AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: alternating current system, death chair, electricity business, New York, Harold Brown, George Westinghouse (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A little more than 100 years ago, two titans of industry faced off in one of the most vicious battles the marketplace had ever seen. On one side, Thomas Edison, inventor extraordinaire, the creator of the phonograph and the electric light; on the other, George Westinghouse, tycoon and titan, backing the mysterious eastern European inventor Nikola Tesla. They fought over the very nature of the electrical system in America: would it be built on alternating current (as Westinghouse proposed), or direct current à la Edison? Though a battle over electrical standards sounds dry, this tale is anything but. McNichol's solid if brief survey of this relatively unknown moment in the history of technology ranges from macabre electrocutions of hapless animals (and eventually prison inmates) as demonstrations of the "Death Current" to the gleaming "electrical wonderland" of the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. Though the author focuses on when it's wise to fight a standards battle and when to give in, some might wish that he had another 200 pages in which to flesh out the story. His book tantalizingly scratches the surface of Edison's ingenuity and force of will, Westinghouse's shrewd business sense, and most of all the sheer eccentricity of Nikola Tesla. (Sept.)
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Review

A little more than 100 years ago, two titans of industry faced off in one of the most vicious battles the marketplace had ever seen. On one side, Thomas Edison, inventor extraordinaire, the creator of the phonograph and the electric light; on the other, George Westinghouse, tycoon and titan, backing the mysterious eastern European inventor Nikola Tesla. They fought over the very nature of the electrical system in America: would it be built on alternating current (as Westinghouse proposed), or direct currentà la Edison- Though a battle over electrical standards sounds dry, this tale is anything but. McNichol's solid if brief survey of this relatively unknown moment in the history of technology ranges from macabre electrocutions of hapless animals (and eventually prison inmates) as demonstrations of the "Death Current" to the gleaming "electrical wonderland" of the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. Though the author focuses on when it's wise to fight a standards battle and when to give in, some might wish that he had another 200 pages in which to flesh out the story. His book tantalizingly scratches the surface of Edison's ingenuity and force of will, Westinghouse's shrewd business sense, and most of all the sheer eccentricity of Nikola Tesla.(Sept.) (Publishers Weekly, July 17, 2006)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass (September 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787982679
• ISBN-13: 978-0787982676
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #468,009 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too short, omits most technical stuff, October 7, 2006

By	Donald E. Fulton (Stoneham, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

AC/DC, subtitled The Savage Tale of the First Standards War, is a quick read that does a pretty good job telling the PR and human side of the AC/DC story, but skimps badly on technical issues related to the AC/DC battle. This book is less than half the length of the much better book on the same topic, Empires of Light --- Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World, by Jill Jonnes (2003).

McNichols has two chapters on the bizarre electrocutions of animals and prisoners with details of every voltage used and electrode placement. But on a key technical point, getting Tesla's induction motor to actually work outside the laboratory, McNichols says next to nothing. The fact is that even though Westinghouse had bought the patent rights to Tesla's AC induction motor, Tesla's AC motor would not run on Westinghouse's early AC power. In the lab Tesla was running his motor on a polyphase AC generator that he had designed. McNichol says (page 83), "Tesla moved to Pittsburgh ... adapting the Tesla motor to the Westinghouse system". McNichols has got it backwards.

Tesla in Pittsburgh probably did teach Westinghouse's engineers about his AC induction motor, but the important point historically and relevant to today is that Tesla worked to get Westinghouse to redesign his power plants and distribution systems so that the AC induction motor would start and run well. This required lowering the AC frequency from 133 hz to 60 hz and changing from single phase to three phase power. The latter meaning the distribution wiring had to change, going from two wires to three wires.

The reason that Tesla's induction motor needed three phase AC is that it worked by establishing a smoothly rotating magnetic field that dragged the shorted rotor around with it. You can't do this with single phase AC power. The frequency change (133 hz to 60 hz) was because an induction motor is essentially controlled by the frequency of AC power and 133 hz caused the motor to run too fast and (very likely) not start well.

On the most important technical issue in the AC/DC battle, how far power could be sent, McNichols makes no attempt to explain how AC can be sent further than DC. The key is the way transformers work. While AC does not flow as easily in wire as DC due to inductance, this disadvantage is more than overcome by the fact that effective length of the wiring can be reduced by the square of the voltage increase. For example, distributing AC at 3,000 V vs 100V for DC makes the wire length look shorter by a factor of 30 squared, which is 900! This is a huge advantage for AC.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History and Technology Becomes a Page-Turner, September 21, 2006

By	Eileen Mcvety (Downingtown, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am not a technical person in any way but I found myself drawn to this story and found it hard to put down. Tom McNichol took subject matter that could have been delivered in a dry or complicated way and not only simplified it, but injected it with real drama and intrigue. I was both amused and horrified by the tales highlighting the standards war between the Edison and Westinghouse companies. This book proved both a compelling historical piece and a provocative cautionary tale.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AC/DC informs easily about early electricity experimenters and experiments, January 5, 2007

By	Olive Gale Mullet (Big Rapids, MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

McNichols does an excellent job from explaining in clear terms about electricity, to the relevant background of the two main experimenters and producers -- exponents of either Alternating AC or Direct DC current, the competitors Edison and Westinghouse -- and finally to the modern equivalent of their wars. McNichol introduces the whole subject with his own personal dangerous episodes with both currents. Then the book has a fascinating section explaining the element, just like recent books on ice and salt. The one very difficult and long part to read is the animal experiments done electrocuting dogs and horses, to prove falsely that AC was more dangerous than DC. But the characters of Edison, whose stubbornness doomed him with only DC, and the savvy of Westinghouse to adopt AC, are vivid. Intriguing to learn that Telluride, Colorado was one of the first places where they experimented with the feasibility of AC in the mountains. And it is interesting to see the modern equivalent wars with formats for taping, starting with the early Beta vs. VHS.