Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources

Tesla, Nikola, and David Hatcher Childress. The Fantastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla. New York: Adventures Unlimited P, 1993.

This helpful book had descriptions and drawings of many of Tesla’s inventions and patents as well as providing modern descriptions and applications.  It showed me how Tesla designed new devices to meet the challenges society was facing at the time.

Tesla, Nikola. Apparatus for Transmitting Electrical Energy. Patent 1,119,732. 1914.

This patent covered Tesla’s concept for the tower at Wardenclyffe.  He designed it to wirelessly transmit energy to all corners of the Earth.  The diagrams were very useful to look at to try to figure out exactly how he planned to accomplish that objective.

Tesla, Nikola. Electro Magnetic Motor. Patent 382.279. 1888.

This was Tesla’s most influential patent, the original AC induction motor.  It was the first AC motor introduced in the world and was the driving force behind the switch from DC to AC power.  It was also a central patent that Westinghouse’s company revolved around.  It was very helpful to look at the diagrams and read Tesla’s description in order to understand how he planned to convert America to AC power and why he was trying to do it.

Tesla, Nikola. My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla. Williston: Hart Bros., 1982.

Tesla’s autobiography was the original document that exposed me to his unique philosophy.  It told of his different sources of inspiration as wells as describing his view of the perfect world he was striving to create.  Most of all, it showed me just how human Tesla was on the inside.

Tesla, Nikola. The Invention, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla. Comp. Thomas C. Martin. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1992.

This book was filled with not only Tesla’s more famous inventions but also the full transcripts from several of his lectures that I quoted.  The lectures in particular helped me understand what an influential person Tesla was and how he could captivate the minds of so many people.

Tesla, Nikola. "The Transmission of Electrical Energy Without Wires as a Means for Furthering Peace." Electrical World and Engineer 7 Jan. 1905.

This article written by Tesla provided clear, concise reasons for why he conducted some of his experiments as well as giving me useful quotes.  Above all, it laid down concrete reasons for Tesla’s unending mission to transmit free, wireless energy to the world.

Tesla, Nikola. "The Wonder World to be Created by Electricity." Manufacturer's Record 9 Sept. 1915.

This article by Tesla described in easy to read language how society would progress to revolve around electricity.  It seemed like science fiction at the time, but most of what he predicted came true within a few decades.  It showed me just how much of a visionary Tesla was and why he was eventually considered a mad scientist by society.

"TWP Nikola Tesla Photo Archive." Tesla Wardenclyffe Project. 13 Feb. 2009 <http://www.teslascience.org/archive/archive.htm>.

This site contained a very useful collection of photos of Tesla’s career, laboratories, apparatus, celebrations, and commemorative events following his death.  I used many of the photographs on my website and used others to supply information about machinery that Tesla and Westinghouse built.

Secondary Sources

Cheney, Margaret. Tesla: Man Out of Time. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1981.

This book served as an overview biography of Tesla’s life.  It was a very helpful read that was also filled with small, interesting pieces of knowledge and quotes and also worked well in conjunction with Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla. 

"New Energy, Early Pioneers - Nikola Tesla." Alternative Energy Institute. 15 Feb. 2009 <http://www.altenergy.org/new_energy/tesla.html>.

This online article provided an overview of Tesla’s life from an alternative perspective while supplying some of the best quotes in the project.  It also provided good insight to Tesla’s relation and rivalry with Edison.

Seifer, Marc J. Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla, Biography of a Genius. New York: Birch Lane Press, 1996.

This book was a more in-depth biography of Tesla that I used to discover finer details about his life as well as quotes about him from others.  I used it especially when referencing specific dates and events in Tesla’s life as well as his feelings about others such as Edison and Westinghouse.

"Tesla - Master of Lightning." PBS. 11 Feb. 2009 <http://pbs.org/tesla/>.

This site helped me divide Tesla’s life into workable sections to display on my web site.  It also provided clear overviews of events in his life and an extensive number of unique images.  Additionally, it provided a useful database of Tesla’s more noteworthy patents.

Tesla: Master of Lightning. Dir. Robert Uth. Prod. Phylis Geller. Perf. Stacy Keach. DVD. PBS Home Video, 2000.

This DVD was the first thing I watched while researching Tesla.  It helped me by serving as an introduction and overview of Tesla and his achievements as well as giving me inspiration for a color scheme and mood to design my web site around.