Edison and the Electric Chair: A Story of Light and Death

One of the most well written, highly informative and just plain interesting books I have ever read. Highly recommend.

This is a great book for historians, crime readers and science & engineering buffs. It was a really good read; there is a lot of interesting information about the late-1800s debate over alternating and direct current, and the style is really fast-moving. The book is very well-researched and referenced. I couln't put it down!We often think of death by electrocution as more humane than other methods, such as hanging. This book provides an eye-opening look at the machinations and politics behind the adoption of the electric chair as a method of disposing of criminals. Recommended!

Today we all take electricity for granted. We pay monthly fees to large utility companies, and whenever we buy an electrical appliance we plug it in and it works. But we never think about the fact that as recently as the late 19th century, electricity in homes and businesses was a rarity. And it wasn't the government or large public companies who were rolling it out to communities across the US, but instead entrepreneurs like Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse competing to develop different types of electrical services and rushing to sign up as many customers as possible to their own companies' proprietary standards.Perhaps the biggest rivalry in the electrical field was between Edison, who promoted his direct current system, a relatively low voltage system whose electricity could not be transmitted across a broad area without installing additional generators, and Westinghouse, whose alternating current systems allowed very high voltages to be transmitted across very large distances. No safety standards existed for the budding electric industry, so in an attempt to maintain his early business lead, Edison and his colleagues did what they could to publicize the dangers of allowing high voltage alternating current into people's homes and neighborhoods, and the relative safety of direct current.The story of electricity in itself is a fascinating business story that parallels a lot of what we've seen in the late 20th century with the internet rush and the mad dash to roll out hundreds of ISPs, most of which have fallen by the wayside as saner business models prevail and the industry consolidates. The business ethics at the time leave a lot to be desired, not unlike the business ethics of the late 20th century.But this engaging first-time author, Mark Essig, doesn't stop with the history of the electrical industry. He overlays the story of capital punishment into the picture. Humanists in the 19th century were debating whether the various methods used for capital punishment were humane. The use of electricity was raised as a possible painless alternative to hangings and other "barbaric" methods of killing criminals. Ironically, Edison promoted his rival Westinghouse's alternating current system as the perfect solution to the capital punishment dilemma, by stating that its dangerous system would instantly kill any criminals, not to mention thousands of regular consumers who might accidentally get in its way.This book was a truly terrific mix of history and anecdotes about a very interesting period in history that still impacts us today and that has many parallels in modern day business. And while the book doesn't take sides on the capital punishment debate, it certainly raises a lot of interesting issues and is certain to cause a lot of discussion in that area as well.I strongly recommend it.

While I am not usually drawn to books about technological history, the combination of narrative power and illuminating research made Edison & the Electric Chair a thoroughly engaging read. It reads like a tightly-drawn novel with compelling -- and sometimes repellent -- characters and plot. I couldn't wait to see how the story would unfold. As someone only marginally familiar with the science and history behind the development of electricity, I found myself fascinated by Essig's cogent explanations both of how electricity works and the myriad dangers and difficulties of implementing direct current as a means of electrification. Essig deftly weaves the complex personalities of the major players (most centrally Edison and Westinghouse) into the escalating debate over direct and alternating current. As the story of the first electrocution unfolds, Essig broadens the discussion to include not only the ethics of capital punishment and the relative humanity of the electric chair, but also larger implications of industrial competition, the rise of electric companies, and the illuminating of America. Bolstered by meticulous yet accessible research, Essig clearly lays out the changing attitudes and approaches to capital punishment. As he explores such volatile issues as the shift from public to private execution by the state, the role of capital punishment in the moral education of the citizenry, and the irony of the state's attempts to make execution humane, Essig always gives the reader room to reach her own conclusions. The greatest strength of this book might lie in its sensitively and lucidly wrought conclusion. Essig bridges the years from the first electrocutions to the present and shows how we are still involved in the same basic debate. While the efficiency and means of execution have changed through the last century, the crux of the debate remains the same: what is the role of the state in creating a machinery for death and should we truly make state executions palatable -- or should we finally recognize the inherent horror of it all? Essig leaves the reader with much to ponder -- and a strong foundation of cultural and scientific history from which to do so.

Two inventors and industrial giants grappled in commercial combat over primacy in the emerging electric power industry in the late 19th and early 20th century. They were Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. The strategic hill of the battle was whether direct current (Edison) or alternating current (Westinghouse) would prevail. Edison made the safer system, but Westinghouse made the more economical system, because alternating current could be transmitted over longer distances with fewer generating stations.While the marketing battle raged, New York had the inspiration to move from execution by hanging to electrocution. Hanging was notoriously fallible (necks did not snap so the victim strangled slowly, or necks snapped too well, decapitating the victim). New York solicited the opinion of the foremost authority on electricity, Edison. Edison, an opponent of the death penalty, demurred at first. But the temptation to dramatically equate his enemy's system of electricity with death proved too strong. Yes, Edison said, electrocution is just the thing, and alternating current is the best method of electrocution.So New York's electrical execution law passed, and the appeal progressed of the first victim of the electric chair. His attorney, W. Bourke Cockran, secretly paid by Westinghouse, argued that electrocution was cruel and unusual under the Constitution, and so could not be imposed. Expert witness and secret Edison shill Harold Brown disagreed. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court.This book tells the story of how a convicted murderer, William Kemmler, became a pawn in a battle between electrical titans. But the book is much more. It is a history of the electrical industry when electrical power was new and miraculous, technologically on the cutting edge. The book is also a history and sociology of the death penalty (very interesting), and a biography of Edison. Edison & the Electric Chair is also a window into industrial-strength ruthlessness and a portrait of a time when powerful industries could defy laws, kill people, and get away with it. The book also pauses to inform the reader of such things as how the electric chair kills (it cooks and carbonizes the brain), and of how the first death penalty electrocutions were badly botched ("He's alive!").This book is readable and illuminating. You might not change your mind about the death penalty after reading it, but your opinion will definitely be more profound.