An example of competition and collaboration: two opposites but both decisive for the development of scientific knowledge and for realising the technological innovations that will lead us towards a more sustainable world

The curtain rises again on the adventures of Thomas Edison: we are back in the United States at the end of the 19th century. Our inventor has just had the brilliant idea of lighting a light bulb, and not only in a metaphorical sense. America is in turmoil: cities are growing at a frenetic pace, factories are working day and night, and electricity is about to become the energy vector that will change everything. But as in any good story, there can be no shortage of conflict. And this conflict is no trivial skirmish, but a serious one, known as the ‘War of the Currents’.

The battle for the electrification of the United States

The invention of the light bulb is only the beginning of an entrepreneurial journey. Edison knows that in order for every home, shop and factory to have its light bulb lit, something more is needed: an entire electrical network is needed. And so he sets about building an electricity distribution system based on direct current, which he sees as the only safe and reliable option for lighting up the future. But as is often the case, not everyone agrees.

On his way, Edison meets two characters destined to give him a hard time (or rather: cable): Nikola Tesla, a brilliant Serbian inventor, and George Westinghouse, a shrewd entrepreneur.

Nikola Tesla: the eccentric genius

Tesla, born in 1856 in present-day Croatia, arrived in the United States with big ideas in his head and a revolutionary vision for the distribution of electricity. Tesla claims that alternating current (AC) is superior to Edison’s direct current (DC), mainly because it can be transmitted over long distances much more efficiently and with less energy loss. In fact, the current moving along a cable is partly converted into heat – thus wasted – due to the resistance of the conductor in which it flows (this is why the cable heats up). To decrease losses, one can increase the conductor cross-section (by laying larger and thus more expensive cables) and/or increase the voltage of the current. Unfortunately, until the advent of electronics, all that was needed to raise or lower the AC voltage was a transformer, but one that does not work with DC.

In AC, we said, the current flow reverses its direction periodically, allowing the voltage to be easily increased to transport energy over long distances with minimal losses. Once at its destination, the voltage can be reduced for safe use in homes. In contrast, Edison’s DC maintains a constant flow direction and requires generating stations close to end users, as the voltage cannot be easily increased or decreased.

But we interrupt our course in electrical engineering to return to Tesla. The inventor, fascinated by the potential of alternating current, found a supporter in George Westinghouse, who – despite being an entrepreneur who understood little about current – immediately recognised that he was dealing with a genius. Above all, he grasps that if he throws himself into the adventure, he will be able to reap the technical and economic benefits of AC.

Tesla is the opposite of the methodical Edison: he is known for his eccentricities, such as the belief that one can communicate with animals using electric current (this is not in the electrical engineering course).

He performs an experiment with pigeons to prove his theory on inter-species communication using electromagnetic fields, without electrocuting any of them but with very disappointing results. Genius? Perhaps madness, but also experimental spirit, which sees him always willing to challenge the limits of conventional thinking. Experimental spirit always combined with his innate ability to communicate enthusiasm to his collaborators, but above all to potential investors.

George Westinghouse: the visionary industrialist

Westinghouse, born in 1846 in Central Bridge, New York, is an entrepreneur with an eye fortechnological innovation. With a career ranging from railroads to gas production, he is fascinated by the idea of harnessing electricity for America’s future. When he meets Tesla, he realises the potential of alternating current to revolutionise electricity distribution. His experience makes him realise immediately that AC can not only cover great distances without great energy losses, but is also cheaper because of the possibility of transforming the voltage at will.

Determined to challenge Edison, Westinghouse invested in Tesla’s technology and began building AC-based electricity grids.

This system proves particularly effective for lighting large areas at a lower cost and complexity than Edison’s DC power plants, which require a large number of generators spread over short distances to provide adequate coverage. Westinghouse was not just a financier; he often travelled personally to construction sites to check the progress of the work, demonstrating a hands-on involvement that many entrepreneurs of his era did not have.

The war of currents gets into full swing

Edison, not wanting to lose ground, launches a fierce campaign against CA trying to demonstrate its dangers. And here the story gets really spicy. Edison, with the enthusiasm of someone who wants to win at all costs, organises public demonstrations that leave onlookers with a shiver of horror. His strategy? Perform executions on animals using alternating current to demonstrate that it is too dangerous to be used in homes.

One striking case is the electrocution of Topsy, a circus elephant condemned to die for killing three people. Sentenced to death during a regular trial, Topsy attends (it is his right) from the defendants’ cage; it is not known whether he stood up to hear the verdict. Edison takes the opportunity to use AC to demonstrate his dangerousness. In a macabrely ingenious marketing campaign, he invents the term Westinghousize to denote death by electric shock from alternating current. The event is filmed and then screened in public, causing a great stir and indignation. But the climax of this campaign is reached in 1890, when Edison contributes to the invention of the electric chair – powered by alternating current, of course.

The first public execution is to end the life of William Kemmler, a street vendor who, in a drunken rage, had killed the woman he lived with. It is a disaster: the initial tension is insufficient and the condemned man dies only after two minutes of electric shocks as the execution room fills with the smell of burnt flesh and the witnesses (and guards) faint.

The 1893 World’s Fair: the triumph of alternating current

The discussions triggered by that event only died down three years later: the real decisive blow came with the 1893Chicago World’s Fair. This event is the perfect showcase for demonstrating to the world the best technology to illuminate the future.

Edison and Westinghouse were competing for the contract to electrify the fairgrounds and the victory went to Westinghouse, who illuminated the entire exhibition with alternating current. It is a stinging defeat for Edison, which sees its direct current losing ground.

But Westinghouse and Tesla do not stop there. After the success of the World’s Fair, they were awarded the contract to build the hydroelectric power station at Niagara Falls, which became one of the world’s first major plants to use AC. With this success – a dream Tesla had nurtured since he was a child when he first saw a photograph of the falls – AC finally established itself as the dominant technology for electricity distribution.

The lesser-known background to the war of currents

But behind the scenes of the war of currents there are some curious details that are rarely told. For example, Tesla, who has always had a rather eccentric personality, is obsessed with the number three and refuses to touch anything that is not divisible by three. This quirky side of his character, as well as hindering the design of the AC distribution network (every system of nodes in the network ‘must’ be divisible by three), makes him difficult for many of his contemporaries to understand, but adds further fascination to his figure.

Incidentally, Tesla, in the midst of promotional presentations, often loses the thread of CA to move on to explain that, through his inventions, it will be possible to communicate with extraterrestrials; an idea that makes us smile today but which demonstrates the vastness of his imagination.

Even Edison, despite his determination to promote direct current, is not at all averse to show business. Edison is a master of marketing, managing to turn each of his inventions into a media event. It is precisely this ability that allows him to remain centre stage even when his technology is outdated. It is said that Edison was so obsessed with the success of his inventions that he once tried to patent a method of waking up alone every morning by tying a rope to his hand connected to a lever system that opened the curtains of his room.

Westinghouse, finally, despite being a successful businessman, faces enormous financial difficulties due to the huge costs of the tidal war. However, his faith in Tesla’s vision drives him on; and in the end, his gamble proves successful. During times of crisis, Westinghouse was known to offer his own assets as collateral to secure financing, an act of audacity that contributed to his success.

Competition and collaboration: two sides of the same coin

The War of Currents is not just a story of rivalry and competition. It is also a lesson in how the sometimes unexpected collaboration between research and finance is a key to progress.

As the collaboration between Tesla and Westinghouse shows, sometimes it is only by joining forces that the greatest challenges can be overcome and world-changing innovations realised.

Ultimately, it is the delicate balance between competition and collaboration that pushes scientific knowledge towards new frontiers and brings us closer to a more sustainable future. Without this dynamic, many of the technologies we take for granted today would never have come into being.