[Reily]

I do admire his stubborn determination.
What I don't admire is how it on occasion manifested itself in acts of outright dishonesty. During his battles with Westinghouse he paid newspaper writers to claim that AC power was dangerous and shouldn't be considered as a way to deliver electric power to the home and to industry. Another rival that Edison unfairly attacked was Charles P Steinmetz. Again the ploy was not to attack the work on its technical merits but mostly spread gossip and bring up the fact that Steinmetz was hunchbacked, foreign-born and a Jew. The same was true with Tesla. (Though Tesla was so weird that he was an easy target!) I don't think Edison actually understood the physical principles behind their work well enough to compete with it on a level playing field. It was easier for Edison to use his fame, influence, and 'ad hominem' attacks to gain a business advantage. Of course Westinghouse, Steinmetz etc. get the last laugh whenever you plug an appliance into a wall socket or even turn on a light. After all that AC power going to that bulb.

[kinoxi]

awe come on tesla built a death ray dontcha know? ;) the other people you mentioned were not exactly saints. ac current only won because of tesla's inventions(and the fact that it works better over long distances) that made it usable at the time. i wouldn't be able to type to you right now if it were not for edison, and by logical extension his mother, on mother's day :).

[mrs tiggywinkle]

Are you using a particular source for your information? If so, could you please share the title/author?

I appreciate seeing the whole picture. Thank you.