Read this on Graham's recommendation, and it was *fascinating* to hear it from the man himself. Tesla was famous for inventing alternating current (AC), which is used in every house and electric motor today. He was a famous scientist of his time, and supposedly there was some rift with him and Edison. It appears actually that Tesla sold his patents and the company that bought them sued everyone else, causing his name to be associated with the suits, even though he wasn't really involved. Tesla is also known for being a little too eccentric later in his career, trying to invent things that were impossible like wireless power.

I found this book a really good read, because Tesla is a character, and not a bad writer! He tells a lot of stories of his childhood, which were a very interesting glimpse into a great mind.

One part I liked was when Tesla was expounding on his personal philosophy of health, or 'focusing on himself'. He was frequently ill and overworked, and had to spend a lot of time working on his health. At one point he says of coffee and tea "These delicious beverages superexcite and gradually exhaust the fine fibers of the brain. They also interfere seriously with arterial circulation and should be enjoyed all the more sparingly as their deleterious effects are slow and imperceptible." He then goes on to say "The truth about this is that we need stimulants to do our best work under present living conditions, and that we must exercise moderation and control our appetites and inclinations in every direction." I think this is my new philosophy.

Tesla was also a believer that he who works harder will be successful. As someone who is starting a company (Goodreads), I'm starting to have a big appreciation for those who can believe in an idea against all odds, when everyone else believes it can't be done. It takes a special kind of person - one driven by passion in their ideas. Tesla's work schedule from college is also inspiring - he would work in the lab from 10am until 5am the next day. I've often heard lots of genius's haven't needed much sleep - I wish I could do that!

What a man! Imagination so powerful he could construct and tweak with devices just in his mind. No need to materialize, his brain projector got him covered. To my amateur eyes, Tesla definitely seems to have sings of autism. His inability to touch someone's hair, need to divide his actions by three, or his "mania" to finish whatever he started. The story with his pledge to read all of Voltaire's books and then realizing he had wrote hundred large volumes while drinking seventy-two cups of coffee per day, made me laugh. But Tesla still read it, it just had to be done. The book contains several other examples of his extraordinary characteristics, stories and life in general.

But for me the highlight was his absolute conviction that spiritual world trumps the material one. He speaks about the necessity to turn inwards and realize we all come from the same spirit, just the matter is different each and every time.

He wrote the book just after the end of World War I. The humanity hadn't seen such atrocities and horror ever before and man of his tremendous intellect, imagination and genius must had realized that we are our own biggest danger. One hundred years later his words still ring true.

Un génie mystique et charismatique un siècle en avance sur son temps. À suivre....

The guy was a genius he literally predicted drone strikes i'm not kidding

নিকোলা টেসলাকে বাদ দিয়ে তড়িৎ প্রকৌশলের ইতিহাস লেখা সম্ভব না।ফ্যানের নিচে বসে,কানে হেডফোন গুঁজে এই যে এত বড় বড় বক্তৃতা দিচ্ছি এসবকিছুর পেছনে গুরুর প্রত্যক্ষ অবদান আছে।বইটা একটু অগোছালো, বোধহয় মানুষটার মতোই। কথার ধার এতো বেশি যে আস্তে ধীরে হজম করতে হয়।
নিজের ব্যাপারে লেখা কথাগুলো খুব স্ট্রেট-কাট, নো ধানাই পানাই। তবে কোথাও কোথাও নিজের শারীরিক সক্ষমতার এমন কিছু বর্ণনা দিয়েছেন যে মানতে একটু কষ্ট হয়। যেমন ওঁনার শিক্ষাজীবনের কোন একটা বছরের পুরোটা সময় প্রতিদিন রাত ৩ টা থেকে পরদিন রাত ১১ টা পর্যন্ত টানা কাজ করার কথা বলছেন, শুক্র-শনির কোনও বালাই ছাড়াই! ৫৫০ মাইল দূরে পড়া বজ্রপাতের শব্দ তিনি শুনতে পান, যেখানে সাধারণ মানুষের ক্ষমতা ১৫০ মাইলের বেশি নয়। ওঁনার মতে তাঁর শ্রবণক্ষমতা আর মানুষজনের চাইতে ১৩ গুণ বেশি! রাতের অন্ধকারে তিনি বাদুরের মতো সামনে থাকা বস্তু (প্রায় ১২ ফুট দূরত্ব পর্যন্ত) অনুধাবন করতে পারেন, তাঁর কপালে নাকি "creepy peculiar sensation" হয়! বই লেখা পর্যন্ত তাঁর ৩৮ বছরের কর্মজীবনের প্রায় পুরোটাই প্রায় ছুটিবিহীন!

আইডিয়া তাঁর কাছে এসেছে অসীম স্রোত-প্রবাহের মতো, একের পর এক, এত বেশি যে একটা নিয়ে চিন্তা শেষ করার আগেই আরেকটা পেয়ে বসে! (আইডিয়া বড় সস্তা,কিছু বেঁটে দিলেও পারতো!)
আজকের মোটর,জেনারেটর, পাওয়ার ট্রান্সমিশন, তারবিহীন যোগাযোগ ...কীসে তাঁর অবদান নেই!
টমাস আলভা এডিসনের সাথে তাঁর মারামারি সম্পর্ক বিজ্ঞানজগতের একটা বহুল আলোচিত গসিপ। ক্রিস্টোফার নোলান তাঁর 'দ্য প্রেস্টিজ' এ এনিয়ে বেশ কিছুদূর কাহিনিও দেখিয়েছেন। ভেবেছিলাম এডিসন নিয়ে বিস্তারিত থাকবে, এক প্যারায় ভূয়ষী প্রশংসা পর্যন্তই সারা। যদিও টেসলার এককালের ‌এই বস তাঁকে বাংলা সিনেমার সতীনের মতো জ্বালিয়েছেন, সেসব ইতিহাস সবারই জানা।
যাহোক, ধন্যবাদ নিকোলা টেসলা, সবকিছুর জন্য।

Delilik ve dahilik arasındaki ince çizgide yürüyenlere güzel bir örnek.

Nikola Tesla was born in Croatia (then part of Austria-Hungary) on July 9, 1856, and died January 7, 1943. He was the electrical engineer who invented the AC (alternating current) induction motor, which made the universal transmission and distribution of electricity possible. Tesla began his studies in physics and mathematics at Graz Polytechnic, and then took philosophy at the University of Prague. He worked as an electrical engineer in Budapest, Hungary, and subsequently in France and Germany.

In 1888 his discovery that a magnetic field could be made to rotate if two coils at right angles are supplied with AC current 90° out of phase made possible the invention of the AC induction motor. The major advantage of this motor being its brushless operation, which many at the time believed impossible.
Tesla moved to the United States in 1884, where he worked for Thomas Edison who quickly became a rival – Edison being an advocate of the inferior DC power transmission system.

During this time, Tesla was commissioned with the design of the AC generators installed at Niagara Falls. George Westinghouse purchased the patents to his induction motor, and made it the basis of the Westinghouse power system which still underlies the modern electrical power industry today. He also did notable research on high-voltage electricity and wireless communication; at one point creating an earthquake which shook the ground for several miles around his New York laboratory. He also devised a system which anticipated world-wide wireless communications fax machines, radar, radio-guided missiles and aircraft.

Tesla'nın kendi dilinden epey teknik de olsa icatlarını dinlemek güzel. Hayatı boyunca çektiği sıkıntıları ve hastalıkları odaklanmaya çevirebilmiş olması muazzam. Yalnız çeviride bir şeyler eksik gibi ama bunun sebebi biraz teknik bir eser olması olabilir.

Ця книжка - із розряду тих, які читає мій чоловік. Власне я йому й подарувала цю книжку, коли дізналася, що йому таке цікаво. А чому мені захотілося прочитати цю книжку? Бо це мемуари людини, яка змінила цей світ завдяки своїм винаходам. Хоча я зараз гуманітарій, але у школі я цікавилася багатьма предметами негуманітарними - фізикою, хімією. Навіть у старших класах третє місце з МАН по фізиці зайняла на рівні міста. Моя тема дослідження була - атмосферні явища. Оці всі блискавки, дощі, тайфуни тощо. Мені це було страшенно цікаво. І шкільний вчитель фізики стільки всього цікавого розповідав поза програмою, зокрема і про Теслу. Тож я взяла до рук цю книжку і наче поринула в той час шкільних досліджень, коли з мене ще міг вийти науковець:) Першу половину книжки було дуже цікаво читати саме через емоційно-почуттєву складову, бо там було про дитинство і початковий винахідницький досвід, про звичку дороблювати все до кінця (сто томів Вольтера:))), про незвичні світлові спалахи (отак виникають ідеї і проектуються в уяві до того часу, поки стануть досконалими). А ще Тесла - чудовий приклад здорового способу життя і надзвичайної сили волі і жаги до життя, і він про це детально розповідає. І того, як можна зробити винахід і що для цього потрібно. Раджу прочитати!

Loved Tesla, hated the superficial approach. I would have liked to find out more about his life and career. This just felt like a small brochure. Informative, but definetly not enough for curious minds.

İstenileni elde etmenin üç yolu verilmiş kitapta: çalışmak, çalışmak ve çalışmak... Benim en çok ilgimi çeken bu oldu. Amiyane tabirle, adam ne çalışmış... İşte buluşlarıdır, hayatıdır, zekasıdır, ilginç tavırları ve psikolojisidir,... bunlar ile ilgili detaylar için başka kitaplara, ki ben de öyle yapacağım ama açıkçası bu kadar çalıştığını pek duymamıştım Tesla'nın. Diğer hususlar biraz klasik. Gerçekten günümüze o zamandan ışık tuttuğunu görebiliyorsunuz. E kendi kaleminden, yani kitap birazcık karışık. Konu Tesla ise okunmalı...

"Nefretiniz elektriğe dönüştürülebilseydi bütün dünyayı aydınlatmaya yeterdi..."

An enjoyable autobiography from Nikola Tesla. His constant pursuit for invention is impressive, the fact that he didn't seem all that bothered by the endless amount of debt is even more impressive.

I have already had more than my full measure of this exquisite enjoyment, so much that for many years my life was little short of continuous rapture. I am credited with being one of the hardest workers and perhaps I am, if thought is the equivalent of labor, for I have devoted to it almost all of my waking hours. But if work is interpreted to be a definite performance in a specified time according to a rigid rule, then I may be the worst of idlers. Every effort under compulsion demands a sacrifice of life-energy. I never paid such a price. On the contrary, I have thrived on my thoughts.

It is a positive fact that coffee, tea, tobacco, chewing gum and other stimulants, which are freely indulged in even at the tender age, are vastly more injurious to the national body, judging from the number of those who succumb. So, for instance, during my student years I gathered from the published necrologues in Vienna, the home of coffee drinkers, that deaths from heart trouble sometimes reached sixty-seven per cent of the total. Similar observations might probably be made in cities where the consumption of tea is excessive. These delicious beverages superexcite and gradually exhaust the fine fibers of the brain. They also interfere seriously with arterial circulation and should be enjoyed all the more sparingly as their deleterious effects are slow and imperceptible. Tobacco, on the other hand, is conducive to easy and pleasant thinking and detracts from the intensity and concentration necessary to all original and vigorous effort of the intellect. Chewing gum is helpful for a short while but soon drains the glandular system and inflicts irreparable damage, not to speak of the revulsion it creates. Alcohol in small quantities is an excellent tonic, but is toxic in its action when absorbed in larger amounts, quite immaterial as to whether it is taken in as whiskey or produced in the stomach from sugar. But it should not be overlooked that all these are great eliminators assisting Nature, as they do, in upholding her stern but just law of the survival of the fittest. Eager reformers should also be mindful of the eternal perversity of mankind which makes the indifferent “laissez-faire” by far preferable to enforced restraint. The truth about this is that we need stimulants to do our best work under present living conditions, and that we must exercise moderation and control our appetites and inclinations in every direction.