Tag: Nikola Tesla

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Tesla: Wizard of Electricity – release date

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Tesla: Wizard of ElectricityWe have a book release date! Tesla: Wizard of Electricity is officially scheduled to be published on June 30, 2013. That is when it will be available to the general public. A mere nine months after I submitted the manuscript. Of course, it isn’t really that easy. The process of publishing a book, while not quite like having a baby, apparently takes just as long.

I actually finished writing the book and submitted it to the publisher on September 10, 2012. A few weeks later I receive word from my editor that the manuscript was just what they were looking for. Then by the time I finish my “happy dance” I have a set of edits to review. To my amazement and relief most are minor and the few more substantive ones are easily addressed. That got us to November. By January the electronic manuscript files were sent to the overseas printer.

Then I wait.

Tap, tap, tap.

Okay, is it done yet? No? More tapping.

Spring forward to April 2nd – details from my editor at Sterling Publishing. Happy dance again. [Okay, for those who know me, I admit that I didn’t actually do a “happy dance” because, well, let’s just say it would not look so happy. Feel free to rid that rhetorical flourish from your mind’s eye.]

In any case, the printing of the book is going to take a while. It’s being printed overseas so that the cost savings can be put into all the color for the interior pages and the foil treatment being used for the cover. In short, this is going to be a nice looking book. If all goes well with the printing then the books should hit the warehouse by June 20th and be available in Barnes and Noble stores by June 30th.

Which is just in time because I plan to attend the Tesla Days events in Philadelphia on July 6-10 celebrating the 157th anniversary of Tesla’s birth. I’ll have a supply of books on-hand for purchase by anyone who will be in the area to witness displays of Tesla-inspired inventions, attempts to produce free energy, a “battle of the Tesla coils,” a Tesla art show, and music, movies, and literary wonders galore. I hope you’ll drop by.

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New Page – Tesla Events and Speaking Engagments

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Now that Tesla: Wizard of Electricity is (soon to be) on the shelves, it’s a good time to start tracking various speaking engagements, interviews, and other related events. I expect this will be a living page, that is, will be frequently updated with new events as they arise.

Check out the new page here. And bookmark so you don’t miss an event near you.

Tesla book cover from CB 3-7-13

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Tesla Science Foundation Expands Efforts to Recognize Nikola Tesla’s Contributions

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Nikola TeslaThe Tesla Science Foundation is expanding. Following the success of the most recent Tesla Memorial Conference, which took place on the 70th anniversary of Telsa’s death on January 7, 2013, the Foundation is working with other Tesla groups to recognize Nikola Tesla’s contributions to society. As Nikola Lonchar, President and Founder of the Tesla Science Foundation, recently announced:

Nikola Tesla’s popularity is growing.  Our hard work has helped make that happen. Additionally, our hard work has placed our group in a strong position to do more as the most active Tesla-related group in the country.  With this power comes the responsibility to carry out the mission of the Tesla Science Foundation, the Nikola Tesla Club and Nikola Tesla Inventors Club by facilitating the growth of free and renewable energy.

To accomplish this, the Foundation and its affiliate Tesla Groups have proposed a series of activities to enhance the Tesla name. They include:

  • Consolidation of all of the Tesla groups domains into a single website location called TeslaTalk.tv. A webinar series will provide background on Nikola Tesla, allow interviews of “some of the world’s most knowledgeable scientists and Tesla enthusiasts,” and rebroadcasts of Tesla lectures from around the world.
  • Monthly meetings and lectures at libraries, schools and universities.
  • Development of new Tesla Clubs worldwide.
  • Continue organizing two annual conferences per year in the United States – the January Memorial Conference in the New Yorker Hotel (New York City) and the July Tesla Days celebrations in Philadelphia.
  • A project to restore the Tesla Room in the New Yorker Hotel to its original appearance, including a permanent Tesla display in the hotel.
  • Funding of innovative and promising projects by group members with the goal of promoting the legacy of Nikola Tesla and developing future innovations based on his work.
  • Opening of a Tesla Club building in Philadelphia. The vision is to include an art gallery, book store, library, a “Tesla: Past, Present, Future” display, a coffee/snack shop (featuring Tesla’s favorite foods, of course), and a webinar recording studio and communication center.
  • A traveling exhibit version of the “Tesla: Past, Present, Future.”

I’ll provide more information on each of these goals in future posts so be sure to check back here often. You can search on keywords “Tesla Science Foundation” to get a list of relevant articles.

I’ll also have more on an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that is currently being developed to help make these goals a reality.

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Tesla: Wizard of Electricity (The Cover Design)

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Nikola TeslaExciting news today.

I received the current working cover design for Tesla: Wizard of Electricity.

So, what do you think?

Tesla book cover from CB 3-7-13

You’ll notice that it differs from the cover design I had posted here up until now. I’ve been using a “body double” while the editor and his staff worked their way through the book layout and design stages. We may still tweak this a bit, but odds are the final cover will look like this one. This past week I also provided two bios – a short one for the back cover and a longer one for the inside. The finish line is within sight.

I have to admit that this is an exciting day for me. I submitted the manuscript to Sterling Publishing last September and have been holding my breath waiting to feel the actual book in my hand. Of course, I’ll have to wait a bit longer since it is just now going to the printer. A bit behind the original schedule but I’m still looking at it “going live” by my birthday.

In the meantime I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of the people who have worked the hardest to give Nikola Tesla the recognition he deserves. I presented at the Tesla Memorial Conference in New York City in January and hope to present at the Philadelphia Tesla Conference in July. I’ve started lining up other speaking engagements as well, including inquiries for talks at the public libraries in Ipswich, Hamilton-Wenham and Fairfax once the book hits the shelves. Please send me a note if you can arrange a speaking engagement near you (especially if you live in Belgrade, Serbia).

Also feel free to opine on the cover in the comments. Too blue? Not enough lightning bolts? My name not big enough? The photo of Nikola Tesla looks just a wee bit like your Uncle Wally? Let me know what you think.

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William H. Terbo, Nikola Tesla’s Grand-Nephew

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Mr. William H. Terbo. Nikola Tesla’s grand-nephew. At the Tesla Memorial Conference in New York City January 5-7, 2013.

Day 1    Day 2    Kyle Driebeek

William H. Terbo, Tesla's Grand-Nephew

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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Nikola Tesla and My Dad

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I’m currently out of pocket while I attend to my father’s aneurysm surgery and stroke. Please feel free to scroll through my previous posts and click on the page names above to get specific information about Nikola Tesla, Abraham Lincoln, Aquariums, and Travel. I’ll be back shortly. [Thank you to the Ipswich Public Library for access to the internet]

The photo below is of Nikola Tesla on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Tesla designed the generators that first brought large scale AC current to distant cities.

Nikola Tesla Canadian side

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Tower to the People – Saving Nikola Tesla’s Wardenclyffe

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In a previous post I talked about how Nikola Tesla, though largely ignored in the history books, had caught on as somewhat of a movie rock star. With David Bowie, no less. One of the movies mentioned in that post was an independent film co-written and directed by filmmaker Joseph Sikorski. The movie is called Fragments From Olympus: “The Vision of Nikola Tesla,” and in it “the enigmatic life of electrical genius Nikola Tesla unravels through a posthumous F.B.I. investigation into his particle beam research, including a new super weapon called the ‘death ray’.”

Sikorski and Vic Elefante, Production Supervisor for the film, recently attended the Tesla Memorial Conference at the New Yorker Hotel in New York City. Joe and Vic provided us in attendance with a double treat. First they previewed Fragments, then surprised the crowd with the introduction of a second effort, this one specifically focused on helping to save Wardenclyffe. An homage to the people who have worked so hard to raise the funds and negotiate the purchase of the Wardenclyffe property, the new effort is called Tower to the People: Tesla’s Dream at Wardenclyffe Continues. Check out the trailer:

Joe and Vic and all the others who are working on Fragments deserve tremendous credit for selflessly giving of their time and skills to develop the Tower project. They have collaborated with Jane Alcorn of the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, the Oatmeal’s Matthew Inman, and myriad others, to help bring the name of Nikola Tesla back into its rightful place in history.

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Nikola Tesla Style – Video

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Tesla: The Wizard of ElectricityWho says Nikola Tesla isn’t cool. (Actually, no one says that)

One of the wonders of Facebook and YouTube is the ability to connect with other people that have the same interests as you do. One Facebook group is called Tesla’s Ambassadors, and I am proud to say that I am a member. Its founder is, not surprisingly, Niko Tesla, and the group has over 7000 members worldwide.

In addition to all the other great information about Nikola Tesla, this video has been getting a lot of attention. Called “Nikola Tesla Style,” it is a rap video written and performed by Benjamin Yi. The video was mixed by Niko Tesla for Tesla’s Ambassadors on FB.

To quote Monty Python – And now for something completely different…enjoy!

More information on Tesla’s Ambassadors can be found on the Facebook page (click on the name). The group is “here to honour and respect the achievements of the great genius Nikola Tesla. Over time his legacy to us has remained intact and ever more important. Nikola Tesla was so far ahead of his time, that not even scientists today can understand all of his work.”

Tesla’s story is so fascinating that I wrote a book about him. More on Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity.

Thanks to Niko Tesla, Tesla’s Ambassadors, and all others who are helping to bring the Nikola Tesla name to present and future generations.

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Nikola Tesla Gets a Stamp of Approval

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Nikola Tesla is one of the most prolific and important inventors in American history, though that fact is largely overlooked in the history books. We all know about Edison, but many don’t know that Tesla beat out Edison in the “war of the currents.” We all know about Marconi, but many don’t know that Tesla actually invented radio first. While many of Tesla’s innovations seem to be attributed to others in our memories, Tesla at least has gotten several stamps of approval.

Postage stamps, that is. A Serbian, born in 1856 in the tiny town of Smiljan of the then Austrian Empire (now part of Croatia), Tesla moved around Europe before coming to New York in 1884 and becoming an American citizen. All of these places claim Tesla as a “favorite son” and over the years have honored him with postage stamps.

Since the area he was born in is now Croatia, that country decided to issue a stamp in 1993, just two years after declaring its independence from Yugoslavia.

Croatia Tesla stamp

Yugoslavia itself, when it still existed, also honored Tesla with several stamps.

Yugoslavia Tesla stamp 3

Yugoslavia Tesla stamp 1993Yugoslavia Tesla stamp 2

 

 

 

 

Serbia, where Telsa’s parents were born and to which Tesla identified, split off from Yugoslavia in 2006 and formed an independent republic. That same year Serbia issued at least three versions of postage stamps depicting Nikola Tesla and his inventions, which include alternating current motors and transformers, and the famous Wardenclyffe tower.

Serbia Tesla stamp 2Serbia Tesla stamp 3

 

 

 

Serbia Tesla stamp

Ah, but Tesla had become an American citizen. Mostly forgotten among the great luminaries of science in the United States, Tesla had to share his fame with other scientists. In 1983 the US post office issued a set of four 20-cent stamps depicting American Inventors Nikola Tesla, Charles Steinmetz, Edwin Armstrong, and Philo T. Farnsworth, each with one of their inventions. The Tesla stamp shows his AC induction motor.

US inventors stamps

Tesla’s break-through induction motor was featured at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, aka the Chicago World’s Fair. The twenty-nine cent stamps say 1892 because the Exposition honored the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ 1492 “discovery” of America even though the Exposition was actually a year later in order to avoid conflicting with the presidential election (in which Cleveland won his second non-consecutive term as President, which is a story in itself).

Columbian Exposition stamp

A few other countries have also gotten into the act to honor Tesla, as can be seen in these postage stamps by the South Pacific country of Palau and the African countries of Mali and Ghana.

Palau Tesla stampGhana Tesla stamp 2

 

 

 

Ghana Tesla stampTesla and Planck stamp

So it seems Nikola Tesla hasn’t been completely forgotten after all. At the very least he is remembered enough to warrant postage stamps in his honor. Recently Tesla has gotten a lot more attention and has been featured in movies, TV shows, comic strips, and books like my own coming out in a few months.

Please let me know in the comments if you are aware of any additional postage stamps honoring Tesla as I plan to catalog them for posterity.

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Nikola Tesla Corner

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In New York City, where West 40th Street meets the Avenue of the Americas (aka, Sixth Avenue), stands Nikola Tesla Corner.

Photo 48 - Tesla Corner

Dedicated in 1994, the corner sits at the entrance to Bryant Park, a place well known to Nikola Tesla. Seeking solitude or companionship, we’re still not sure which, Tesla would in his later years wander the streets near the New York Public Library and Bryant Park feeding pigeons. When he came across injured birds he would often take them back to his modest rooms in the New Yorker Hotel to nurse them back to health. He became particularly enamored of a certain stunning white pigeon. Ah, the stuff of legends.

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