Tesla：Man Out of Time

In"Tesla:ManOutofTime,"MargaretCheneyexploresthebrilliantandprescientmindofoneofthetwentiethcentury'sgreatestscientistsandinventors.Calledamadmanbyhisenemies,ageniusbyothers,andanenigmabynearlyeveryone,NikolaTeslawas,withoutadoubt,atrailblazinginventorwhocreatedastonishing,sometimesworld-transformingdevicesthatwerevirtuallywithouttheoreticalprecedent.Teslanotonlydiscoveredtherotatingmagneticfield--thebasisofmostalternating-currentmachinery--butalsointroducedustothefundamentalsofrobotics,computers,andmissilescience.Almostsupernaturallygifted,unfailinglyflamboyantandneurotic,Teslawastroubledbyanarrayofcompulsionsandphobiasandwasfondofextravagant,visionaryexperimentations.Hewasalsoapopularman-about-town,admiredbymenasdiverseasMarkTwainandGeorgeWestinghouse,andadoredbyscoresofsocietybeauties.FromTesla'schildhoodinYugoslaviatohisdeathinNewYorkinthe1940s,Cheneypaintsacompellinghumanportraitandchroniclesalifetimeofdiscoveriesthatradicallyaltered--andcontinuetoalter--theworldinwhichwelive."Tesla:ManOutofTime"isanin-depthlookattheseminalaccomplishmentsofascientificwizardandathoughtfulexaminationoftheobsessionsandeccentricitiesofthemanbehindthescience.