Perspective

Tesla is writing "My Inventions" in 1919, when he is in his early 50s. His perspective is of a successful inventor and scientist looking back on his career. Tesla has made some significant advances in the development of electricity, and he is proud of his achievements. His intended audience is the readership of "Electrical Engineering," a magazine devoted to the field in which he has excelled. This gives Tesla the freedom to include technical details of his inventions with the knowledge that they will be understood by his readers, and to expand on the details of his career knowing that his audience is likely to be very interested.

Tesla, by his own admission, is reluctant to write about his childhood and early years. These periods in his life lacked the structure and purpose of his later career, and he seems to regret the time he lost that might have...