AC v/s DC
Adam Cline wrote this excellent book, The Current War , on the fight to decide whether AC (alternating current) or DC (direct current) would be the electrical standard. As the book says, it wasn’t a fight based on just the technical aspects; it was also a clash between two titans and their companies. It all began when Thomas Alva Edison invented the light bulb. But there was no wiring to get electricity into people’s homes. And so: “Edison would need more than the light bulb. He would need to come up with a whole new industry (to supply electricity).” Edison created an electric utility company based on DC (direct current). But transmitting DC power over long distances wasn’t possible due to the energy loss along the way. So end users had to be located within one-mile of the power generating plant. Thus, Edison and DC were restricted to the congested cities. George Westinghouse, another businessman, had heard of AC (alternating current). It could be stepped up to high vol...