Recently I read Edison and the Electric Chair: A Story of Light and Death. I wanted to give a quick review of the book in case anyone was thinking about reading it.
Review
When I picked this book to read I thought that it would be more about the Thomas Edison electric chair. Not that I am totally interested in the electric chair or the death penalty or anything. Also, I did not know that Thomas Edison had anything to do with the electric chair.
It turns out though that this book does not focus a ton on the Thomas Edison electric chair. It does do a decent job offering a bit of biographical information on Thomas Edison. I feel like the book focused more on the battle between alternating current and direct current, also known as the battle between Westinghouse and Edison.
Obviously Thomas Edison was a proponent of his own direct current system over the alternating current of George Westinghouse. So, the book focused more on the war between George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison than it did on Edison and the electric chair. Which, in my opinion was not a bad thing.
The book talks about the discovery of the light bulb and how it changed the world. It also talks about how different electric companies started.
How does it relate to Metering?
There are actually a couple of mentions of meters in this book. One is from one of the metering pioneers Elihu Thompson.
What about Thomas Edison and the Electric Chair?
There is a good discussion of the electric chair and how it was chosen to become the new humane way of enforcing the death penalty. Several examples of different methods are described and there are pictures included as well. I am not going to spoil the book but it also talks much about Thomas Edison’s role.
Would I Recommend Edison and the Electric Chair: A Story of Light and Death?
The answer is yes. Overall I thought that it was a good book and I would recommend it. I was able to learn something and anytime you can learn something it is usually a good thing. If you are interested in checking this book out follow the link for Edison and the Electric Chair: A Story of Light and Death.
