Prompt Cast
The Battle for Electricity: How AC Power Prevailed over DC Power
TLDR In the late 19th century, inventors George Westinghouse, Nikolai Tesla, and Thomas Edison engaged in a heated battle over the future of electricity. While Edison championed direct current (DC), Tesla and Westinghouse advocated for alternating current (AC), which ultimately prevailed due to its scalability and safety, despite Edison's smear campaign and controversial use of AC power in the death penalty.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The late 19th century saw a public battle between inventors George Westinghouse, Nikolai Tesla, and Thomas Edison over the future of electricity, resulting in casualties and controversy.
02:13
In the late 19th century, there were two competing methods for the transmission of electricity: direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC).
03:55
Nikolaj Tesla pitched the idea of an AC electric motor to Thomas Edison, but Edison wasn't interested and believed the future was in DC, while Tesla believed AC was the future because it could travel further along a wire.
05:33
Westinghouse entered the AC power business and realized that AC systems could scale better than DC systems, leading to the expansion and popularity of his AC systems over Edison's DC systems, prompting Edison to fight back by smearing AC power as dangerous and suggesting its use in the death penalty.
07:20
Edison suggested using high-voltage alternating current for execution in order to associate AC power with death, and an engineer named Harold Brown furthered this smear campaign by writing about the dangers of AC power and conducting experiments electrocuting dogs with AC and DC power to demonstrate its lethality.
09:05
In 1889, there was panic about alternating current after a lineman in New York City died from electrocution, leading to calls for executives from AC companies to be charged with manslaughter, but despite this, the economic advantages of AC power ultimately prevailed.
10:52
Westinghouse's success at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1892, which demonstrated the safety of AC power, led to their winning the bid for the Niagara power station, and today, AC power is the dominant form of electricity used worldwide.
