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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. Where are the plans for Nikola Tesla's "aeromobile"?

2. In 1906, what type of model does Nikola Tesla build?

3. What is Charles Hausler's job for Nikola Tesla?

4. After Mark Twain and J. Pierpont Morgan die, what happens to Nikola Tesla's behavior?

5. Despite the fact that Nikola Tesla inspires the science of radar, in what year is Robert A. Watson-Watt officially credited with the invention?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What influence does Nikola have on some Canadians with respect to wireless electric power generation?

3. In Chapter 25, "The Birthday Parties," how does Kenneth Swezey make Nikola's seventy-fifth birthday memorable?

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

5. Why is there conflicting information about Nikola Tesla's invention of a "Chinese Wall" in the U.S. of Teleforce?

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

7. Whom does Nikola approach for funding for his system to broadcast all wavelength channels from a single station, and why is this person his choice?

8. What happens when the New York Times publishes a story indicating that Tesla and Edison will receive a Nobel Prize in physics?

9. What does the fact that Nikola Tesla tries to send a letter to the long-dead Mark Twain signal about his impending death?

10. After 1915, why does Nikola work for two companies as described in Chapter 20, "Flying Stove"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

It seems that no matter how Nikola approaches the "selling" of his ideas, he never achieves his stated or promised goals. Provide five reasons for this. Which is his biggest obstacle, and why?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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