientific (I'm an engineer so would have appreciated the inclusion of more technical stuff) but no less fascinating for all that. It gives a good account of Tesla's inventions and achievements in the context of the competitive nature of the electricity industry at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century . Tesla comes across as a very vulnerable, naive individual thoroughly inexperienced in the ways of business and making money. He was therefore exploited mercilessly by Edision, Westinghouse and various financial types. He was also apparently quite vain and susceptable to flattery by those at the upper echelons of society. All of these factors led to his inevitable failure to profit commercially from his inventions. The book emphasises the driven, obsessive nature of the man in consistently pushing (and in many cases obliterating) the boundaries of knowledge of electrical engineering at the time. I found his driven passion for introducing the benefits of AC electricity in the face of fierce competition from large sections of the industry (including Edision himself, who like most opponents of AC at the time were thinking of their own commercial interests over the benefits to humanity) an absolute inspiration. I particularly admire the tendency of the author to steer clear of eulogising him and makes highly apparent his all too human flaws. Personally, I think that this made what Tesla achieved seem even more remarkable. Tesla was an extraordinarily gifted electrical engineer who was one hundred years ahead of his time and his genius cannot be over stated. Reading this book, I was left with a deep admiration and respect for his passion, genius and achievements in the advancement of harnessing and expanding accessability for electrical power. At the same time I find myself a long way from what might be termed hero worship. This is a testament to the author's even handed, fair and impartial account. if the author's intention was to write a book which reported the facts highlighting both Tesla's genius and his shortcomings in an equanimous manner, than he definitely succeeded, in my humble opinion.

Such a good read highlighting both the incredible achievements of the genius who was Nikola Tesla and his personality flaws. His lack of business acumen allowed others to take advantage of him, and to take the credit and financial rewards for inventions that were in truth Tesla’s. In terms of inventions he really outflanked many of the great names like Marconi, Edison and Westinghouse and sadly left a number of his future ideas undocumented and a mystery still to be solved. The title of the book is entirely apt.

Tesla? Well, say the name and one would expect to be reading about Elon Musk's company. It's a sad indictment of society when the name Tesla doesn't bring to mind the Leonardo Da Vinci of the 20th Century. It should.I looked on eBay and couldn't find a book about him. That's astonishing. Here's this brilliant mind on legs who foresaw and developed basically modern day life, and nothing.Thankfully Amazon had this well written, easy to understand book about his life and work, though admittedly it's a hard feat to pull off as little exists about him personally.Although it doesn't have my favourite story about Tesla with the white pigeon he fell in love with, and few photos as few exist, Lomas writes about Tesla's often floral and poetic way of describing things, his isolation, his ineptitude at business, and the frankly crap way Edison treated him, he was an utter piece of turd anyway what he did with animals and plagiarising others inventions.Lomas makes quite complex science digestible, explaining how carbon light bulbs were made, how Tesla made lightening, the first a/c current, how he saw a future of wireless electricity, and his traumas growing up with a family who really didn't see his worth.One thing though, the book cover is a bit flimsy. I had to curl the front cover over several times as it flapped up, which was a bit irritating.I'd deffo recommend this if like me you are a fan of Tesla, and would like to read about what he invented, a bit about his personality and the inventions he made and predicted.

I’ve read this several times, and have gifted to other electrical engineers.Recommended easy read.

Well written and easy to read , absorb.Sadly this man and his research was pushed into the dark depths - we still have a lot to learn from this man !!!And where did his knowledge originate…..

This book gives a good flavour of the life of Tesla and the struggles he faced: a genius that was too much ahead of his time, often right in his foresight but equally often abused or unrecognized. It is well written but unfortunately also very quickly written, and does not seem to have received much proofreading or copy-editing and is somewhat repetitive. The book contains many typos.On the plus side, the author has well researched his subject, writes about it with passion and provides vivid anecdotes allowing us to picture Nicola Tesla as a person. If you don't mind reading a 95% finished book, this is a good introduction.