Book Review - Nikola Tesla on His Work With Alternating Currents

“Nikola Tesla - On His Work With Alternating Currents and Their Application to Wireless Telegraphy, Telephony, and Transmission of Power -An Extended Interview” - Leland I. Anderson, Editor

What I am going to show you, step by step, is how I proceeded until I finally realized my dream...
-Nikola Tesla.

“...This book is a veritable Rosetta Stone for deciphering and tracing the technical thoughts of one of the world’s most distinguished engineering scientists since Archimedes. It describes electrical experiments which took place nearly 100 years ago - but have yet to be replicated...” - from the author’s introduction.

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Nikola Tesla (1856 - 1943) was born in the former Yugoslavia. He received his education at the Polytechnic School in Graz, Austria and the University of Prague. As a young electrical engineer, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1884.

In 1888, Tesla designed the first practical system of generating and transmitting alternating current for electric power. The American rights for this epoch-making invention were bought by George Westinghouse. This system was demonstrated in 1893 at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In 1895T Tesla’s alternating current equipment was installed at the Niagara Falls, New York power project.

But Tesla’s interests and investigations were not limited to power generation and transmission. Far from it As this volume demonstrates, Tesla’s wireless communications researches and the legal proceedings they spawned make clear that “...Tesla, not Hertz, Marconi, or DeForest has been given the title ‘Inventor of Radio’”.

Journey back in time, then, to 1916:

“...As an unseen guest, you have been ushered into an oak-decorated law office. Before you sits Nikola Tesla, now 60 years old,...He possesses a winning smile...He has a somewhat high-pitched, reedy voice, and speaks quickly and convincingly...He has brought with him numerous drawings, papers and photographs for reference.

“Across a wooden table sits an attorney. His demeanor is professional and serious, his questions are penetrating, his manner is deliberate. He is well aware of the professional reputation and international regard of the esteemed gentleman that sits before him, and he is intent upon understanding every detail that he can turn to his client’s advantage in the dramatic contests at law which will soon occur. Also present is a stenographer, intent upon
providing the attorney with an accurate written transcription of every thought which will soon unfold. The formalities being over, the counselor begins to speak....”

Anderson’s book then details the record of several days of the interview between Tesla and his attorney, presented as though it took place at one time, with all reference to interruptions and resumptions removed.

Some Chapter Headings:

High Frequency Alternators.

Experiments with Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony.

Mechanical and Electrical Oscillators.

Damped Waves.

Continuous Waves.

Colorado Experiments.

Theory and Technique of Energy Transmission.

Long Island Plant.

Arrangements for Receiving.

Tesla “...weaves the gossamer web of enchantment - which yet thrills our technical imagination and lures us in, nearly 80 years after a stenographer recorded these spoken words!”

This volume, an important addition to the biographical lore on a brilliant scientist will appeal to serious students of electrical and wireless history. It is in 8½ by 11 inch format in soft cover with 237 pages, 61 photos and 42 line art illustrations. It was published by Sun Publishing, Denver, CO., and is distributed exclusively in the USA by Twenty-First Century Books, P.O. Box 2001, Breckenridge, CO 80424-2001. Price: $40. The distributor has published a retail catalog, FEED LINE which is free upon request.