Review: A Dull Flash
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 03 14, 2013
Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla are certainly two of history's better known, and more interesting, inventors. In many ways they are mirror images of one another, and this was, or should have been, the premise for this book. The contrast between Edison's production line approach to invention is exactly opposite of Tesla's flash of brilliance. Unfortunately, this book seems to get lost.=== The Good Stuff ===* The are a number of remarkable little anecdotes in the book, especially about Tesla. As an example, Tesla is asked by JP Morgan what happened to a sum of money invested. Tesla responded that much of it was lost due to a stock market crash, which Morgan had precipitated. It is a great insight to the mind, and personality, of Tesla.* The authors take us on a whirlwind tour of technical inventions of the late 19th/early 20th century. In addition to Tesla and Edison, we see the work of Bell, Marconi, Gray and Westinghouse, among others. While the overview is superficial at best, it does offer a nice look at the many breakthroughs made in this short time frame. Even more interesting, many of these inventions are still used today in very close to their original form.=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===* I am an engineer, so maybe a little picky about this stuff. But the authors do not have a good handle on the technical jargon they use.  At location 572, we find this statement: "...AC stepped the voltages up and down-alternating the current- making sure that the system was only stepped up when it was needed to be stepped up, not all the time. It was more energy efficient and wasted less voltage".  I am not exactly sure that the authors were trying to convey, but it sounds as if they mixed up a few fundamental concepts and ideas.* The book is quite short-I believe I read it in an hour or two. Unfortunately quite a bit of the material seems to be filler. For example, at the end of the book is a comprehensive list of movies and books that mention Tesla. Is it really important to note (location 1226) that Tesla is "featured in... Marvel comic S.H.I.E.L.D as the mysterious Night Machine"?=== Summary ===* As a stand-alone book, I would say skip this. The premise is excellent, but the book just doesn't deliver. It is full of overviews and cursory examinations of the men, but misses their true genius. Probably the best that can be said is the book is relatively inexpensive, and may stir enough interest to read a more serious biography of the two men. I have read and would recommendWizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla : Biography of a Genius (Citadel Press Book)andEmpires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World