Henry Holt And Co., 2019 — 198 p.— ISBN 9781250120168
The spellbinding true account of the scientific competition to light the world with electricity. In the mid-to-late-nineteenth century, a burgeoning science called electricity promised to shine new light on a rousing nation. Inventive and ambitious minds were hard at work. Soon that spark was fanned, and a fiery war was under way to be the first to light—and run—the world with electricity. Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor of direct current (DC), engaged in a brutal battle with Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse, the inventors of alternating current (AC). There would be no ties in this race—only a winner and a loser. The prize: a nationwide monopoly in electric current. Brimming with action, suspense, and rich historical and biographical information about these brilliant inventors, here is the rousing account of one of the world’s defining scientific competitions.
The Calm Before the Storm
The First Spark
What’s Good for the Goose...
A Wizard Is Born
AC/DC, A Current Craze
Flashes of Light
What’s Mine Is Yours
Meeting of the Minds
Earned Success
The Rabid Animal Versus the Fawn in the Forest
Death in the Wires
Shocked …
…To Death
In Kemmler’s Wake
All the World’s a Stage
One Rises, One Falls
Epilogue: After the Storm
The Electric War: A Timeline