Abstract :
This past December, under a crisp, blue California sky, geeks of all sorts gathered to honor an inventor they believe should be the symbol of Silicon Valley. They were in Palo Alto for the dedication of a statue to Nikola Tesla, the prolific Serbian-born inventor and engineer who lived between 1856 and 1943 and whose life and work is the subject of a wave of revived interest. Tesla´s new fans say he is a special figure, not just for the countless advances he made in developing alternating current, wireless energy, wireless communications, and more, but because of his modesty; they believe he was far more interested in moving society forward than in accumulating wealth.
