So who invented the radio? I learned it was Marconi when I was in school, but some folks say it was Tesla.
In 1943, the Supreme Court of the United States credited [Nikola Tesla] as being the inventor of the radio.
I have no idea where my husband learned about Nikola Tesla. The Cheney book has been seen around this house for some time, with both my husband and son reading it — and discussing it in front of me. The book is supposedly the definitive biography of the inventor.
Tesla got a little, dare I say, kooky at the end of his life, and he seems to have been expunged from books about inventors. It’s almost like a cover up or something. It’s truly a shame, though, because if you’re studying electricity you can’t just skip Tesla and pretend he didn’t exist.
When we watched The Prestige, we were surprised to see that a character named Tesla was in it. We also figured that without a prior knowledge of Tesla, we’d be a little confused by the portions of the movie that involved Tesla.
After searching a little, I found a couple of videos about him. I’ll see if I can find the titles. I got them through Blockbuster’s online program; Netflix doesn’t have them — or at least that was the status a few months ago.
Movie about Tesla: The Secret of Nikola Tesla
Documentary about Tesla by some Serbians: Nikola Tesla: The Genius Who Lit the World
If you have a high-school student interested in electricity, I think both of these shows would be fascinating. The first DVD has a quality issue, but the value of the content makes up for it, I think, but then I rented them instead of buying.
Do I recommend The Prestige? Sure, with some reservations. I found it intriguing and wanted to watch it again as soon as I had finished. But I went to bed instead. Yes, I am a party girl.