{Edison's Revenge: The Rise of DC Power}

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Title{Edison's Revenge: The Rise of DC Power}
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2012
AuthorsFairley P
JournalMIT Technology Review
Pagination101–102
Date Publishedjan
AbstractIn 1903, as a last-ditch effort to maintain direct current as the standard for distributing electricity around the United States, Thomas Edison presided over a notorious event meant in part to demonstrate the danger of alternating current: the electrocution of Topsy, a circus elephant deemed a threat to humans, by a 6,600-volt AC charge. Edison's stunt was pure fear-mongering (DC being equally dangerous at high voltage), and it failed: our grid today is primarily AC. But a little over a century after Topsy's collapse, it is AC that looks increasingly wobbly. Thanks to growing power consumption by digital devices of all kinds, DC power is making a comeback, this time on its own merits.
URLhttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/427504/edisons-revenge-the-rise-of-dc-power/