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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What event takes Nikola Tesla away from radio research in 1893?

2. What reward does Thomas Edison offer Nikola Tesla for completing the work with the dynamo?

3. What does Nikola Tesla ask Westinghouse to do with their royalties agreement?

4. After World War II, much of Nikola Tesla's library materials are shipped where?

5. In what year does Ernest Orlando Lawrence win a Nobel prize for the cyclotron, a precursor of which Nikola Tesla exhibited?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 10, "An Error in Judgment," describe three reasons why Nikola is almost destitute financially.

2. In Chapter 13, "Hurler of Lightning," what are some of the effects of Nikola Tesla's experiments with the magnifying oscillator in Colorado Springs?

3. In Chapter 4, "At the Court of Mr. Edison," why is the early relationship between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison strained?

4. Nikola's demonstration of the world's first radio-controlled boat doesn't make a big splash. Why is this?

5. Describe three elements of the friendship between Nikola Tesla and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wood Johnson.

6. Nikola produces the first x-ray picture in America. Why does he not commercialize this discovery?

7. In Chapter 1, "Modern Prometheus," what is the result of Nikola Tesla's fireball demonstration for Mark Twain and several other contemporaries?

8. What potential modern applications does author Margaret Cheney describe for Nikola Tesla's invention of a peculiar and sensitive vacuum tube?

9. In Chapter 9, "High Road, Low Road," Nikola Tesla focuses on the use of alternating current for electricity generation, while his competitor Thomas Edison refuses to endorse anything but direct current. How is the electricity generation business divided in the mid-1890s in Buffalo?

10. In Chapter 6, "Order of the Flaming Sword," what practical applications do Nikola Tesla's inventions have?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nikola never profited much financially from any of his inventions, and many were never patented. In addition, many of his ideas were developed decades, or even centuries before science and technology were sufficiently developed to carry the work forward. Choose two of Nikola's inventions, and trace the youth and adult experiences in Nikola's life that contribute to this futuristic outlook. Provide examples in the book that seem to substantiate reasons for his unique ability to see far into the science and technology future.

Essay Topic 2

Over a period of several decades, Nikola Tesla has a platonic relationship with Katherine Johnson. Describe the reasons you think Nikola and Katherine have for valuing this relationship. What does Katherine provide Nikola? And in turn, what does Nikola bring Katherine? What reasons is this friendship able to survive for so many years, especially since Katherine is married to Nikola Tesla's friend Robert Underwood Johnson?

Essay Topic 3

Nikola's expresses two goals for his move to Colorado Springs -- to beat Marconi with a wireless system, and to transmit energy plentifully and cheaply around the Earth. There is no documented information to support research for either of these goals. Although Nikola is satisfied himself that he can make lightning dance and has received messages from outside the earth's atmosphere, he has failed in his attempt to reach both of his stated goals. Explain the reasons for the failure and his eventual departure from Colorado Springs. What, if anything has he learned that may help him do things differently back in New York?

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