title: Electrical Wizard: How Nikola Tesla Lit Up the World
author:  Elizabeth Rusch 
description: Gr 2-5Although Edison's inventions are celebrated in many children's books, his rival, Nikola Tesla, receives little attention. Rusch's picture-book biography starts to correct that inbalance. From childhood experiments through college studies, Tesla exhibited an interest in electricity. By the time he designed his alternating current (AC) system, he had moved from Eastern Europe to Paris but could find no investors to fund his projects. Convinced that Edison would recognize AC's value, Tesla came to America. Rather than welcome him, Edison set out to discredit AC because it threatened the direct current (DC) power stations he owned. Tesla's breakthrough came when Westinghouse, which used his inventions, won the bid to supply electricity to the Chicago World's Fair. That success was followed by Tesla's achievements in harnessing power generated by Niagara Falls to supply electricity for New York cities. Dramatic incidents such as Tesla's lighting a bulb with his hand are explained in scientific notes at the end. Diagrams and text clarify how AC and DC work, and Rusch stresses the dangers of experimenting with electricity. She provides source notes for quotations and offers detailed explanations of the Tesla-Edison rivalry and of other Tesla inventions. Dominguez's gouache and acrylic illustrations include impressive panoramas of the World's Fair and Niagara Falls, but the people lack animation. A more serious problem is the failure to provide historical context. There are no dates in the text itself, and there is no time line. Despite this oversight, most libraries should consider purchasing the book for its clear biographical details reinforced by scientific explanations. Students might compare Rusch's presentation with one or more books about Edison.Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
zlib_text: I
  1
  SOl^
  1
  1
  I
  i
  AM-UBRARY
  A\\E-UNIVERS/A
  s
  5
  jn
  V5
  ^\\EUNIVER%
  II
  UIBRARYQr
  
  s
  'rtitnM'WfF
  .5JWVER%.
  I |^|
  *f;
  I
  ^S
  S
  s
  I
  % I
  *
  1
  i
  s
  i
  i
  *
  ^Aavaan-3^
  
  THE
  INVENTIONS
  RESEARCHES
  AND
  WRITINGS
  OF
  NIKOLA
  TESLA
  
  TO HIS COUNTRYMEN
  IN
  EASTERN
  EUROPE
  THIS
  RECORD
  OF
  THE WORK
  ALREADY
  ACCOMPLISHED
  BY
  NIKOLA TESLA
  IS
  RESPECTFULLY
  DEDICATED
  
  THE
  INVENTIONS
  RESEARCHES
  AND
  WRITINGS
  OF
  NIKOLA TESLA
  WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HIS WORK
  IN POLYPHASE
  CURRENTS AND HIGH POTENTIAL LIGHTING
  HY
  THOMAS COMMERFORD MARTIN
  Editor THE
  ELKCTHICAL
  ENGiNEtR
  ;
  Past-President
  American
  Institute
  Electrical
  Engineers
  1894
  THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
  NEW YORK
  D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY,
  NEW YORK.
  
  Entered according to Act of Congress
  in the year 1893 by
  T. C. MARTIN
  in the
  office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington
  Press of Mcllroy & Emmet, 36 Cortlandt
  St., N. Y.
  
  PREFACE.
  rpHE
  electrical problems
  of the present day lie largely in the
  **
  economical
  transmission of power and in the
  radical im-
  provement of the means and m