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A review by lourens
My Inventions by Nikola Tesla
4.0
Fascinating, even 100 years after it was originally published. (1919)
I'd divide this short read in three parts:
1. Tesla's self-reflection, consisting of his development from an unusual child to an accomplished inventor. He is not humble, but that is not the point. He knows that he is 'a genius' and tries to find explanations why, and does so convincingly.
2. His career as an inventor. Sometimes difficult to see what statements are still valid today, and which have been nuanced or disproven. Don't expect a comprehensible guide through his discoveries, rather a summation of how he came to them and what their purposes are. Big part is about his never completed world system, which Tesla had immense expectations of.
3. The last few pages shine some light on his life philosophy. His deterministic world view and how to act with this knowledge. The nature of war and how it will be changed by technology, for better and for worse. Some eerily accurate predictions, even if they were eventually accomplished with different means than Tesla thought.
It should be noted that this division into three parts is not that clear-cut, but it is the core subject-matter of this short but information-dense read.
I'd divide this short read in three parts:
1. Tesla's self-reflection, consisting of his development from an unusual child to an accomplished inventor. He is not humble, but that is not the point. He knows that he is 'a genius' and tries to find explanations why, and does so convincingly.
2. His career as an inventor. Sometimes difficult to see what statements are still valid today, and which have been nuanced or disproven. Don't expect a comprehensible guide through his discoveries, rather a summation of how he came to them and what their purposes are. Big part is about his never completed world system, which Tesla had immense expectations of.
3. The last few pages shine some light on his life philosophy. His deterministic world view and how to act with this knowledge. The nature of war and how it will be changed by technology, for better and for worse. Some eerily accurate predictions, even if they were eventually accomplished with different means than Tesla thought.
It should be noted that this division into three parts is not that clear-cut, but it is the core subject-matter of this short but information-dense read.