Column: If Tesla was the real visionary, why does Edison get all the glory?

Sparks of electricity emanating from a Tesla coil at the Mendeleyevskaya metro station in Moscow, Russia, January 24, 2016. Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from John Wasik's new book, "Lightning Strikes: Timeless Lessons in Creativity from the Life and Work of Nikola Tesla" (Sterling, 2016), slightly edited for this column. World-changing inventions made Nikola Tesla a celebrity in his own time, but something otherworldly makes him transcend his era and remain a perpetual beacon for our civilization 70 years after his death. He's now an immortal rock star, an icon for billionaires, cyberpunks, artists and "maker" inventors who are still fiddling with everyday machines in their basements and garages. Search engine designers, energy czars, musicians, artists and creators everywhere feel his influence.