Betsy the Quilter
Woman in Charge
Global Moderator
Status: Shakespeare
 Offline
Gender: 
Alexandria, VA
Posts: 30748
I'm here to help. Really.
|
 |
« on: January 28, 2012, 01:12:17 PM » |
|
Heard an interesting piece about Nikola Tesla today on NPR; I'd heard of him but didn't know much about him. (Inventor of alternating current, among many other things. His first invention was a generator powered by june bugs when he was a child.) Looked him up on Amazon, and, in addition to a lot of his writings being available on Kindle, there were the following:    As well as his own autobiography: (edited per Scarlet's comments later): this one is apparently a scanned copy of a poor pamphlet:  this one seems to be a good version:  Anyone read any of these? Recommendations? Betsy |
|
|
|
« Last Edit: January 28, 2012, 06:53:33 PM by Betsy the Quilter »
|
Logged
|
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." -Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird
"Oh come on! Stake through the heart. A little sunlight. It's like falling off a log" -Buffy, the Vampire Slayer |
|
|
|
telracs
|
|
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2012, 01:18:42 PM » |
|
oooh, thanks betsy...
btw, Tesla shows up as a character in a couple of Spider Robinson books, one of the Lady Sally ones (darn, can't remember the title) and at least one of the Callahan Crosstime Saloon ones.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Betsy the Quilter
Woman in Charge
Global Moderator
Status: Shakespeare
Offline
Gender:
Alexandria, VA
Posts: 30748
I'm here to help. Really.
|
|
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2012, 01:48:46 PM » |
|
Thanks, I never heard of any of those, but will look them up...
One of the things I heard on the NPR piece was that he lived in room 3327 of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York (doing that from memory, I think it's the right number) and that the person who recorded the NPR piece rented the room...
Betsy
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." -Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird
"Oh come on! Stake through the heart. A little sunlight. It's like falling off a log" -Buffy, the Vampire Slayer |
|
|
|
telracs
|
|
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2012, 01:51:27 PM » |
|
couple of comments...
most of the non-fiction books are a bit on the expensive side.
also, the "autobiography" that betsy links to has a bunch of comments stating it's a bad scanned copy.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Jon Olson
|
|
« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2012, 02:16:19 PM » |
|
Have you seen the film THE PRESTIGE? David Bowie as Tesla. An interesting movie about, I'd guess you'd say, identity.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Ann in Arlington
Inmate # 65
Global Moderator
Status: Shakespeare
 Online
Gender:
Arlington, VA
Posts: 32133
Go Nats!
|
|
« Reply #5 on: January 28, 2012, 03:32:41 PM » |
|
In Sanctuary on SyFy he's an amoral Vampire.  |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Ann Von Hagel Arlington, VA  |
|
|
Betsy the Quilter
Woman in Charge
Global Moderator
Status: Shakespeare
Offline
Gender:
Alexandria, VA
Posts: 30748
I'm here to help. Really.
|
|
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2012, 04:26:04 PM » |
|
couple of comments...
most of the non-fiction books are a bit on the expensive side.
also, the "autobiography" that betsy links to has a bunch of comments stating it's a bad scanned copy.
There's another edition of that. I was seduced by the cover of that one. And yes, the Kindle prices are high, hence my asking for recommendations.... Betsy |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." -Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird
"Oh come on! Stake through the heart. A little sunlight. It's like falling off a log" -Buffy, the Vampire Slayer |
|
|
|
telracs
|
|
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2012, 04:29:50 PM » |
|
There's another edition of that. I was seduced by the cover of that one. And yes, the Kindle prices are high, hence my asking for recommendations....
Betsy
*giggle* i just didn't want anybody to one-click and then blame you for the high prices! |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CoraBuhlert
|
|
« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2012, 06:14:39 PM » |
|
Have you seen the film THE PRESTIGE? David Bowie as Tesla. An interesting movie about, I'd guess you'd say, identity.
And of course The Prestige is based on an excellent novel by Christopher Priest. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Betsy the Quilter
Woman in Charge
Global Moderator
Status: Shakespeare
Offline
Gender:
Alexandria, VA
Posts: 30748
I'm here to help. Really.
|
|
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2012, 06:17:56 PM » |
|
*giggle* i just didn't want anybody to one-click and then blame you for the high prices!
Not my issue.  Betsy |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." -Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird
"Oh come on! Stake through the heart. A little sunlight. It's like falling off a log" -Buffy, the Vampire Slayer |
|
|
Betsy the Quilter
Woman in Charge
Global Moderator
Status: Shakespeare
Offline
Gender:
Alexandria, VA
Posts: 30748
I'm here to help. Really.
|
|
« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2012, 06:22:47 PM » |
|
Not a book, but I also found these:   Not going to be ordering either one....but I'm going to check Netflix for the PBS one, they have lots of the PBS stuff. EDIT: The Secret of Nicola Tesla one is on Netflix.... Betsy |
|
|
|
« Last Edit: January 28, 2012, 06:36:41 PM by Betsy the Quilter »
|
Logged
|
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." -Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird
"Oh come on! Stake through the heart. A little sunlight. It's like falling off a log" -Buffy, the Vampire Slayer |
|
|
|
hamerfan
|
|
« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2012, 06:39:41 PM » |
|
It's been a long time since I've read about him, but he was a very interesting character. IIRC, George Westinghouse pretty much destroyed Tesla when Tesla wanted to give AC electricity away.
My favorite quote from Tesla was, "The last 28 days of the month are the hardest". Most of his income was from grants issued on the first of each month.
He also loved to feed the pigeons in Central Park.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
telracs
|
|
« Reply #13 on: January 28, 2012, 06:51:44 PM » |
|
betsy--- i couldn't figure out what looked odd about the thread title... then i got it....isn't it Nikola, not Nicola?
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Dara England
|
|
« Reply #14 on: January 28, 2012, 08:09:59 PM » |
|
Nikola Tesla is featured in several episodes of the TV show Murdoch Mysteries, which I understand are based on books. Fiction of course, but still fun.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
Betsy the Quilter
Woman in Charge
Global Moderator
Status: Shakespeare
Offline
Gender:
Alexandria, VA
Posts: 30748
I'm here to help. Really.
|
|
« Reply #15 on: January 28, 2012, 09:20:03 PM » |
|
betsy--- i couldn't figure out what looked odd about the thread title... then i got it....isn't it Nikola, not Nicola?
Yeah, noticed that myself and fixed it about the same time as your post...along with some other stuff....thanks Betsy |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." -Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird
"Oh come on! Stake through the heart. A little sunlight. It's like falling off a log" -Buffy, the Vampire Slayer |
|
|
|
purplepen79
|
|
« Reply #16 on: January 29, 2012, 09:35:56 PM » |
|
And of course The Prestige is based on an excellent novel by Christopher Priest.
Haven't read this yet, though I intend to -- The Prestige is my favorite Nolan brothers movie, partly because of how they utilize the character of Tesla. The most fascinating thing to me about this very fascinating man is that he had synesthesia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia. I've often wondered if his condition contributed to his creativity with invention. Thanks for pointing out the titles, Betsy! Sorry to say, I haven't read any of them, though I'm going to go check them out now. |
|
|
|
« Last Edit: January 29, 2012, 09:38:52 PM by purplepen79 »
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
CoraBuhlert
|
|
« Reply #17 on: January 30, 2012, 02:08:44 AM » |
|
It's certainly possible. After all, lots of creative people have some form of synaesthesia.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Nancy Fulda
|
|
« Reply #18 on: January 30, 2012, 04:19:33 AM » |
|
My sister read "Tesla: Man Out of Time" and says it's excellent. It discusses some of his most fascinating achievements, including a well-documented machine able to generate ball lightning. To this day, scientists still don't know how that thing worked. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
mscott9985
|
|
« Reply #19 on: January 30, 2012, 05:32:56 PM » |
|
I realize that this is not a book; however, The Prestige is an amazing movie. (It's not about Tesla per se, but he does make an appearance, and he's played by David Bowie of all people!) As I live in Detroit, though, I'm obligated to be an Edison fan  |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
| When a soccer mom becomes a succubus, all hell breaks loose.
| "Devilish and delicious..." - Boekie's Book Reviews
|
|
|
|
|
BTackitt
|
|
« Reply #20 on: February 02, 2012, 06:04:49 AM » |
|
Betsy! This one's Free today! |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Geemont
|
|
« Reply #21 on: February 02, 2012, 03:05:45 PM » |
|
This novel features Tesla as a character. It's by Thomas Pynchon so readers who want a "fun, fast, and easy" book should stay away. Not available for Kindle.  |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dilber MC Theme by HarzeM
