The battle between three brilliant inventors and unexpected results

The hotly debated topic is that between a system built on direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC), what can become the standard for electrification for the whole country. America. 

The origin of the "war between the currents"

In a series of controversies that later became known as the "War of Currents", Edison, Tesla and even George Westinghouse helped build the first bricks of the US electrification system.

The most prominent is Edison, who was at the forefront of his research and inventions for a DC current system - where electricity flows steadily in the same direction. Meanwhile, both Tesla and Westinghouse spread their theories about alternating current systems - where current flows continuously alternately, and are seen by them as an improvement over direct current.

Edison is often mentioned for inventing the world's first light bulb in the late 1870s. After that achievement, he began to build systems for the production and distribution of electricity to businesses and households. can use his new invention.

The system created by Edison includes: steam generator, transmission line, switch, and power consumption meter. In 1882, he opened his own first power plant in New York City.

Meanwhile, Nikola Tesla had a much more humble beginning as a young engineer from Croatia, immigrated to the US, and worked at Edison's factory. In the early days of his career, Tesla worked with Edison to improve the DC generator.

But then, he tried to attract the interest of the owners about the AC motor system that he developed himself. The initiative of the "apprentice boy" was rejected by Thomas Edison - who was dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park". He insists that alternating current has "no future", but only believes and supports innovations related to DC current.

A stubborn and personable person, Tesla could not stand the conflict of opinion. He retired in 1885, while continuing with his own projects. A few years later, he received several patents for his AC system. 

In 1888, Tesla sold his patent to American businessman and engineer George Westinghouse - who is considered a leader in the 19th century electrical industry. Thanks to breakthroughs in AC technology, the Electric Company. Westinghouse's efforts quickly became Edison's No. 1 competitor.

Talking about George Westinghouse, no one can deny his talent and genius mind. In contrast to Tesla - which is just a pure inventor, Westinghouse also knows how to bring them to people's lives in different ways, quite similar to Edison.

A businessman with a keen interest in railroads, Westinghouse released his first major invention, the air brake, in 1869. He then went on to add his own inventions to it. patents he purchased, from which to develop a complete electrical and pneumatically operated signage system. Drawing on his knowledge of gas brakes, he began work on a safe natural gas pipeline system in 1883.

In 1884, Westinghouse saw the potential in electricity and soon founded the Electric Company that bears his name. At that time, the entire power transmission system developed in the United States used only direct current. However, Westinghouse soon saw the disadvantages of this system, and successfully persuaded Tesla to join the company soon after realizing he had disagreements with Edison.

This decision of both men changed the course of the "war", making alternating current systems popular and eventually completely replacing Edison's DC current.

Who has more vision?

For scientists and inventors, it is difficult to clearly distinguish who is greater, who has more vision. However, in the famous "war between electric currents" throughout American history, it can be seen that Edison was not really wise when he believed in the inherently simpler but less efficient DC system. your.

One obvious drawback of a DC transmission system is the loss of power and voltage drop along the conductor. It forces managers to build power plants in close proximity to each other, within a radius of only 1 km or less. 

If in big cities, this model only encounters a few obstacles such as pollution and noise; In rural areas, implementation is not even possible because the distance between residential areas is too large.

In fact, Edison's "forever" inventions are also the subject of controversy, when someone thinks that he is actually just lucky, having gone "one step faster" than scientists of the same time, not so talented as the press rumored.

"While the light bulb, the disc player, and the motion picture projector are considered to be Edison's most important inventions, several of his contemporaries were working on similar technologies," Leonard said. DeGraaf, archivist at Thomas Edison National Historical Park in New Jersey. "If Edison didn't invent those things, others would too."

In contrast, Tesla's ideas are often disruptive technologies, ahead of their time, and not readily available from the market. For example, his hydroelectric power plant and AC motor installed in Niagara Falls opened the door to electrification around the world; or wireless video and voice transmission systems, contributing to the technological foundation for radio, telephone and TV. Some of Tesla's ideas were even beyond the understanding, knowledge and technology of people at that time.

And of course it's not too difficult for Westinghouse to see the genius idea behind Tesla's alternating current. It was he who elevated the alternating current system, making it more advanced, more flexible, and technically cheaper than Edison's contemporaneous system.

Of course, at that time, Edison also felt threatened by the strong rise of alternating current, which could be distributed over much longer distances than his DC electricity. However, Edison did not want to be the one to admit he was wrong. He has publicly spearheaded a large-scale propaganda campaign to discredit the AC system, and with it to convince the public that the current is dangerous.

The great inventor even gathered evidence, claiming that many animals were electrocuted in the area as a result of the use of alternating current. When New York officials openly searched for an alternative to hanging for death row inmates, Edison immediately suggested that they should use alternating current, because, according to him, this current is extremely dangerous. dangerous, and can kill people quickly.

As a result, convicted murderer William Kemmler became the first person to die in an electric chair due to a system designed by the Westinghouse alternator. However, things did not go well with Edison, and he clearly failed in his attempt to discredit alternating current.

This shows that despite being recognized by mankind as a great inventor, there were times when Edison's vision was hindered by his own too big ego. What's worse, he even used all sorts of methods to hold off "opponents", instead of frankly acknowledging the advances of science.

The foretold failure of Thomas Edison

Whatever comes has come. Systems using alternating current gradually prove their capabilities and superiority over using direct current. An eloquent proof is that Westinghouse's company won Edison in the auction to supply electricity for the World's Fair in Chicago, USA in 1893. 

The brilliant scene then really ended the decades-long controversy between the three great inventors. That same year, Westinghouse's company signed a contract to build the world's first AC power generation system for the world's first hydroelectric power station at the Niagara Falls system in the United States in 1895. Of the 12 patents used were 12 patents. used to build the factory, up to 9 degrees belong to Tesla.

It is difficult to imagine the current world scenario if in the past, Edison succeeded in "suppressing" Tesla's AC invention, and then headed for a more complete version of DC current. . However, Jill Jonnes, author of "Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse and the Race to Electrify the World" gives us an interesting perspective on this theory.

"If we were living in Edison's world, we would have to install a coal-fired power plant every mile or two, because direct current can't travel very far," said Jonnes. know. "The strength of alternating current is that you can take it over long distances, lower the voltage through another substation, or even distribute it to the neighborhood when needed."

Jonnes also emphasized that: "Once Tesla solved the problem of how to create a motor that could operate on alternating current, that was when the result between him and Edison was finished."

Of course, defeating the war between the currents does not make Edison the "loser of the century". His later inventions such as the motion picture recorder and the Kinetoscope brought him back to the forefront of his invention.

"The point that I always want to say about Edison, about why he is the most famous inventor, is that we all understand his inventions and all live in immeasurable comforts. theirs," Jones said.