Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius

I just finished reading this enthralling book on N. Tesla and find that it is the finest piece of non-fiction I have ever read, without exaggeration. The thoroughness with which Seifer presents Tesla is unparalleled and the amount of detail included is just enough without going overboard. I am immensely satisfied with my experience in reading this book. Tesla stands with the giants of all time in science, yet due to his unique personality and self-effacing philosophy acted not in his personal interest for wealth and fame, but out of the best interest of all mankind. He was not honored for this philosophy in an era of cut throat capitalism and industrial expansion NOR is he honored in any manner worthy to his contributions to this day. Providing electricity virtually free to the entire planet wasn't on the menu back then nor is it in these "technologically advanced" times. People need to read this book to understand that there is no "energy crisis" on this planet, only a crisis of will, greed, and hubris. His primary work was stolen, copied, and bungled brazenly by some of the greatest inventors of all time such as Thomas Edison and Marconi. The pure inventor lost credit for changing the world to the crass commercialists. This book clearly documents this sad reality. It does more than that though. This is a triumphant story as well. Tesla was a hundred years ahead of his time so his era is now. This book has given me an entirely different perspective on life, technology, and the value in knowing the truth. I no longer feel as though we live in a technologically advanced era. I think that the technology which excites the mind and inspires us as the greater human race is sorely missing that greatest inventor of all time.

This book is assiduously researched and footnoted. The author has evidently reviewed everything Tesla ever wrote, plus everything that's been written about him. The organization of the book could form a bit more of a natural progression (i found the chronology hard to follow at times). The descriptions of the various characters (Edison, Westinghouse et al) are lively and entertaining. The book does risk being a bit of a hagiography, but the author does his subject quite well overall.

I am the attorney in the family, my brother is the electrical engineer. I must admit I didn't understand all of the technical jargon. At first I felt the book dragged a little because of all the history and what was going on during Tesla's life, but I think it was necessary to show how Tesla was being thwarted and by whom. I found the book well written. I appreciate all the footnotes, for further investigating of facts. The only part I didn't care for is the authors analysis of Tesla, ie he must be a latent homosexual because he had to kiss his dead brother and never married. I thought that was reaching. It is a lot to take in and a lot of reading. I think the author did a phenomenal job of researching Tesla and writing about his life. I think everyone will get something different out of this book.

This is a biography of Nicola Tesla, the late 19th, early 20th century inventor, widely credited with invention of the multi-phase alternating current motor, among many other things. He is perhaps best known for his sometimes contentious rivalry with the far more celebrated contemporary, Thomas Edison. In fact, Edison who invented the mono-filament light bulb, was a champion of utilizing direct current electricity. Tesla certainly won that round. This biography follows the life of Tesla in a purely chronological manner, from his birth in Eastern Europe through his ultimate death, eighty-six years later in the United States. It touches upon many of his revolutionary ideas, along with sometimes fascinating interaction with the preeminent scientists and theoreticians of the era. Harnessing electricity and radio waves were revolutionary pursuits, undertaken by many of brightest minds of Tesla’s generation. Patents flew fast and furious and lawsuits filled the courthouses with contesting claims of priority. Tesla has become almost a mythical figure, as one whose ideas were behind many of the most groundbreaking discoveries of the era, yet failing to achieve recognition or reward, in comparison to others such as Edison and Marconi. Much of this was his fault, due to poor business decisions and an inability or refusal to translate most of his theories and inventions into practical application. The book itself contains quite a bit of very enlightening personal and historical information regarding Tesla and his contemporaries, and while it frequently ventures into the realm of hagiography, not excessively so in comparison with most biographies. My biggest complaint lies in the amount of technical information provided to the readers. Given the fact that probably less than 0.1% of readers are electrical engineers, I found the level of technical specificity to be somewhat excessive. Also, the author provides frequent quack psychological analysis that is in no way helpful. From the standpoint of biographies, this is pretty much a second-rate effort when compared to many others I have read. David McCollough would have done a much better job.

Great job on the presentation of the life of this amazing inventor! It is obvious that Nikola Tesla has been purposely written out of mainstream American history for almost a hunderd years. Why? How could this happen with all the amazing advances credited to one individual? I wanted to read from a source that answered this question and presented a credible tale of this fantastic period. Thank you Mr. Seifer for providing the layperson a condensed look at factual history supported by patent documentation, court records, coorespondence, personal memoirs, period news accounts, and your personal conclusions of how things really went down. I especially enjoyed the way you presented all sides of a controversial event and then provided your expert conclusions and reasons. All told with entertaining, easy to follow, prose. Well done sir!! (P.S. I just purchased 'Transcending The Speed Of Light' and look forward to more of your skillfully entertaining presentation of unusual and technical subject matter.)

The book was in good condition as described. I am happy.

As a qualifier for this review, you should know that I am an engineer by training. This book is not so much a story, but a chronicle of Nikola Tesla's life. It is also a detailed account of his inventions, at least as far as can be known as he became rather secretive in his later years. This is both a positive and a negative as the book often gets bogged down in the details of an invention or a complicated business relationship. All of that being said, this treatise is likely to be one of the most complete and informative books on his life and inventions. You will also learn much about his quirky personality and it is through that bent that it became apparent to me why he didn't get the credit he deserved and the acclaim in the science field. If you are not a technical person, you may find the book extremely tedious as it delves so very deeply into some of his most prominent failures.

Interesting biography of a man that I thought was merely a brilliant, but unfortunately largely unrecognized inventor. This book gave me a new perspective on the man.

I enjoyed finding out more of the life of Nikola Tesla. Given that his contributions were often greater than those of Thomas Edison, the lack of mention of him in most history books seems a bit odd. Basically, the only person I can think of who seemed to bubble over with ideas in the same fashion was Leonardo da Vinci. Sadly, it was also clear than while Nikola Tesla was a genius, his ability with business was not in the same class. All too often his inventions were used by others who seemed to use his patents without compensation or recognition. This next paragraph is my personal feelings on some of the book structure and content. For the most part, I liked the short chapters but at times they made the book seem jumpy. Some of the images did not seem to add anything to the book. The technical details on some his patents were interesting but again, for me, didn't add much to the book. After the first few, I ended up skimming those details. Overall, I enjoyed the book and have it on my to be re-read list.

Estremamente dettagliato, taglio enciclopedico-storico. Forse non sempre appassionante ma decisamente più "serio" di molti altri testi nei quali la parte folkloristica prevale.

Corrected some mistaken ideas I had about the relationships between Tesla and others, particularly JP Morgan. Tesla himself made some horrible mistakes. If he had a good manager he would have been much more successful.

Um relato interessante do maior gênio da humanidade. A awesome book on the greatest genius ever on humanity.

One of the most amazing book.