The Tesla Bequest

Leo never imagined that time travel might really be possible, or that the objects in H. G. Wells’ science fiction novels might actually exist. But then a miniature time machine appears in Leo’s bedroom, and he recognizes one of the tiny riders: himself! His search for the time machine and his fate leads him to the New-York Circulating Material Repository, a magical library that lends out objects instead of books. Hidden away in the Repository basement is the Wells Bequest, a secret collection of powerful objects straight out of classic science fiction novels: robots, rockets, submarines, a shrink ray—and one very famous time machine. And when Leo’s adventure of a lifetime suddenly turns deadly, he must attempt a journey to 1895 to warn real-life scientist Nikola Tesla about a dangerous invention. A race for time is on!

The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. It is the most important product of his creative brain. Its ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing of the forces of nature to human needs. This is the difficult task of the inventor who is often misunderstood and unrewarded. But he finds ample compensation in the pleasing exercises of his powers and in the knowledge of being one of that exceptionally privileged class without whom the race would have long ago perished in the bitter struggle against pitiless elements. Speaking for myself, I have already had more than my full measure of this exquisite enjoyment; so much, that for many years my life was little short of continuous rapture. I am credited with being one of the hardest workers and perhaps I am, if thought is the equivalent of labor, for I have devoted to it almost all of my waking hours. But if work is interpreted to be a definite performance in a specified time according to a rigid rule, then I may be the worst of idlers. Every effort under compulsion demands a sacrifice of life-energy. I never paid such a price. On the contrary, I have thrived on my thoughts. In attempting to give a connected and faithful account of my activities in this story of my life, I must dwell, however reluctantly, on the impressions of my youth and the circumstances and events which have been instrumental in determining my career. Our first endeavors are purely instinctive promptings of an imagination vivid and undisciplined. As we grow older, reason asserts itself and we become more and more systematic and designing. But those early impulses, though not immediately productive, are of the greatest moment and may shape our very destinies. Indeed, I feel now that had I understood and cultivated instead of suppressing them, I would have added substantial value to my bequest to the world. But not until I had attained manhood did I realize that I was an inventor. This was due to a number of causes. In the first place I had a brother who was gifted to an extraordinary degree; one of those rare phenomena of mentality which biological investigation has failed to explain. His premature death left my earth parents disconsolate. (I will explain my remark about my “earth parents” later.) We owned a horse which had been presented to us by a dear friend. It was a magnificent animal of Arabian breed, possessed of almost human intelligence, and was cared for and petted by the whole family, having on one occasion saved my dear father’s life under remarkable circumstances. My father had been called one winter night to perform an urgent duty and while crossing the mountains, infested by wolves, the horse became frightened and ran away, throwing him violently to the ground. It arrived home bleeding and exhausted, but after the alarm was sounded, immediately dashed off again, returning to the spot, and before the searching party were far on the way they were met by my father, who had recovered consciousness and remounted, not realizing that he had been lying in the snow for several hours. This horse was responsible for my brother’s injuries from which he died. I witnessed the tragic scene and although so many years have elapsed since, my visual impression of it has lost none of its force. The recollection of his attainments made every effort of mine seem dull in comparison. Anything I did that was creditable merely caused my parents to feel their loss more keenly. So I grew up with little confidence in myself.

This edition presents the incredible research, inventions and legacy of Nikola Tesla: Content My Inventions – Autobiography of Nikola Tesla Lectures: A New System of Alternate Current Motors and Transformers Experiments with Alternate Currents of Very High Frequency and Their Application to Methods of Artificial Illumination Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency On Light and Other High Frequency Phenomena On Electricity My Submarine Destroyer High Frequency Oscillators for Electro-Therapeutic and Other Purposes Scientific Articles: Swinburne's "Hedgehog" Transformer Phenomena of Alternating Currents of Very High Frequency Alternate Current Electrostatic Induction Apparatus An Electrolytic Clock Electric Discharge in Vacuum Tubes Notes on a Unipolar Dynamo The "Drehstrom" Patent The Ewing High-Frequency Alternator and Parson's Steam Engine On the Dissipation of the Electrical Energy of the Hertz Resonator The Physiological and Other Effects of High Frequency Currents Nikola Tesla - About His Experiments in Electrical Healing The Age of Electricity The Problem of Increasing Human Energy Talking with Planets Can Bridge the Gap to Mars Little Aeroplane Progress How to Signal to Mars The Transmission of Electric Energy Without Wires The Wonder World to Be Created by Electricity Nikola Tesla Sees a Wireless Vision Correction by Mr. Tesla The True Wireless On Reflected Roentgen Rays On Roentgen Radiations Roentgen Ray Investigations Tuned Lightning Tesla's Wireless Torpedo Tesla's Tidal Wave to Make War Impossible Possibilities of Wireless My Apparatus, Says Tesla Mr. Tesla's Vision Wonders of the Future Electric Drive for Battle Ships A Lighting Machine on Novel Principles Electrical Oscillators... Letters to Magazine Editors The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla by T. C. Martin