<i>Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age</i>, by W. Bernard Carlson
Notice bibliographique
Résumé
Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age, by W. Bernard Carlson. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2013. xiii, 500 pp. $29.95 US (cloth). The inventor of the alternative current (AC) motor that forms the basis of electrical power supply ended up relatively unknown. Popular culture, however, would eventually recast him in mythical proportions, thereby skewing the historical record. Carlson's fascinating biography of Nikola Tesla thus sheds new light on the inventor, explaining his contributions to applied science and teasing out the basis of popular myths. Carlson's textured argument combines Tesla's background, his social interactions, thought process, inventions, together with the visionary yet impractical conceptualizations that contributed to create the Tesla myth. To do so, Carlson uses the sociology of invention as a framework that examines inventors' cognitive processes and emotional expressions as they construct their work. Tesla's originality, Carlson finds, consisted in not separating the two processes, thus departing from the practices identified in other inventors. As he did in his earlier studies of Edison and Graham Bell, Carlson interweaves expertly the biographical elements of his subject with the latter's science. Biographers often choose to emphasize the context of inventors' lives over the scientific aspect. Carlson, however, has opted for both, which helps explain the length of his detailed work, one as concerned with the intricate business dealings of the inventor as his peculiar behavior. Born in the nineteenth century of Serbian background, Nikola Tesla belongs to a generation of Central European scientists and engineers who eventually emigrated to the United States in search of success. Carlson is particularly careful in weighing cultural differences in light of Tesla's brief work at Edison's laboratories. He stresses that the nature of Tesla as an inventor with an ego should also come into consideration lest anyone claim a conflict between him and Edison. Carlson's measure discussion is especially noticeable in his technical explanations of Tesla. First reminding readers of the importance of Faraday's electromagnetic induction, and its relevance to Tesla's contributions, the author further frames the existing knowledge that surrounded Tesla's decision to work on AC in 1878. In so doing, Carlson shows that Tesla's choice involved a conceptual approach to an electric motor as a system rather than a single unit. Such a cognitive style contrasted with Edison, who was more adjusted to tinkering. As Carlson points out on multiple occasions, Tesla did not fit the mold of the brilliant inventor with limited business acumen. In fact, the father of AC understood the need for showcasing, as exemplified in the famous picture (a montage, it turns out) of the inventor reading quietly beneath giant lightning bolts. Not everything in the book will please Tesla enthusiasts. Carlson's rigorous investigation, for example, dispels the myth of a vendetta between banker J. P. Morgan, Edison, and Tesla, showing instead an investor who simply lost interest in the Serbian emigre's work. Similarly, the wilder claims about Tesla's magnetic work and related speculation find little space in Carlson's book because it lacks enough documentation that would lend itself to historical analysis. …
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Scores Codex et Gemma par catégorie
| Catégorie | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Métarecherche | 0,001 | 0,001 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens strict) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens large) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Bibliométrie | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Études des sciences et des technologies | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Communication savante | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Science ouverte | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Intégrité de la recherche | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Charge utile insuffisante (le modèle a refusé de juger) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
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