MARC record from Internet Archive

LEADER: 03167cam a2200361 i 4500
001 2012049608
003 DLC
005 20150927073702.0
008 130314s2013 njua b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2012049608
020 $a9780691057767 (hardback : acid-free paper)
040 $aDLC$beng$cDLC$erda$dDLC
042 $apcc
043 $an-us---
050 00 $aTK140.T4$bC37 2013
082 00 $a621.3092$aB$223
084 $aBIO015000$aSCI021000$aSCI022000$2bisacsh
100 1 $aCarlson, W. Bernard.
245 10 $aTesla :$binventor of the electrical age /$cW. Bernard Carlson.
264 1 $aPrinceton, New Jersey :$bPrinceton University Press,$c[2013]
300 $axiii, 500 pages :$billustrations ;$c25 cm
336 $atext$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$2rdamedia
338 $avolume$2rdacarrier
520 $a"Nikola Tesla was a major contributor to the electrical revolution that transformed daily life at the turn of the twentieth century. His inventions, patents, and theoretical work formed the basis of modern AC electricity, and contributed to the development of radio and television. Like his competitor Thomas Edison, Tesla was one of America's first celebrity scientists, enjoying the company of New York high society and dazzling the likes of Mark Twain with his electrical demonstrations. An astute self-promoter and gifted showman, he cultivated a public image of the eccentric genius. Even at the end of his life when he was living in poverty, Tesla still attracted reporters to his annual birthday interview, regaling them with claims that he had invented a particle-beam weapon capable of bringing down enemy aircraft. Plenty of biographies glamorize Tesla and his eccentricities, but until now none has carefully examined what, how, and why he invented. In this groundbreaking book, W. Bernard Carlson demystifies the legendary inventor, placing him within the cultural and technological context of his time, and focusing on his inventions themselves as well as the creation and maintenance of his celebrity. Drawing on original documents from Tesla's private and public life, Carlson shows how he was an "idealist" inventor who sought the perfect experimental realization of a great idea or principle, and who skillfully sold his inventions to the public through mythmaking and illusion. This major biography sheds new light on Tesla's visionary approach to invention and the business strategies behind his most important technological breakthroughs"--$cProvided by publisher.
520 $a"This is a biography of one of the major 20th-century scientists, Nikola Tesla. It is interdisciplinary, containing accounts of U.S. manufacturing in the early 1900s and other contemporary cultural materials"--$cProvided by publisher.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (page 423-471) and index.
600 10 $aTesla, Nikola,$d1856-1943.
650 0 $aElectrical engineers$zUnited States$vBiography.
650 0 $aInventors$zUnited States$vBiography.
650 7 $aBIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Science & Technology.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aSCIENCE / Electricity.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aSCIENCE / Electromagnetism.$2bisacsh