Nikola Tesla

Trailblazers in Science and Technology is a 10-volume set that profiles the lives and achievements of scientists whose work has had a major impact on a particular field. The scientist's accomplishments are discussed, including the "trailblazing" principles and personal struggles that complemented his or her work. Employing an array of primary sources-diaries, memoirs, letters, and contemporary news accounts-as well as secondary sources, the set depicts the human drama of scientific work, the challenge of research, and the exhilaration and rewards of discovery. Nikola Tesla examines the life and accomplishments of this brilliant but enigmatic scientist, detailing the breakthroughs that made him legendary and the possible factors that led to his personal and financial decline. As an inventor, researcher, and engineer, Tesla was an important contributor to the fields of commercial electricity and electromagnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His patents and theoretical work formed the basis of the modern cell phone, and fluorescent light, radio, television, radar, and neon signs are only a few of the everyday products that exist because of his contributions to science. Ironically, Tesla ended his life with very little, dying alone and nearly penniless in a New York hotel. Nikola Tesla includes more than 30 color photographs and four-color line illustrations, a chronology, a glossary, a list of print and Internet resources, and an index. Trailblazers in Science and Technology is an essential set for students, teachers, and general readers that provides a factual look at the lives and accomplishments of prominent scientists. Book jacket.