CHAPTER 22ELECTRICAL THEORY
THOMAS EDISON and Nikola Tesla were engineers who led the way in developing electrical power at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Actually, Edison was more of an inventor who was primarily interested in practical devices. Tesla studied electrical engineering at a prestigious Austrian school where he learned the mathematics of electrical theory. Eventually the decidedly quirky Tesla immigrated to the US and worked at Edison’s think tank in Menlo Park, New Jersey. The men soon had a falling-out, probably because Tesla’s mathematical background helped him understand the importance of alternating current in efficient power transmission. Edison was convinced that DC power was better, and when Tesla ...
