Month: September 2013

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Update on Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (A Great Christmas Gift)

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Tesla: The Wizard of ElectricityAs we approach the holiday season it’s a good time to give a few updates on Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and related events.

First of all, the book continues to sell well in Barnes and Noble stores. That’s both good and bad. The good part is obvious – sales! The bad part is that some Barnes and Noble stores are reaching the end of their stocks. And since we emptied out the warehouse a long time ago to fill the now emptying stores that means it’s getting harder to find the book.

So how do you get a copy? Here’s how:

1) Most stores still have copies. So run on down to your local B&N and grab them while they last.

2) Go to BarnesandNoble.com (or BN.com). You will likely see something like:

Available in stores.Pick Up In Store Near You

Entering your zip code will give you a list of B&N stores near you and whether they have any in stock.

3) Download the ebook. There is no shortage of ebooks that can be downloaded on the BarnesandNoble.com website and read on your Nook or your Nook app for iPhone or Droid phones. Talk about immediate gratification. And for half the hard cover price.

4) Check out Amazon.com. Yes, my publisher has an exclusive arrangement with Barnes and Noble, but anyone can list third party books for resale on Amazon. Last I checked there were two resellers on Amazon from whom you could buy copies.

5) Buy one direct from me. I have brand new first edition copies of the book all ready to ship. Better yet, I will personally sign and inscribe the book to you or to whomever you would like to give it to as a gift.

Which gets us to Christmas (or Kwanzaa or Hanukkah or Halloween or Thanksgiving). Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity makes a great gift!

Other Tesla-related updates:

Serbian President unveils Nikola Tesla monument at Wardenclyffe. Check out the story here and watch the video of the event that was livestreamed.

Donations of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity continue: I’ve received much positive feedback from friends, family, and total strangers saying that they have bought an extra copy of the book expressly to donate it to their local school or public library. This has been especially gratifying because it means they want to keep their copy but enjoyed it so much they want others to experience it as well.

Donating to SETAC: I’ve already donated a copy of the book to the “Silent Auction” at the next Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (of which I am the President of my regional chapter). Proceeds from the auction go to help student members of the Society.

The resurrection of Wardenclyffe continues: Since the purchase of Nikola Tesla’s last laboratory at Wardenclyffe this spring, volunteers have been hard at work cleaning up the grounds. Soon the work will start on the inside of the building to transform it into a museum and science center. Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe.

Second Printing! While it hasn’t been officially confirmed, it looks like the publisher will order a second printing of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity for release next spring. If or when that happens I’ll be sure to let you know. Until then, you can buy signed copies of the book immediately from me. Remember, Christmas will be here soon. 🙂

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How are Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla Connected?

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I’ve been a part time scholar of Abraham Lincoln for most of my life. And I’ve written a book on Nikola Tesla. Now it seems the two men are connected in many ways.

How can that be? After all, Nikola Tesla was born in 1856, so he was only 9-years-old when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Oh, and Tesla was born of Serbian heritage in an area that is now part of Croatia. He didn’t even make it to the United States until 1884 – almost a score years after “now he belongs to the ages” was uttered. So how could they possibly be connected?

I’ve actually come across at least a half dozen connections. I’ve already mentioned one of them on this site before. Thomas Edison, Tesla’s archrival in the war of the currents, was a big fan of “the life and character of Abraham Lincoln.”

My most recent discovery happened when I was the Library of Congress (LOC) obtaining my “Readers ID,” which is required of all scholarly researchers who want to actually touch the old letters and manuscripts. In the Thomas Jefferson building, one of three massive edifices that make up the Library of Congress, is a mural by Edwin Howland Blashfield. Circling the main reading room way up in the dome, the mural depicts about a dozen countries or regions and contributions they have made to society. Gazing upward you see this:

Abraham Lincoln LOC main reading room

Zooming in to the “one o’clock” position of the above you can see someone very familiar:

Abraham Lincoln LOC close up

According to the LOC’s Lincoln and Civil War expert Michelle Krowl, and quoting from the book On These Walls: Inscriptions & Quotations in the Library of Congress:

“America is represented by the field of science. The figure, an engineer whose face was modeled on that of Abraham Lincoln, sits pondering a problem. In front of him is an electric dynamo, representing the American contribution to advances in harnessing electricity.”

Well how about that? The visage of Abraham Lincoln is used to epitomize America, and our contribution to society is science, depicted by an electric dynamo harnessing electricity, something that Nikola Tesla was in the forefront of bringing to the American public.

How cool is that?

These are just two of several connections between Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla. I’m compiling these for an article I plan to submit this fall. Keep coming back for updates and more connections.

Meanwhile, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity continues to sell out the remainder of the stock in Barnes and Noble stores. Be sure to ask for it if you don’t see it on the shelves (some stores are down to their last copy). Of course, you can always buy a signed and inscribed copy directly from me on this website.

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Serbian President Unveils Nikola Tesla Monument at Wardenclyffe

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Tesla: The Wizard of ElectricitySerbian President Tomislav Nikolic will unveil a monument to Nikola Tesla on the grounds of Tesla’s most famous laboratory at Wardenclyffe. The ceremony takes place on Monday, September 23, 2013 and can be viewed live online at 12 noon Eastern time for those who can’t be in Shoreham, Long Island.

Nikola Tesla is the inventor and scientist who made it possible for us all to use the electricity in our homes and buildings. After emigrating from Europe and becoming a naturalized American citizen in 1891, Tesla lived mostly in New York City. He had several laboratories in the city, plus worked in Pittsburgh and had a laboratory in Colorado Springs. But his final lab was Wardenclyffe. It was here that he attempted to bring wireless communication and power to the world. And thanks to an amazing crowdfunding campaign in 2012 by The Oatmeal (Matthew Inman) and Jane Alcorn at the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, Tesla’s old laboratory is being turned into a museum and educational center.

To view the livestreaming of the event, go to RememberTesla.com. After registering for the event you get a chance to see a series of videos of the monument and other Tesla Science Center activities. [Thanks to Kevin Wood for donating his time to document this amazing endeavor. That’s him below filming the placement of the statue.]

Kevin Wood Wardenclyffe Statue

Photo from Kevin Wood

See more photos by going to Kevin’s website and scrolling down.

Find out more about the project at the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe website.

I’ve been honored to play my small part in helping to bring Nikola Tesla to the people with my book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. Please continue to support the Tesla Wardenclyffe project. The property is purchased and volunteers have been actively working on the grounds, but there is so much more to be done to turn the site into a world class Museum and Science Center.

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William Seward and Walter Stahr – Double Signed

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William Henry Seward was Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State. Everyone knows that. Seward also bought Alaska (aka, “Seward’s Folly”). Many people know that. But Seward also was one of Lincoln’s biggest rivals, then became one of his closest friends. And as author Walter Stahr reminds us, Seward was Lincoln’s Indispensable Man.

The latter is the subtitle to Stahr’s biography called, simply, Seward. Stahr traces Seward’s rise as “progressive governor of New York, outspoken federal senator, odds-on favorite to win the 1860 Republican nomination, secretary of state during the Civil War and its aftermath, Lincoln’s closest friend and adviser, target of the assassins who killed Lincoln, purchaser of Alaska, early architect of America’s empire.”

If that sounds like a lot, it is. Arguably Lincoln might have lost the nation before he even started his presidency if Seward hadn’t been enlisted to help glue together a country that was in the process of tearing itself apart. Luckily for the country, William Seward was there. And luckily for me, Walter Stahr was the guest speaker at our monthly Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia dinner.

Walter Stahr at Lincoln Group of DC

I had a chance to talk briefly with Stahr prior to his talk. He clearly knows his stuff. He spent about five years researching Seward for the book, just as he had for his previous book about founding father John Jay. Speaking to a roomful of Lincoln scholars (who know a thing or two about William Seward), Stahr provided us with some fascinating insights that made many of us want to learn more. We all gained immensely from his knowledge.

I also gained a bit of a red face. I had brought my copy of Seward to have Stahr autograph it, which he gladly proceeded to do. Only to find that he already had. Ugh. It was then that I realized I had ordered the book directly from the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago. The ALBS has a fantastic feature in which you can order online and then watch the author sign the book for you via live-streamed video. He signed it specifically to me at the time. Ah, but as you can see in the photo below, Stahr graciously covered my embarrassment by signing the book again, in person. 🙂

Seward by Walter Stahr

In the end I got a two-fer. A fantastic lecture by a distinguished author and scholar, and a double-signed book to add to my collection. Not a bad deal at all.

More about Walter Stahr. View his talk at the 2013 Library of Congress Book Festival.

More about the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His next book is on Abraham Lincoln, due out in 2017.

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[Daily Post]

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A Little Bit of Mini-Europe

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For three years I lived and worked in the European Union capital of Brussels, Belgium. While there I traveled as much as my workload and finances would allow. But I can say that one day I saw all of Europe. Yes, in one day.

Technically it wasn’t all of Europe; it was more of a highlights tour. But in the shadow of the Atomium (that big bunch of silver balls that makes up this website’s background photo), there lies a small park called mini-Europe. Mini as in miniature landmarks representative of the major vistas and capitals of the continent (and the UK too). Here is what it looks like from high up in the Atomium.

Mini-Europe in Brussels

Since this is Brussels, they of course have the Grand Place…the big square that sits in the center of the city.  You can see the detail that went into these models.  Check out the gothic style city hall, decorated with 294 statues from the 19th century, which dominates one side of the square.  This particular display shows the carpet of flowers that graces the Grand Place only one weekend every two years. A grand site to see. (And as an added bonus, the famous manneken pis is just a short walk away).

Grand Place Brussels

Heading north gets you to the Castle of Olavinlinna, built in 1475 in Finland.  It used to form part of the frontier defenses against Russia.

Castle of Olavinlinna Finland

Some countries have only one or two landmarks (Luxembourg’s contribution is a single highway bridge).  France is well represented with several landmarks from around the country.  Here is the church of Sacre Coeur, which sits high atop Montmartre Hill in the northern part of Paris.  On a clear day you can see 50 km away.

Sacre Coeur Paris

Moving over to Italy, I’m sure everyone will recognize Pisa.  The Piazza del Duomo is pretty much the attraction in this northern coastal city.  The campanile (leaning tower) is 55 meters in height and has never been straight since its construction.  Behind it is a Romanesque Cathedral built to celebrate the victory of the Pisan fleet over Palermo. The model is made entirely of small marble blocks and weighs 800 kg. Consider that the next time you complain about doing a mere 1000-piece puzzle.

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Last stop on today’s tour is Athens, Greece.  Situated on the highest point in the city is the Acropolis, which was built in the 5th century B.C. as a national sanctuary for the worship of the twelve Greek gods.

Acropolis Athens

I’ve been lucky enough to have visited all of the landmarks above, with the notable exception of the Olavinlinna Castle (though on more than one occasion I was in Finland’s capital, Helsinki). There are many more mini-landmarks in mini-Europe, so I’ll be coming back here periodically. In fact, I’ll be showing photos of the model along with my own photos taken during visits to the real places. I have to admit, after seeing the models it’s is very cool to see the leaning tower, the Acropolis, Sacre Coeur and more up close and personal.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, now available. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Some days are sunsets…other days are sunrises

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Some days are sunsets…

Sunset - A Time for Change

More details to come.

[Daily Post]

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) (both Fall River Press). He has also written two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His next book is on Abraham Lincoln, due out in 2017.

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Bestselling Statistics for Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity

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Barnes and Noble DC 23July2013Now that Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity has been in Barnes and Noble stores for a few weeks, I thought it would be interesting to take a quick look at some of the pertinent statistics.

Keep in mind that Sterling Publishing is a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble, so the book has not yet been released to Amazon. Which, of course, is where most people go to shop for books online (sorry B&N). Even without being released to Amazon I do see two resellers listing the book. Also, while you can shop online at barnesandnoble.com, the warehouse was emptied because bookstores kept reordering. Though here again there is a reseller listing the book and you can always download an ebook (I read mine with a Nook app on my iPhone). [Of course, you can still buy a book directly from me]

So how is the book doing so far? Rather well, thank you. We’ve sold over 80% of the first, larger than normal, printing, and the publisher is looking at releasing a second printing in the spring. While I don’t check every day so may have missed a higher peak, the book reached at least #20 on the Barnes and Noble Bestsellers list for Scientist-Biography and #18 for the History & Philosophy of Science Category. It also reached at least #28 in the Scientists, Inventors & Naturalists category. Not bad for a book that had a grand total of $0.00 marketing budget. Not bad at all.

Another metric to gauge how well the book is doing is Goodreads, where “100% of people liked it.” As of this morning there were 17 ratings. The average rating was a tremendous 4.71, with 12 of the ratings being “5”s and the other 5 ratings being “4”s. Where getting an average over “4” and not seeing any individual rating less than that is a rarity, my average of 4.71 is extremely gratifying. [If you’ve read the book, please leave a rating on Goodreads and bn.com]

Bottom line – the book is doing fantastic by any metric.

The success of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity coincides with a personal and professional transition. A week from now my day job and night job will flip. I’ll be writing full time and consulting part time. I’ll also be traveling as much as I can squeeze into my schedule and finances. Expect to see more frequent updates on this website, and more attention to the other topics in my header pages. While transitions can often be traumatic, I’m looking forward to this one. Big time. I hope you’ll join me.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores. Stores are starting to sell out their stock, and restock, so get them while they are available.

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Kyle Driebeek Donates Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity to Bear Path School

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Tesla: The Wizard of ElectricityOne of the things I treasure the most about the experience of publishing Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity is the chance to meet some great people. While I’ve met off-Broadway actors and writers (TESLA), authors and museum directors, and even Nikola Tesla’s grandnephew, one of the most inspiring has been 12-year-old Kyle Driebeek and his family.

I wrote about Kyle after meeting him several months ago at the annual Tesla conference in the New Yorker Hotel. His mother Betsy has kept me up-to-date on his activities since then, and we met again at Tesla Days in Philadelphia. Both Kyle and his brother Julian gave presentations about their first experiences trying to research Tesla for school projects. Kyle surprised me by mentioning he would be buying an extra copy of my book and donating it to the school library. He encouraged others to do the same.

On August 30th, Kyle presented the book to Mrs. Margo Nabors, librarian at the Bear Path School in Hamden, CT.

Kyle delvering book to Margo

Photo courtesy of Betsy Driebeek

The idea all began in 2010 when a third grade project required students to research a famous person. Kyle chose Nikola Tesla. Other students chose people like Einstein, Disney, Hershey, Edison, Michelle Obama, Orville Wright, and Helen Keller. They had no trouble finding sufficient material for their projects. Tesla? Not so easy. After searching through the library’s database Kyle couldn’t find anything on Tesla. Nothing. The librarian, like Kyle’s parents and most other people, had never heard of Nikola Tesla.

Flash forward three years. My book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity, is released and, as Betsy Driebeek puts it, “reaches many ages and intellects.”  Seeing an opportunity to give something back to his elementary school, Kyle decided to donate the book to the school library so that new students would have a chance to learn about this important, but often overlooked, scientist and inventor. Even better, Kyle has volunteered his own extensive and ever-increasing knowledge to assist the next student who comes inquiring about Tesla.

I am honored that Kyle and his family chose to donate my book to further education. Two of my relatives, both long-time teachers, have also told me that they will donate a copy of the book to the local school and public town libraries, respectively. Others have suggested they will do the same. I am very happy that Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity is playing a role in bringing the work and life of Nikola Tesla to a wider audience.

As another Tesla friend said to me recently “Tesla awareness is growing rapidly!!!” It’s nice to be a small part of building that awareness.

David J. Kent is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. You can order a signed copy directly from me, download the ebook at barnesandnoble.com, and find hard copies exclusively at Barnes and Noble bookstores. Stores are starting to sell out their stock, and restock, so get them while they are available.

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