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             The scene is from “Tesla: A Portrait with Masks,” a novel by Serbian author Vladimir Pištalo, and depicts one of the most iconic moments in the history of science. It was February 1882 when Nikola Tesla, walking with his friend in a Budapest park, drew the blueprint for his most famous invention, the induction motor. Ten years later, the motor would become the basis of the alternating current revolution, ushering in an era of previously unimaginable discoveries.

Pištalo signing his book “Tesla – A Portrait with Masks”

Pištalo’s novel — winner of the most prestigious award in Serbia 7 years ago — has just been translated into English and on Monday night it was promoted at Porter Square Books in Cambridge. Pištalo, who teaches American history at Becker College in Worcester, says he spent 8 years researching Tesla’s life, only to discover that it is not even certain what color the inventor’s eyes were.

“Some say they were brown, others say they were blue, and some again claim his eyes were originally brown and they turned blue because of all the electricity he let pass through him,” told Pištalo an amused audience.

Pištalo comes from the same part of the world as Tesla, who was Serbian, and who immigrated to the U.S. in 1884, aged 28. Tesla briefly worked for Edison before developing the AC motor, which made it possible to transfer electric power over long distances.

“At that time, people had faith in inventors. Journalists were really convinced that the world would be better, that all wars would stop, and that there would be no end to progress. And then World War I ended that illusion,“ says Pištalo.

It was also around that time that Tesla, a prolific inventor, who not only made possible the electricity we use today, but also invented radio (before Marconi), and experimented with X-rays before Roentgen, reached the end of his endeavors. His most important invention, the wireless transmission of power, never came to be.

Pištalo says Tesla turned to J.P. Morgan for funding. Morgan gave 150,000 dollars for wireless transmission of messages, but unbeknownst to Morgan, Tesla worked on wireless transmission of power.

“Tesla broke all deadlines and Morgan would not finance him anymore. At that time, the House of Morgan controlled 13% of the world’s finances and if Morgan wouldn’t touch a project, no one would. In the end, Tesla’s lab at Wardenclyffe was sold as scrap metal,“ says Pištalo.

The audience asked the novelist questions ranging from Tesla’s relationship with another Serbian-American inventor, Michael Pupin (“They were from the same notch of the wood, but didn’t like each other”) to whether Tesla believed in God (“He was a Christian and a Buddhist, but really believed in Aristotle’s entelechy”).

Pištalo is a well-known writer in Serbia, and has published 7 novels. This is his first novel that has been translated into English.

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