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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 is Nikola Tesla doing in Europe when he conceives the idea that man could produce electric storms?

2. In Chapter 6, "Order of the Flaming Sword," how does Nikola Tesla share his inventions of electricity in a vacuum tube with other scientists?

3. For what type of transmission is Nikola Tesla's research a precursor in around 1895?

4. What type of electrical service does Thomas Edison supply to people?

5. What happens to the electric company generator when Nikola Tesla runs his experiment?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. In Chapter 12, "Robots," why does Nikola Tesla have challenges moving his inventions from his laboratory into working prototypes?

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

5. What invention does Nikola claim to be useful to send signals to Mars, and why is this possible?

6. In Chapter 5, "The War of the Currents Begins," why is Nikola Tesla depressed at age thirty?

7. What contributions does Nikola believe he has made to science as a result of his magnifying oscillator experiments in Colorado Springs?

8. From the book's Introduction, why does Nikola Tesla maintain an intensely private life?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Nikola Tesla's cool fireball and one thousand volt electrocution demonstrations fascinates Mark Twain, Joseph Jefferson, and Chauncey McGovern. At the end of the demonstrations, Nikola Tesla explains why he can stand briefly on the platform with high voltage yet not get electrocuted. Choose one of the following options to write about.

1) Describe the professions of Nikola Tesla's three guests and why you think Nikola Tesla gives these particular demonstrations.

2) Why does Nikola Tesla explain the rationale for the high voltage platform demonstration?

3) What impression does Nikola Tesla leave with his guests when he does not make a distinction between a human and animal reaction?

Essay Topic 2

It seems that Nikola Tesla's decision not to enter into a marriage was part of a deliberate effort to maintain the focus on his career. Yet other successful "money men" and inventors of the times had wives and children. With your knowledge of Nikola, and given the times in which he lived, explain whether you think he would have been able to envision and create the devices and ideas that he did had he been married. Select one or two married "money men" described in the book, and discuss why they were able to be successful. Are the type of women they selected for mates similar to the type of women with whom Nikola affiliated as friends?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 7, "Radio," Nikola Tesla encounters many obstacles that prevent him from focusing on his research with radio.

Part 1) Briefly describe his main distractions and identify which distractions present the greatest obstacles to his success.

Part 2) Why does the author state that it is impossible for Nikola to accept Sir William Crook's advice to focus on one single area of research?

(see the answer keys)

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