{"product_id":"9780375724466","title":"Executioner's Current","description":"Author: Moran, Richard\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9780375724466\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: RANDOM HOUSE US\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 15 Nov 2003\u003cbr\u003ePages: 304\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and the Invention of the Electric Chair\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \"fascinating and provocative\" story (\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e) of high stakes competition between two titans that shows how the electric chair developed through an effort by one nineteenth-century electric company to discredit the other.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In 1882, Thomas Edison ushered in the \"age of electricity\" when he illuminated   Manhattan's Pearl Street with his direct current (DC) system.  Six years later, George   Westinghouse lit up Buffalo with his less expensive alternating current (AC).  The   two men quickly became locked in a fierce rivalry, made all the more complicated   by a novel new application for their product- the electric chair.  When Edison set   out to persuade the state of New York to use Westinghouse's current to execute condemned   criminals,  Westinghouse fought back in court, attempting to stop the first electrocution   and keep AC from becoming the \"executioner's current.\"  In this meticulously researched   account of the ensuing legal battle and the horribly botched first execution, Moran   raises disturbing questions not only about electrocution, but about about our society's   tendency to rely on new technologies to answer moral questions.","brand":"Print on demand - Ships in 1 to 3 months","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47421925523614,"sku":"UBD-9780375724466","price":49.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9780375724466.jpg?v=1780548766","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9780375724466","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}