My Early Life Summary and Analysis

In the opening chapter, Tesla explains that he has been asked by the editors of Electrical Experimenter magazine to produce a series of articles outlining his inventions for their readers. This Tesla is eager to do, but first, he explains, he feels it is appropriate to talk about his childhood and early years, even though he is reluctant to do so.

Part of this reluctance is because he regrets having suppressed his talent for inventing at a young age. This was partly because of the early death of his older brother, he explains, which devastated his parents. Growing up in the shadow of his dead brother undermined his confidence in himself, Tesla believes, and delayed his development as an inventor. Another factor is that as a child he is regularly distracted by a kind of very realistic...