2018 Reprint of 1919 Edition.  Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) was a prophet of the electronic age.  His research laid much of the groundwork for modern electrical and communication systems, and his impressive accomplishments include development of the alternating-current electrical system, radio, the Tesla coil transformer, wireless transmission, and fluorescent lighting.  Tesla's research was so groundbreaking that many of his contemporaries failed to understand it, and other scientists are unjustly credited for his innovations.