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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. Who asks Nikola Tesla to accept the Edison Medal of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers?

2. What type of weapon does Nikola envision in his conversations with Viereck?

3. What magazine carries two of Nikola Tesla's designs: extracting electricity from seawater and plans for a geothermal steam plant?

4. Where does Nikola Tesla spend time feeding pigeons?

5. What hotel is Nikola Tesla told to vacate in part because of his birds?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 17, "The Great Radio Controversy," what court rules that Nikola Tesla is the inventor of radio, rather than William Marconi?

2. Why does Nikola try not to attend the Edison Medal ceremony to receive his award?

3. Describe why Nikola, now in his fifties, aggrandizes his theories and projects to others.

4. What is different about Nikola's flivver airplane, or flying stove, and other existing aircraft?

5. In Chapter 27, "Cosmic Communion," for what purpose does Nikola Tesla use his birthday parties during his eightieth decade?

6. In Chapter 26, "Corks on Water," explain why J.P. Morgan will not invest in proposals Nikola Tesla makes after the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

7. What do Nikola and Ivan Mestrovic have in common, and how do they leverage those commonalities?

8. What mistake does Nikola make when proposing his process for degassifying copper to the American Smelting and Refining Company?

9. As described in Chapter 28, "Death and Transfiguration," why is Nikola Tesla caught in the middle of politics with regard to the role of Yugoslavia in World War II?

10. In Chapter 16,"Ridiculed, Condemned, Combated," what project is responsible for Nikola Tesla getting little sleep?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Nikola has nothing but disdain for Orville Wright's aircraft technology. Therefore, he invents his own "flying stove" using early vertical takeoff technology that is not patented until 1928, and not utilized by two companies until after 1950. What reasons can you give for why Nikola is not able to prototype or commercialize this technology? Do you think at least some of his resistance to Wright's aircraft is due to personal or intellectual arrogance? Why or why not?

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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