Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

Honestly, I know nothing about amperage, voltage, wattage and at what frequency AC power is distributed. Nor do I really care about any of that right now in my life. Fact is, I don't think that that is the purpose of this book. However, it's good to know that there exists a more extensive book on the same subject, Empire of Light, as the reviewer before me pointed out. So if I am ever in need, I'll know where to look.

AC/DC though is an interesting overview of the Industrial Age soap opera that had occurred only a little more than a hundred years ago. I had no idea that any of this had happened. It makes me wonder what historical power struggles have taken place in other utility industries such as water, gas, etc. Tom McNichol has piqued my curiosity on a subject I had no prior knowledge of nor any factual connection to today's context.

I give it 4 stars. I save 5 star reviews for books like A People's History of the United States. Nonetheless, this book provides a service to those of us who barely know the difference between direct and alternating currents. If that's you, I most definitely recommend it.

McNichol's description of the AC/DC Wars is most interesting when he discusses the personalities involved, but it is very superficial. His description of electricity is primitive and in places misleading (I am an electrical engineer). His historical research is superficial and incomplete, and, in places, padded with extraneous material (I did not care about Edison's childhood). Fortunately, the book is short and an easy read. But it could be so much better.

I have not yet finished reading this, but permit me to jot some thoughts as I progress.

I had this book in my wishlist for a long time now. With the gift of my Kindle Fire, I downloaded this as my inaugural Kindle book.

The pre-history of electricity is long and torturous. I don't think it adds much to the overall discussion of the AC/DC "war".

Then I encountered a jagged note, that smacks of poor proof-reading. Towards the end of chapter 4, when Edison had completed the invention of his electric lamp, we read the following: "In the week following Christmas 1889, hundreds of visitors made a pilgrimage to Menlo Park [New Jersey] to see the marvel for themselves."

Then turn the page to Chapter 5 (titled: Electrifying the Big Apple)and read this: "In February 1881, Edison moved from Menlo Park to New York City to fulfill his next mission: bringing electric power to to the Big Apple."

I guess since the author was writing about electricity, he did not feel the need to mention that Edison also invented time travel.

Anyway, I am at about chapter 5 of the book and only Chapter 4 started making it interesting. No mention about the standards dispute though.

This book was flat out awesome. I decided to learn about photovoltaic cells and learned they work on direct current, which led to the revelation of the Edison's use of direct current and the earliest "standards war". This led to learning of the battle between two giants of the time, Edison and Westinghouse. AC/DC also caught my eye, being a product of the eighties. And if one knows AC/DC, one should also know of the band Tesla. Maybe they weren't just carefree rock stars? Their reference to electricity and the beginnings of are an education to all. This ties into Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla, the turn of the century front-runners in electrifying the new world. And to find that Edison didn't invent the light bulb? This book was awesome! Read it. Thanks Mr. McNichol for the pleasure.

As a long-time participant in the development of technical standards, I can certainly say that Tom's book is right on. It includes technology, of course, but just as importantly, it presents the business, political, and personal issues that surround the creation and adoption of technical standards. Well-written for any audience, I couldn't put it down.

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 who's mostly faded from history due to his unassuming personality and avoidance of the limelight. Nicolai Tesla plays a minor part on the AC side, providing a "99% inspiration" counterpoint to Edison's "99% perspiration" ethic.

The "War of the Standards," as it came to be known, forms the core of this short history of electricity. But it was personal for these inventive giants, and the attacks and slander got downright mean. Edison even supported an enterprising salesman named Harold Brown who conducted very UNscientific experiments to portray AC as inherently more dangerous. With Edison's tacit approval, he experimentally killed over a hundred stray dogs using electricity. Westinghouse and AC came out the winner but not before Brown and Edison helped develop a new system of capital punishment - the electric chair - that deliberately used the rival AC power (even electrocuting a circus elephant, which was captured by another of Edison's inventions: the motion picture camera).

Both AC and DC have important roles in today's world, and as technology advances the balance will move back and forth. But this was a surprisingly interesting read on a topic I didn't realize had been so contentious. It's a bit short, perhaps, but often provides just the right amount of detail for readers who aren't intimately knowledgeable about electricity. I found the part about Brown's "experiments" disgusting and even disturbing, and I think many will agree, but it was an interesting part of the history of something we all take for granted - electricity. (I listened to the audio book which was done very well.)

Something that everyone takes for granted, electricity, has a very interesting history. The book, AC/DC: The Savage Tale of the First Standards War, by Tom McNichol, does a very nice job of giving the reader an overview of the early days of electrical power generation. I say "overview" because at 190 pages, there isn't a lot of room for an exhaustively researched subject. But for what McNichol does, he does it quite well.

Contents:
Prologue: Negative and Positive
Chapter 1: First Sparks
Chapter 2: Lightening in a Bottle
Chapter 3: Enter the Wizard
Chapter 4: Let There Be Light
Chapter 5: Electrifying the Big Apple
Chapter 6: Tesla
Chapter 7: The Animal Experiments
Chapter 8: Old Sparky
Chapter 9: Pulse of the World
Chapter 10: Killing an Elephant
Chapter 11: Twilight by Battery Power
Chapter 12: DC's Revenge
Epilogue: Standards Wars: Past, Present, and Future
Further Reading in Electricity

Picture a world without electricity. Hard to do, isn't it? Everything we use consumes electricity. But there was a time when there was no electricity. But as some people began to study it, there arose two competing men, who would fight to have their standard be the one that delivered power to the masses. The great inventor, Thomas Edison backed DC. An industrial titan, George Westinghouse, and a very eccentric inventor, Nikola Tesla, backed AC. Each man, Edison and Westinghouse, had factories churning out parts for their standard. They employed any means possible to get the public to back their method of electrical distribution. Edison, for his part, developed (or perfected) the electric chair, using AC, to show that it kills. McNichol gives you a couple of chapters on the electrocution of animals and humans, which were unnerving.

You might think that a subject like electricity would be boring, but McNichol focuses primarily on the central characters. There is little technical information, so the novel moves quickly. The personalities of the men, Edison, Tesla, and Westinghouse, are brought to life and help the reader to understand why Edison lost the war (mainly stubbornness and a lack of vision as to customer needs and wants) and how Westinghouse and Tesla were able to win (Westinghouse could anticipate some needs, and Tesla - well, he was a person unto himself). One of the most interesting facts is the distances electricity could travel using AC or DC. AC could span great distances, a fact that was not lost on Westinghouse. In fact, a power plant that he built to light Telluride, CO, is still working as is the one at Niagara Falls, NY (which supplies New York and Buffalo with power).

This is a great read for those looking for an overview of early days of electricity, electrical distribution, and a fierce standards war. McNichols' Epilogue tells a tale of VHS versus Betamax and Blu-Ray versus HD-DVD. But the lessons in the book could equally be applied to OOXML and other tech standards wars.