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

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.

What a fascinating study concerning a facet of our everyday life that we assume we've always had at our beckoned call! Who would have thought that Edison would have gone too such lengths to maintain that direct current was the safest,cheapest, and most efficient method of conveying electricity to the populace. It only goes to prove that even the greatest among us have flaws that overshadow their thinking when blindly following an indefensible theory or ideal. We owe a debt of graditude to Mr.McNichol for taking our hand and leading us through the murky waters of what could have been a complex and somewhat difficult concept for the average layman unschooled in the underlying principles of electrical energy.

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.

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.

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.