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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. In what year does the Luftwaffe bomb Belgrade?

2. In what year is Nikola Tesla summoned to court for failure to pay his takes in New York City?

3. How is Nikola Tesla planning to use the Tesla turbine engine?

4. For what is Nikola Tesla singled out due to the role of Yugoslavia in the upcoming war?

5. To what periodical does Nikola Tesla write in defense of King Alexander?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why is Nikola Tesla constantly passed over for fame and fortune for his inventions, especially radio?

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

5. What closure does Nikola get as he learns about medical uses for his oscillator inventions?

6. 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?

7. What role does the National Research Council have in preventing Nikola from getting his ideas listened to?

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

9. Why does Nikola care for pigeons in Chapter 23, "Pigeons"?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Later in his life, Nikola Tesla becomes enamored with feeding and caring for pigeons in Manhattan. Author Margaret Cheney provides numerous theories that attempt to explain Nikola's attraction and even compulsion for the birds. Describe the various theories mentioned in the book, and explain which theory is the most plausible to you. Why? Finally, discuss your opinion about whether Nikola's love of nursing pigeons has something to do with an attempt to replace the lack of a female marriage partner in his life.

Essay Topic 2

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?

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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