Rating: 
Summary: Major innovation made fun to read
Review: Contrary to Mr. JohnJones most heart-felt beliefs, "THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE A TEXTBOOK!!!". It is however, meant to be a neatly illustrated and informative account of what may be one of the signal most significant innovations man has ever achieved.Being a Design Engineer, I could have been more demanding of Ms. Jonnes circuits and ommissions, but I remembered that this isn't a textbook. If I, or anyone for that matter, desires more discreptive ac/dc circuits we should seek the assistance of a textbook. Ms. Jonnes did, in my humble opinion, an extremely nice job of presenting the primary components of the creation of electricity, both human and mechanical, and provided a nice evolution of electricity (i.e., from novelty entertainment to powering a World's Fair). Whenever I finish a book, especially nonfiction books, I always want to take something away that makes me better for having read it. I can honestly say that was the case with Empires of Light.
Rating:
Summary: Major innovation made fun to read
Review: Contrary to Mr. JohnJones most heart-felt beliefs, "THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE A TEXTBOOK!!!". It is however, meant to be a neatly illustrated and informative account of what may be one of the signal most significant innovations man has ever achieved. Being a Design Engineer, I could have been more demanding of Ms. Jonnes circuits and ommissions, but I remembered that this isn't a textbook. If I, or anyone for that matter, desires more discreptive ac/dc circuits we should seek the assistance of a textbook. Ms. Jonnes did, in my humble opinion, an extremely nice job of presenting the primary components of the creation of electricity, both human and mechanical, and provided a nice evolution of electricity (i.e., from novelty entertainment to powering a World's Fair). Whenever I finish a book, especially nonfiction books, I always want to take something away that makes me better for having read it. I can honestly say that was the case with Empires of Light.
Rating:
Summary: A suspenseful, terrific tale well told
Review: How can we be but enthralled by the story of the early years of the utilization of the forces of electricity and its revolutionary impact on Western, no, all of Civilization. These three titans brought a laboratory curiosity, a few patents, and not enough capital, to effect the dramatic improvements in the utilization of fossil energy to replace the efforts of slaves, near slaves, and animals, and to make life better for us all. We have Edison, who started it all with his improved dynamo and the electric lighting system; Tesla and his crucial AC electric motor; Westinghouse who had the business insight and technical acumen to pursue the alternating current. Geniuses, yes. But of a very different sort. Jonnes does an outstanding job of portraying the times, and the interaction of the approaches to solving problems that each of these heroes had. So different, so complementary and so effective. There was nothing else like it anywhere on earth. I suppose anyone reading this review has read a bit about Edison and the light, Tesla and his eccentricities, and Westinghouse and his devotion to his workers. The tale of the Niagra generators and the first long distance transport of electrical power will probably be new to you, and it is a story well-told. But Jonnes has an awful lot to add to the usual stuff. She communicates the downright excitement of it all, the delicious discoveries of the new, and the suspense of the disasters to be overcome. This is no Ph. D. thesis transported into a popularization of science--the technical details are presented in just enough detail to whet your appetite for a deeper understanding of it all, and leave you truly awestruck. How can you ask for anything more?
Rating:
Summary: A suspenseful, terrific tale well told
Review: How can we be but enthralled by the story of the early years of the utilization of the forces of electricity and its revolutionary impact on Western, no, all of Civilization. These three titans brought a laboratory curiosity, a few patents, and not enough capital, to effect the dramatic improvements in the utilization of fossil energy to replace the efforts of slaves, near slaves, and animals, and to make life better for us all. We have Edison, who started it all with his improved dynamo and the electric lighting system; Tesla and his crucial AC electric motor; Westinghouse who had the business insight and technical acumen to pursue the alternating current. Geniuses, yes. But of a very different sort. Jonnes does an outstanding job of portraying the times, and the interaction of the approaches to solving problems that each of these heroes had. So different, so complementary and so effective. There was nothing else like it anywhere on earth. I suppose anyone reading this review has read a bit about Edison and the light, Tesla and his eccentricities, and Westinghouse and his devotion to his workers. The tale of the Niagra generators and the first long distance transport of electrical power will probably be new to you, and it is a story well-told. But Jonnes has an awful lot to add to the usual stuff. She communicates the downright excitement of it all, the delicious discoveries of the new, and the suspense of the disasters to be overcome. This is no Ph. D. thesis transported into a popularization of science--the technical details are presented in just enough detail to whet your appetite for a deeper understanding of it all, and leave you truly awestruck. How can you ask for anything more?
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing for the lay reader
Review: I can't recommend this book for the lay reader. Its grandiloquent title suggests we are in for a treat, to live the compelling tale of the race for electric light. Indeed, the book jacket displays the wondrous shimmer of the newly illuminated Woolworth Building. But, sadly, the story is pedestrian, overly technical and lacking in the human dimensions that cry out for attention. That is, the unholy trinity of Edison,Westinghouse, and Tesla. Perhaps engineers and scientific historians will find it absorbing. Others may be left with a feeling of what might have been a rip-roaring saga of three giants over possibly the greatest invention of its time and, perhaps, one of the greatest in world history. Ms. Jonnes makes little of this chase to rule over the very lifeblood of the nation. The larger than life characters clearly demand more development: Edison, the proponent of the "horrible experiment", the electric chair to discredit his opponents; Westinghouse, a brilliant practical technician and friend of labor; and the urbane Tesla, the virtual electrical mystic, whose theories (and some engineering feats) live on today. The same sketching technique is made of other people and events that pass through this book. How compelling their cameos could have been- Sarah Bernhardt (of Edison's electrical display: "C'est grand, c'est magnifique!"); Edison financier J.P. Morgan ("legendary ferocious eyes...monstrous nose"); the genius Faraday; Astor IV (a Tesla backer); Tesla's mysterious 18-story tower in New Jersey; the Chicago Columbian Exposition won by Westinghouse's lighting; and the assassination of Chicago Mayor Harrison. The writing leaves us with little suspense and a weak understanding of the excesses of the Gilded Age, as reflected in the overweening egos and ambitions of these three competitors and their financiers. A saving grace are the photos - the diamond-like Woolworth Building; Tesla demonstrating his eerie wireless bulbs; a smitten Westinghouse admiring his beautiful wife; the white pigeon that was Tesla's "great love in his final years"; Edison catching winks on his workbench. Unfortunately, there are altogether too few of these, too many electrical renderings, and just too much technical detail.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing for the lay reader
Review: I can't recommend this book for the lay reader. Its grandiloquent title suggests we are in for a treat, to live the compelling tale of the race for electric light. Indeed, the book jacket displays the wondrous shimmer of the newly illuminated Woolworth Building. But, sadly, the story is pedestrian, overly technical and lacking in the human dimensions that cry out for attention. That is, the unholy trinity of Edison,Westinghouse, and Tesla. Perhaps engineers and scientific historians will find it absorbing. Others may be left with a feeling of what might have been a rip-roaring saga of three giants over possibly the greatest invention of its time and, perhaps, one of the greatest in world history. Ms. Jonnes makes little of this chase to rule over the very lifeblood of the nation. The larger than life characters clearly demand more development: Edison, the proponent of the "horrible experiment", the electric chair to discredit his opponents; Westinghouse, a brilliant practical technician and friend of labor; and the urbane Tesla, the virtual electrical mystic, whose theories (and some engineering feats) live on today. The same sketching technique is made of other people and events that pass through this book. How compelling their cameos could have been- Sarah Bernhardt (of Edison's electrical display: "C'est grand, c'est magnifique!"); Edison financier J.P. Morgan ("legendary ferocious eyes...monstrous nose"); the genius Faraday; Astor IV (a Tesla backer); Tesla's mysterious 18-story tower in New Jersey; the Chicago Columbian Exposition won by Westinghouse's lighting; and the assassination of Chicago Mayor Harrison. The writing leaves us with little suspense and a weak understanding of the excesses of the Gilded Age, as reflected in the overweening egos and ambitions of these three competitors and their financiers. A saving grace are the photos - the diamond-like Woolworth Building; Tesla demonstrating his eerie wireless bulbs; a smitten Westinghouse admiring his beautiful wife; the white pigeon that was Tesla's "great love in his final years"; Edison catching winks on his workbench. Unfortunately, there are altogether too few of these, too many electrical renderings, and just too much technical detail.
Rating:
Summary: Casting some Light on the Electricity Race
Review: Jill Jones has produced a wonderful book. She writes with a style that is highly accessible. Ms. Jones draws us into the story in a style that is very similar to the social histories that David Mccullough has become renown for. I opened the book knowing very little about the subject. I was seduced by the excellent voice in the writing. And I was left with an interest in the Electricity Race. Like most good historical accounts, Ms. Jones has created a very clear snapshot into a period of American history centered on interesting individuals. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great on Niagara Falls and the fate of inventors
Review: Jonnes gives us a look at the story of electrification from Edison's discovery of the incandescent light to completion of the Niagara Falls hydroelectric generating station (using Westinghouse equipment based on Tesla's AC patents). She begins with an overview of what was known about electricity-the relationship between electricity and magnetism, discovered by Michael Faraday, and the development of electromagnets by Joseph Henry. Development of practical generators in the 1870s, was soon followed by the first arc lights, but they were cumbersome and too bright for home use. Edison took up the challenge to develop an electric light suitable for home use in 1878, completed in 1879, and installed in New York City in 1882.
Edison firmly believed in his DC power system, but it was poorly suited to transmitting power long distances. Once AC transformers were invented, in 1885, George Westinghouse realized that AC was the more practical system. He licensed Tesla's patents for AC generator and motor and began installing systems. A major battle ensued with Edison promoting DC and charging that AC was unsafe. That resulted in the adoption of the AC powered electric chair as a means of execution. Edison General Electric and Westinghouse found themselves in direct competition many times.
Edison was a darling of the media. His side of the story has been told many times. Westinghouse was personable, but far less open to the press. No biographies have appeared since 1926. Tesla was a frequent publisher, gave numerous demonstrations especially at technical meetings. His eccentric nature leads to some treatments as a man of mystery.
The detailed treatment of the Niagara Power project is much appreciated. This was the first major hydroelectric project in the US. It was financed by a Wall Street syndicate headed by JP Morgan. We see the details of how the bankers brought in experts to get the best available advice on the project. Finally Westinghouse won the competition because he had licensed the Tesla AC patents. There was no nearby customer for the power from Niagara. Buffalo, 26 miles away was the logical one. But the project also spawned numerous industries that took advantage of low cost electric power. This is the founding of well known companies. Among them Alcoa (first production of low cost aluminum), Carborundum (abrasives made by electric furnace), Union Carbide (acetylene made by electric furnace), and Hooker Chemical (chlorine, bleach, alkalis, sodium hydroxide, sodium all made by electrolysis of salt water). Niagara began supplying power to Alcoa on Aug 26, 1895.
The book also gives us a profile of three inventors: Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla. We are shown how financiers dealt with them. In Feb, 1892, JP Morgan and associates merged Edison General Electric with another holding, Thompson Houston, renamed the combine General Electric Co., and put CEO Charles Coffin in charge without even consulting Edison. George Westinghouse lost control of his company after it sank into bankruptcy in the Panic of 1907. He was soon forced out of the company. A proxy fight to regain control in 1911 failed. Tesla licensed his key AC patents to Westinghouse and initially received generous royalties. But he agreed to give up those royalties as part of a Westinghouse rescue plan in the Panic of 1891. His other patents were tied up in a deal with JP Morgan to fund radio development. After Marconi beat him to market, he was unable even to defend his own patents. He died penniless.
This is a great read for those interested in technology and how it all came together. We are left hungering for a second volume to cover the rest of the electrification story. We hear nothing of Samuel Insull, very little of the development of electric street cars, electric railroads, interurbans, the electric automobile, TVA, rural electrification, or the expansion of electrical systems throughout the country. Excellent bibliography. Many references. Index.
Rating: 
Summary: Where's Steinmetz?
Review: Ms. Jonnes tells the interesting tale of the battle between direct current (championed by Thomas Edison) and alternating current (favored by George Westinghouse) for the world market in electric power. The story itself is interesting, but in her focus on the enigmatic Tesla, Ms. Jonnes left out the single most important scientist on Westinghouse's steff, Charles Proteus Steinmetz. This hunchbacked German immigrant is credited by all scientists with the fundamental ideas and engineering of alternating current -- including finding the solution to its most vexing problem, hysteresis losses in transformer and motor cores. Without Steinmetz's brilliance AC would have been stillborn, despite its theoretical (and, as we know today, practical) advantages. But he's missing from the text, from the index, from the book, an inexcusable omission that makes me wonder if Ms. Jonnes could have had some ulterior motive for Steinmetz's excision and Tesla's sole prominence. In addition, the text has a fair number of technical errors that would have been easily corrected had the author shown the text to a competent electrical engineer or physicist. There are also many "scientific" drawings, most of which miss the point and may even be misleading. She confuses power with energy, rates electrical generators in horsepower (something that certainly hasn't been done for a century) forcing constant multiplication by 4/3 to get kilowatts, a recognizable unit; and she specifies early systems by the number of bulbs they could light -- as if all light bulbs had the same power consumption (but perhaps they did in the earliest days). Not a book I can recommend to somebody who cares about the engineering and development of electric power, but still interesting for a while and in spots.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read !from an electrical engineer
Review: PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE POOR REVIEW FROM johnjones2! I will base my review of this book based on his ridiculous 2 star review. I have been an Electrical Engineer since the mid-1980s. I enjoyed this book tremendously! This is a book that deals with the history of the THREE PRIMARY men who began the war of AC vs. DC electric currents. They are Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla. Apparently reviewer johnjones2 does not know his history. Charles Proteus Steinmetz never worked for Westinghouse; he worked for GE (that's common knowledge). He didn't join the GE staff until 1893, which was the year of the Colombian Exposition in Chicago. The war of electric currents was well under way before Steinmetz ever joined the GE staff. As you'll learn in this book (and others), the Colombian Exposition was a major battle ground for the war of electric currents. Steinmetz was an outstanding electrical engineer who later worked (for GE) to help optimize the AC motor by solving hysteresis issues. It was TESLA'S (who began working for Westinghouse in 1888 after a short stint with Edison), NOT Steinmetz's, ALL-IMPORTANT PATENTS that were needed to get the AC business going. That's the way business works! This book is about how the AC / DC war began and how AC proved to be the better technology (that's why our homes are now wired for AC). It's not about how AC systems were later perfected. Am I bothered that the author didn't mention Steinmetz - heck no. There are many other engineers who have worked on AC systems to make them better and more efficient, did I expect all of them to be mentioned in this book as well - again, heck no! For reviewer johnjones2 to say that the author had ulterior motives for leaving out Steinmetz is completely hilarious! In 1889, Steinmetz had to flee Germany because of his SOCIALIST activities (ulterior motive?), he then came to the United States. Rudolf Eickemeyer, who had begun building electrical apparatus in his factory in Yonkers, N.Y., gave Steinmetz his start in electrical engineering research. When GE bought out Eickemeyer in late 1892, Steinmetz remained on the staff and began working under the new owners. Now lets move on to reviewer johnjones2's technical issues. Really, there are none. The author does a good job setting the groundwork for how scientists began studying and discovering the basics of electricity and how that knowledge was developed so that man could harness the power
of electricity and use it in the way that we use it today. The so-called technical errors that are pointed out by johnjones2 are based on very trivial issues. I found his complaints about the authors "scientific drawings" completely off base and without merit. The author provides 11 diagrams and basic electrical schematics that help give the average reader an idea of the concepts involved. They are very basic in nature and are diagrams that are still used today to help explain the fundamentals of electricity. These are not "misleading" in any way. When reviewer johnjones2 complains about the author rating electrical generators in horsepower and says "something that certainly hasn't been done for a century", well, I think he missed the point. This book is about the history of AC/DC electricity and how it was developed a CENTURY ago. Lastly, as far as johnjones2's comment "she (the author) specifies early systems by the number of bulbs they could light-- as if all light bulbs had the same power consumption (but perhaps they did in the earliest days)", what an ambiguous statement. This one's not even worth the time. This is an excellent book written by a historian, not an Electrical Engineer (can you imagine how boring this book would have been if an Electrical Engineer had written it). This book is a good read for anyone and especially those who love reading about the Gilded Age era of American history.
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