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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. How does George Scherff feel about Nikola Tesla?

2. What happens when Nikola Tesla visits an official in Washington to offer a robotic invention to the government?

3. Where is the Palm Room?

4. For what does Nikola offer a plan to redesign for Edison?

5. In Chapter 10, "An Error of Judgment," to what does Nikola Tesla expose his head frequently?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. In Chapter 3, "Immigrants of Distinction," why is Nikola Tesla's invention of alternating current so important to the world?

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

4. How does Nikola out in Colorado keep Scherff motivated while working at the laboratory back in New York?

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

6. In Chapter 6, "Order of the Flaming Sword," Nikola Tesla develops what he calls a carbon button lamp. For what later device does the lamp serve as a prototype?

7. In Chapter 2, "A Gambling Man," why does Nikola Tesla feel disappointed for his mother?

8. In the "Acknowledgements" section, describe the reasons Leland Anderson is interested in Nikola Tesla.

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

10. In Chapter 3, "Immigrants of Distinction," describe the influence that Charles Bachelor has on Nikola Tesla.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The tragic death of Nikola Tesla's older brother Daniel impacts Nikola Tesla at a very early age.

Part 1) Discuss how the loss of Nikola's brother Daniel leads to problems of self-confidence for Nikola.

Part 2) How does Daniel's death later impact Nikola Tesla's ability to be more successful and productive in his science career in America.

Essay Topic 2

Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison are two men with a shared interest in science, yet cannot be more different in their outlook on life and approaches to their work.

Part 1) How does Nikola Tesla's and Thomas Edison's first meeting in 1884 set the stage for the personality conflicts that follow?

Part 2) Why does Thomas Edison proceed to put Nikola Tesla to work despite his disdain for alternating current?

Essay Topic 3

At dinner in the Palm Room of the Waldorf Astoria, Nikola Tesla requires eighteen napkins, polishes the crystal and silver setting, has his meal served by the maitre d'hotel, calculates the cubic contents of his meal, and then departs precisely at 10:00 p.m., all while the other diners maintain their distance and pretend not to stare at him.

Part 1) Discuss how Nikola's compulsive behaviors and expectations affect his ability to produce and bring to closure his experiments, his success over the years raising funds, and his social life.

Part 2) Which of these compulsive behaviors might have helped him, and which would hinder him?

Part 3) If Nikola were alive today, do you think he would he be more likely to better manage some of his compulsions? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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