In Our Time: Science
BBC Radio 4
Categories: Education
Listen to the last episode:
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) and his role in the development of electrical systems towards the end of the nineteenth century. He made his name in New York in the contest over which current should flow into homes and factories in America. Some such as Edison backed direct current or DC while others such as Westinghouse backed alternating current or AC and Nikola Tesla’s invention of a motor that worked on AC swung it for the alternating system that went on to power the modern age. He ensured his reputation and ideas burnt brightly for the next decades, making him synonymous with the lone, genius inventor of the new science fiction.
With
Simon Schaffer Emeritus Fellow of Darwin College, University of Cambridge
Jill Jonnes Historian and author of “Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse and the Race to Electrify the World”
And
Iwan Morus Professor of History at Aberystwyth University
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Reading list:
W. Bernard Carlson, Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age (Princeton University Press, 2013)
Margaret Cheney and Robert Uth, Tesla: Master of Lightning (Barnes & Noble Books, 1999)
Thomas P. Hughes, Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880-1930 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983)
Carolyn Marvin, When Old Technologies Were New (Open University Press, 1988)
Iwan Rhys Morus, Nikola Tesla and the Electrical Future (Icon Books, 2019)
Iwan Rhys Morus, How The Victorians Took Us To The Moon (Icon, 2022)
David E. Nye, Electrifying America: Social Meanings of a New Technology (MIT Press, 1991)
John J. O’Neill, Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla (first published 1944; Cosimo Classics, 2006)
Marc J. Seifer, Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla, Biography of a Genius (first published 1996; Citadel Press, 2016)
Nikola Tesla, My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla (first published 1919; Martino Fine Books, 2011)
Nikola Tesla, My Inventions and other Writings (Penguin, 2012)
In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio production
Previous episodes
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285 - Nikola Tesla Thu, 02 May 2024
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284 - Jupiter Thu, 27 Jul 2023
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283 - Hormones Thu, 07 Mar 2024
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282 - Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle Thu, 28 Mar 2024
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281 - Plankton Thu, 02 Nov 2023
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280 - Albert Einstein Thu, 12 Oct 2023
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279 - Mitochondria Thu, 29 Jun 2023
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278 - Linnaeus Thu, 18 May 2023
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277 - Paul Erdős Thu, 23 Mar 2023
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276 - Tycho Brahe Thu, 02 Mar 2023
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275 - Superconductivity Thu, 23 Feb 2023
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274 - The Challenger Expedition 1872-1876 Thu, 22 Dec 2022
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273 - The Fish-Tetrapod Transition Thu, 17 Nov 2022
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272 - The Electron Thu, 27 Oct 2022
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271 - The Death of Stars Thu, 07 Jul 2022
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270 - Homo erectus Thu, 12 May 2022
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269 - Seismology Thu, 07 Apr 2022
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268 - In Our Time is now first on BBC Sounds Fri, 04 Mar 2022
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267 - William and Caroline Herschel Thu, 11 Nov 2021
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266 - Corals Thu, 28 Oct 2021
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265 - The Manhattan Project Thu, 07 Oct 2021
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264 - The Evolution of Crocodiles Thu, 16 Sep 2021
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263 - Longitude Thu, 13 May 2021
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262 - Pierre-Simon Laplace Thu, 08 Apr 2021
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261 - The Late Devonian Extinction Thu, 11 Mar 2021
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260 - Emilie du Châtelet Thu, 04 Feb 2021
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259 - Eclipses Thu, 31 Dec 2020
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258 - Alan Turing Thu, 15 Oct 2020
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257 - Paul Dirac Thu, 05 Mar 2020
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256 - The Evolution of Horses Thu, 27 Feb 2020
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255 - Solar Wind Thu, 23 Jan 2020
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254 - Hybrids Thu, 31 Oct 2019
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253 - Dorothy Hodgkin Thu, 03 Oct 2019
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252 - Kinetic Theory Thu, 23 May 2019
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250 - The Evolution of Teeth Thu, 11 Apr 2019
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249 - Pheromones Thu, 21 Feb 2019
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248 - Aristotle's Biology Thu, 07 Feb 2019
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247 - Emmy Noether Thu, 24 Jan 2019
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246 - Venus Thu, 27 Dec 2018
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245 - Free Radicals Thu, 01 Nov 2018
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244 - Automata Thu, 20 Sep 2018
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243 - Echolocation Thu, 21 Jun 2018
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242 - The Proton Thu, 26 Apr 2018
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241 - George and Robert Stephenson Thu, 12 Apr 2018
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240 - Rosalind Franklin Thu, 22 Feb 2018
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239 - Fungi Thu, 15 Feb 2018
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238 - Cephalopods Thu, 01 Feb 2018
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237 - Carl Friedrich Gauss Thu, 30 Nov 2017
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236 - Feathered Dinosaurs Thu, 26 Oct 2017
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235 - Bird Migration Thu, 06 Jul 2017