Prodigal Genius

Nikola Tesla was one of the 20th century's great pioneers; his role in advancing electrical energy through the use of alternating current and his stupendous engineering finesse make this biography by journalist John J. O'Neill a fine read. Born in a Serbian village to a religious family Nikola demonstrated an early interest in physics. The nascent science behind electricity - in the 1870s a mysterious unharnessed force - became his passion. Though the young man's engineering aspirations were almost derailed when he contracted cholera and later by Austro-Hungarian conscription Tesla managed to enrol to study in Graz Austria. A top-class student tutors admiration for Tesla's gifts and boundless curiosity was tempered by concerns over his tendency to overwork. These attributes marked Tesla's professional life; an obsessively driven man Tesla's gifts for invention were amply demonstrated and rewarded in the United States. As his ambitions grew in size and scope Tesla was hailed as a visionary.