Dictionary of Electrical Engineering

Commonly used terms in the Electrical industry.

Westinghouse
Westinghouse, George (1846-1914) Born: Central Bridge, New York, U.S.A.

is best known as a financier and industrialist during America's age of great commercial expansion. What is less
known today is that Westinghouse's fortune was based on his early inventions in the railroad industry. His braking system was eventually adopted in most rail cars. Westinghouse went on to secure over 400 patents in the rail and the gas distribution industries. Before hiring Tesla and buying his patents, Westinghouse had been a champion of alternating current for power distribution. His company provided illumination for the great Chicago Exposition of 1893. Before
his death, Westinghouse was to lose control of the companies that bear his name. Undaunted, he returned to the laboratory for a number of additional years of invention.