Edison vs Tesla - The Battle over Their Last Invention

William J. Birnes, Joel Martin

Summary

The little-known story of Thomas Edison’s quest to create a “spirit phone”—and his rivalry with Nikola Tesla to be the first to talk to the dead.

Thomas Edison, closely following the alternative physics work of Albert Einstein and Max Planck, became convinced that there was an entire reality unseen by the human eye. This led to the last and least known of all Edison’s inventions—the spirit phone.

His former associate and now bitter rival, Nikola Tesla, was at the same time developing a similar mysterious device. Edison vs. Tesla examines these inventors’ quests to talk to the dead. It reveals how Edison’s little-known near-death experience formed his theory that animate life forms don’t die, but rather change the nature of their composition. It is this foundational belief that drove him to proceed with the spirit phone. Meanwhile, Tesla monitored Edison’s paranormal work, with both men racing to create a device that picked up the frequencies of discarnate spirits, what today is called EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon).

Both men were way ahead of their time, delving into artificial intelligence and robotics. Although mystery and lore surround the details of the last decade of Edison’s life, many skeptics have denied the existence of the mysterious spirit phone. The authors have researched both Edison’s and Tesla’s journals, as well as contemporary articles and interviews with the inventors, to confirm that tests were actually done with this device. In addition, the Charles Edison Fund has affording them access to rare photos and graphics to support their text. Edison vs. Tesla sheds light on this weird invention—and demonstrates the rivalry that drove both men to new discoveries.

Available since: 10/03/2017.

Print length: 256 pages.

Other books that might interest you

Bioneers Series 1-01: Working...

Kenny Ausubel, Nina Simons,...

"The Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature" introduces us to the past half-century's most visionary designers, practitioners and pioneers of sustainable living. Inspired by the philosophies of the Deep Ecology movement, the Bioneers are heroic examples of people living as if nature mattered.

Show book

Summary: A First-Rate Madness -...

Brooks Bryant

Disclaimer: This is not the official book; but a summary & it does not accompany the official 
Dive deep into the compelling intersection of mental illness and leadership with 'A First-Rate Madness' by Nassir Ghaemi. Through meticulous research and captivating narratives, Ghaemi challenges conventional wisdom by suggesting that certain mental illnesses can, in fact, enhance leadership abilities, especially during tumultuous times. 
This summary encapsulates Ghaemi's provocative thesis, highlighting the unique strengths and perspectives that leaders like Lincoln, Churchill, and Gandhi—each of whom exhibited symptoms of mood disorders—brought to bear in times of crisis. 'A First-Rate Madness' doesn't just reshape our understanding of leadership; it compels us to reevaluate our societal perceptions of mental illness. Join this enlightening exploration and discover how vulnerabilities can sometimes be our greatest strengths when leading through adversity.

Show book

The Desert Further Studies in...

John Charles van Dyke

The Desert by John Charles Van Dyke, published in 1901, is a lush, poetic description of the natural beauty of the American Southwest. "What land can equal the desert with its wide plains, its grim mountains, and its expanding canopy of sky!" Van Dyke, a cultivated art historian, saw "sublimity" in the desert's "lonely desolation," which previous generations had perceived only as a wasteland, and his book has a conservationist flavor which seems distinctly modern. "The deserts should never be reclaimed," he writes. "They are the breathing spaces of the west and should be preserved for ever." The changing colors of the sky, hills, and sand impress Van Dyke, as do the mirages. He celebrates the "long overlooked commonplace things of nature"-- cactus and grease wood, desert animals, and "winged life," the birds and insects. His writing has a philosophical undertone. "Not in vain these wastes of sand ... simply because they are beautiful in themselves and good to look upon whether they be life or death." Anyone who views with equal awe fiery sunrises and weeds growing out of pavement cracks will enjoy this reading of Van Dyke's The Desert.(Summary by Sue Anderson)

Show book

GM LS-Series Engines - The...

Joseph Potak

In this illustrated guide, an LS-series expert takes you step-by-step through the process of installing GM’s high-power engines in any automobile. 
 
First underhood in the 1997 Corvette, GM’s LS engines have proven powerful, reliable, and amazingly fuel efficient. Since that time, more than a dozen variants have been produced, ranging from bulletproof, iron-block 4.8-liter workhorses to the supercharged 7.0-liter LS7. Among performance enthusiasts, these remarkable V-8 engines have become a favorite for engine swaps, owing to their fantastic power, compact design, and modification possibilities. 
 
In GM LS-Series Engines: The Complete Swap Manual, professional LS-series engine specialist and technician Joseph Potak details all the considerations involved in performing this swap into any vehicle. With clear instructions, color photos, diagrams, and specification tables, Potak guides you through:Mounting your new engineConfiguring the EFI systemDesigning fuel and exhaust systemsSourcing the correct accessories for your applicationTransmission, torque converters, and clutchesPerformance upgrades and power-addersTroubleshooting, should problems arise

Show book

Ingenious - A True Story of...

Jason Fagone

In 2007, the X Prize Foundation announced that it would give $10 million to anyone who could build a safe, mass-producible car that could travel one hundred miles on the energy equivalent of a gallon of gas. The challenge attracted more than one hundred teams from all over the world, including dozens of amateurs. Many designed their cars entirely from scratch, rejecting decades of thinking about what a car should look like.Jason Fagone follows four of those teams from the build stage to the final race and beyond-into a world in which destiny hangs on a low drag coefficient and a lug nut can be a beautiful talisman. The result is a gripping story of crazy collaboration, absurd risks, colossal hopes, and poignant losses. In an old pole barn in central Illinois, childhood sweethearts hack together an electric-powered dreamboat, using scavenged parts, forging their own steel, and burning through their life savings. In Virginia, an impassioned entrepreneur and his hand-picked squad of speed freaks pool their imaginations and build a car so light that you can push it across the floor with your thumb. In West Philly, a group of disaffected high school students come into their own as they create a hybrid car with the engine of a Harley motorcycle. And in Southern California, the early favorite-a start-up backed by millions in venture capital-designs a car that looks like an alien egg.Ingenious is a joyride. Fagone takes us into the garages and the minds of the inventors, capturing the fractious yet beautiful process of engineering a bespoke machine. Suspenseful and bighearted, this is the story of ordinary people risking failure, economic ruin, and ridicule to create something vital that Detroit had never pulled off. As the Illinois team wrote in chalk on the wall of their barn, "SOMEBODY HAS TO DO SOMETHING. THAT SOMEBODY IS US."

Show book

Training Birds of Prey

Jemima Parry-Jones

An introductory guide to everything the serious falconer needs to know about training, handling, and flying raptors from the five family groups. 
 
Learn how to train birds of prey correctly and safely. Jemima Parry-Jones, owner and director of the International Centre for Birds of Prey, covers everything the serious falconer needs to know about the five family groups: eagles, hawks, falcons, buzzards and owls. 
 
You will learn about handling, training, and flying. This guide will also tell you what sort of bird to get, how to find out where to get one, what sort of housing and equipment you need, how to sort out a food supply and what to feed, and also how to find a good veterinarian.

Show book