# I'm looking for an authoritative biography of Nicola Tesla
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-an-authoritative-biography-of-nicola-tesla/666404
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 16, 2013, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-an-authoritative-biography-of-nicola-tesla/666404 "2013-08-16T11:20:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-an-authoritative-biography-of-nicola-tesla/666404/1 "2013-08-16T11:20:11Z")
I’m looking for an authoritative biography of Nicola Tesla. Most of the websites I’ve seen look suspect. I’m particularly interested in sorting out fact from fiction regarding his many inventions. I’m not sure what to believe. Can anyone suggest a good scholarly work on him? I look forward to your feedback
According to some websites he is credited with inventing the fluorescent lightbulb, neon lighting, the electron telescope and the microwave oven. I have my doubts about some of these, though.
davidmich
---
### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-an-authoritative-biography-of-nicola-tesla/666404/2 "2013-08-16T12:00:47Z")
You’ll probably have better luck looking up Nikola Tesla.
As far as sorting out facts regarding his inventions, you can search for US patents here: [Search for patents | USPTO](http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/search/) or browse a list of them here: [List of Nikola Tesla patents - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nikola_Tesla_patents)
---
### Author:  [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-an-authoritative-biography-of-nicola-tesla/666404/3 "2013-08-16T12:12:35Z")
Ok. I meant to write Nikola. I’m still after a good biography of him. I want to find out what he actually independently invented or working on, without necessarily having patented it, although of course I am also interested in the latter.
davidmich
---
### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-an-authoritative-biography-of-nicola-tesla/666404/4 "2013-08-16T17:36:42Z")
Did you check the Wikipedia entry–several books listed in the bibliography:
> **[Nikola Tesla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla)**
>
> Nikola Tesla (/ˈtɛslə/; Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Тесла, pronounced \[nǐkola têsla\];\[a\] 10 July \[O.S. 28 June\] 1856 – 7 January 1943) was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.
> Born and raised in the Austrian Empire, Tesla studied engineering and physics in the 1870s without receiving a degree, gaining practical experience in the early 1...
This looks like a serious biography:
> **[Tesla](https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691165615/tesla)**
>
> The definitive account of Tesla's life and work
---
### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-an-authoritative-biography-of-nicola-tesla/666404/5 "2013-08-16T17:57:50Z")
I have a couple. [Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla](http://www.amazon.com/Prodigal-Genius-Life-Nikola-Tesla/dp/1931882851/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1376675024&sr=8-6&keywords=nikola+tesla+biography) was written by John J. O’neill shortly after he died. O’Neill was a newspaper man who had written extensively about Tesla and has lots of detail about Tesla’s life, although the science is shaky.
A more criticial and objective biography is [Tesla: Man Out of Time Paperback by Margaret Cheney](http://www.amazon.com/Tesla-Man-Time-Margaret-Cheney/dp/0743215362/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1376675024&sr=8-5&keywords=nikola+tesla+biography) but she’s not much better versed in science.
Carlson’s biography, cited above, looks like it may have better technical information but I haven’t read it.
There is an enormous Tesla cult that attributes everything in the 20th century to him. The problem with that is that Tesla’s useful inventions stopped in the 19th century. After that most of what he proclaimed was wild theorizing, based on nothing, because he didn’t have a good understanding of 20th century science. You can work backward, from today’s inventions to vague predictions, and draw a straight line that makes him an unsung supergenius. I don’t buy it for a second.
---
### Author:  [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-an-authoritative-biography-of-nicola-tesla/666404/6 "2013-08-16T22:05:04Z")
Thank you Exapno Mapcase. Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age W. by Bernard Carlson looks good. I’ll start with that.
davidmich
---
### Author:  [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-an-authoritative-biography-of-nicola-tesla/666404/7 "2013-08-16T22:15:51Z")
Thank you Past Tense. Thank you all for your feedback.
davidmich
---
### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-an-authoritative-biography-of-nicola-tesla/666404/8 "2013-08-16T22:47:22Z")
Cheney’s biography is probably the most widely read and cited, and I find it goshwoggle from end to end. A fan biography of Michael Jackson in which they author insists he could walk on water would be more balanced. in particular, her lack of any scientific understanding makes her GREATLY overstate almost everything Tesla did after his seminal work on AC theory.
---
### Author:  [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-an-authoritative-biography-of-nicola-tesla/666404/9 "2013-08-28T04:11:09Z")
Just finished the first half of Carlson’s book “Tesla”. Well worth it. Very informative in so many ways. It combines biographical background with science, business and economics. More than I had anticipated. Thanks.
davidmich