George Westinghouse: The Inventor...
AI

George Westinghouse: The Inventor-Industrialist Who Powered the Modern World and Lost to Edison's PR Machine

AI

pplpod by pplpod

Episode notes

George Westinghouse championed alternating current, backed Nikola Tesla, won the War of Currents against Edison, and built the electrical infrastructure that powers the modern world. Edison got the fame; Westinghouse got the results. He held over 360 patents, invented the railroad air brake that saved thousands of lives, and died having lost control of the company that bore his name — one of the most consequential and least celebrated industrialists in American history.

This episode traces Westinghouse from his Schenectady workshop childhood through the air brake, the War of Currents, the Niagara Falls power station, and the corporate battles that took his company away from him.

  • The railroad air brake invention that saved thousands of lives and launched his industrial career
  • The War of Currents — backing Tesla's AC agains ... 
Read more