Kyle Harrison
to-read
Empires of Light
Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World
- Author
- Jill Jonnes
- Published
- 2003
- Pages
- 448
- Recommended
- Once
Why it’s on the list: The AC/DC fight told as three temperaments: Edison’s direct current and public electrocutions, Tesla’s polyphase patents, Westinghouse’s willingness to bet the company on Niagara.
Where I saw it: A reply to @WillManidis’s question on X, June 2, 2025 — “what is the single best book you can read that will explain an entire industry?” — recovered from that thread and saved to Kyle’s Apple Note “Books To Read”. Thread: https://x.com/willmanidis/status/1929527399718269081
Connections
- what is the single best book… (tweet) — the saved thread this recommendation came from.
- Thomas Edison · Nikola Tesla · Technological Innovation · Energy — where this sits in the corpus.