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AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War
by
Tom McNichol
"AC/DC" tells the little-known story of how Thomas Edison wrongly bet in the fierce war between supporters of alternating current and direct current. The savagery of this electrical battle can hardly be imagined today. The showdown between AC and DC began as a rather straightforward conflict between technical standards, a battle of competing methods to deliver es...more
Hardcover, 208 pages
Published
September 1st 2006
by Jossey-Bass
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After an introductory history of the "taming" of electricity (including Ben Franklin's kite experiments), this book tells the story of an epic battle: Thomas Edison, whose genius and creativity are well known, vs. Nikola Tesla, the mysterious eastern European inventor who was trained by Edison but then left to be backed by George Westinghouse. As understanding of electricity grew, Edison was a strong proponent of using direct current for all practical applications; Tesla and Westinghou...more
Some may be familiar with the current "standards" battle between Blu-Ray and HD DVD. When I was young it was BetaMAX vs. VHS. But just over a hundred years ago it was AC vs. DC, alternating current vs. direct current electricity. Each side had its powerful backers. On the DC side was Thomas Edison, the world's greatest inventor, who was often best at developing new products and supported by a powerful marketing machine. On the AC side was George Westinghouse, another brilliant inventor...more
Much of AC/DC is a discussion of the life of Thomas Edison. McNichol’s tells the story of how Edison started with little in the way of support but built up a lifetime of achievement by invention. His poor hearing partly encouraged him to work in the Telegraph office (he could hear the clicks but not be disturbed by others talking) and to invent the phonograph. The sparks really started when he got investors interested in supporting his electric light developments, an effort that took far long...more
This was an interesting piece of history about how we've come to run our lives on 60 Hz, 110 V alternating current rather than some other format. Centered around Thomas Edison, the book is somewhat biographical of not only the "Wizard of Menlo Park" but also of Nicola Tesla and George Westinghouse. And although I always thought of Edison as a scholar and gentleman, I found out that he didn't have much formal education and came to look down on those that had it. He took the battle fo...more
Political take on the start of electricity and the business of electricity in the U.S. Got me much more interested in this field - seeing that we are on the cusp of a similar grab for the emerging energy market of solar power. Stories in the paper everyday about the new fields being build in the desert outside of L.A. The book also taught me about some of the cruel animal experiments involving electricity (the circus elephant one is also mentioned in Water for Elephants) which you can see on you...more
A fascinating story about something that people take for granted everyday - electricity. I learned a lot from this book. I learned about Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, George Westinghouse. I learned that Edison really was a genius and was responsible for many inventions that we still use today, in one form or another. I learned of the intense rivalry between AC and DC power.
Overall, a great read that is informative, easy to read, and filled with enough people and animals getting ele...more
Overall, a great read that is informative, easy to read, and filled with enough people and animals getting ele...more
This was a very interesting historical book on the development of electricity in our modern culture. From Edison to Westinghouse to Tesla: it is a fascinating story of how they struggled for supremacy with conflicting technical standards. Edison had the opportunity to dominate, but ended up betting on the wrong technology...he made a lot of money but his DC standard lost out to AC. The the auto came along and DC became the standard, but without him.
The book is great history and ...more
The book is great history and ...more
As a person who can read and enjoy books about the dictionary, I recognize that I'm a bit of an odd ball, but I think there are other people out there like me and they deserve to know that, as books covering seemingly dry subject matters go, this one was remarkably compelling.
There aren't a lot of people who can get really keyed up over a long over battle between two varieties of electrical current but this author did manage to keep things just a touch more interesting than you would...more
There aren't a lot of people who can get really keyed up over a long over battle between two varieties of electrical current but this author did manage to keep things just a touch more interesting than you would...more
The book is amazing. A must-read for every electrical engineer. It talks about the discovery of electricity the rise of electrical industry. Then it talks mainly about the war between AC and DC.
The language of the book is above average. It contains many electrical terms and it goes deep into the analysis of different electrical systems.
The author at some points jumps back and forth between ideas which somehow confuses readers. He also goes into irrelevant details. Furthermo...more
The language of the book is above average. It contains many electrical terms and it goes deep into the analysis of different electrical systems.
The author at some points jumps back and forth between ideas which somehow confuses readers. He also goes into irrelevant details. Furthermo...more
Although the title suggests the reader will learn the "savage" tale of the first standards war, this book is a matter of fact piece of journalism in which you never really feel that you know the men involved.
The standards war of the title is the fight between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, among others, to determine if America will adopt Direct Current (DC) or Alternating Current (AC) as its mode of electrical transmission. And while the text gives a pretty detai...more
The standards war of the title is the fight between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, among others, to determine if America will adopt Direct Current (DC) or Alternating Current (AC) as its mode of electrical transmission. And while the text gives a pretty detai...more
Less technical than I had feared, McNichol's book focuses on the personalities of the key players (Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla) rather than on the purely scientific aspects of direct vs. alternating currents. This suited me fine, though I would imagine that those with a more scientific bent might have felt shortchanged.
It was illuminating (ahem) to learn about some of the less heroic aspects of Edison's personality and, of course, Tesla's well-known eccentricities were also ex...more
It was illuminating (ahem) to learn about some of the less heroic aspects of Edison's personality and, of course, Tesla's well-known eccentricities were also ex...more
This was a very interesting book about the early days of electricity and the war that was fought between Edison and his DC systems and Westinghouse / Tesla for their AC systems.
Much of the bickering reminds me of things that are happening now, especially with the push to go to 'greener' vehicles and appliances. I believe that in time algore's role in all this Gullible Warming hoax will be very similar to Harold Brown's role in trying to denigrate AC.
A very enjoyable and ...more
Much of the bickering reminds me of things that are happening now, especially with the push to go to 'greener' vehicles and appliances. I believe that in time algore's role in all this Gullible Warming hoax will be very similar to Harold Brown's role in trying to denigrate AC.
A very enjoyable and ...more
I started this book expecting to to delve into the relationship between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla; and indeed Tesla briefly worked for Edison. This book is really about Edison and Westinghouse during the early years of commerializing electricity. Probably more pages are given to Harold P. Brown than Tesla.
This does not mean that the book is not worthy of reading, quite the opposite; Tom McNichol weaves a fascinating tale.
This does not mean that the book is not worthy of reading, quite the opposite; Tom McNichol weaves a fascinating tale.
So far this is a shameless pseudo biography of Thomas Edison as the one and only person responsible for electrifying the world. No mention of George Westinghouse or Nicola Tesla (whose huge coils at dams are still used to generate current today). So far, I'd be generous to say the book is a bit biased. Having read somewhat of the history of all men mentioned in this book, it seems that not enough credit is given in this book to the fact that despite Edison's best efforts, it was Tesla's coils...more
This is an awesome beginner book for kids and even adults who don't know about the history of electricity and want to know. It is a quick read so it may not be as exhaustive as some would like. Once you get past the first chapter the book flows and is so interesting you don't want to put it down.
Dan Angerame
added it
Just started reading it but really enjoying it so far. Basically the story of whether America would be powered by AC or DC current. Seems like a simplt tale but it get quite viscous. I understand there is another goob book on the same topic.... "Empires of Light".
The holiday's have been very hectic for me, so finding time to read has been a challenge, i've filled in the gaps with periodicals and pulpy fiction, but i needed something fairly simple that still made my brain click and tick, since the library had no good books on tesla, and this book deals with him , as an exterior to the larger story, i opted for this. I found it to be a brief and informative little ditty on the beginning of understanding and capitalizing on electricity, and the bit...more
Interesting narrative of the technical and human side of the introduction of the electrical power grid to the US...and much more.
Little material that I haven't come across before but all-in-all an easy, brisk overview of the topic.
This is a good book for those who are interested in learning more about Edison, Westinghouse, and the controversy over the proper method for distributing electricity over the power grid. However, I think that the book falls a bit short of its title, in that the wrap-up chapter that discusses the history in terms of standards is the least strong part of the book. The story told here has probably been told elsewhere, but Nichols writes well, and it is an entertaining read.
I love history. And with a family full of electricians, this book brought special significants. I didn't know the full story about the development of electricity.
This book taught me more about Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse then I ever would have expected. The
This book taught me more about Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse then I ever would have expected. The
I really enjoyed reading this book. I did not know the back story behind edison's work on the light bulb or understand how the DC to AC switch was made. Very compelling. I love all book where scientists become more than just their discoveries.
Mike
added it
Would have given it 3.5 stars. Worth reading to find out more about something we take for granted every day. Our electricity. Fascinating history of the rivalry between Edison and Tesla.
Very basic understanding of the history of modern electricity. Sad story about what ego can do. Worth reading though.
Srinivas
marked it as to-read
Riku Sayuj
marked it as to-read
Laura
marked it as to-read
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