Monty by Jim Meddick for June 06, 2024

Please, keep going, Meddick. Run this arc into the ground.

George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age of 19. Westinghouse saw the potential of using alternating current for electric power distribution in the early 1880s and put all his resources into developing and marketing it. This put Westinghouse’s business in direct competition with Thomas Edison, who marketed direct current for electric power distribution.

They all linoleumed their fridge.

University of Chicago statistics professor Stephen Stigler stated in his 1980 publication Stigler’s law of eponymy that no scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer. Fittingly, Stigler himself was not the first to make this observation.

Nikola Tesla never wanted to develop and sell his inventions. Not a business man at heart. He only wanted to keep creating new inventions, his love in life.

Monty, I’m sure if there was money to be made on it, you’d cash in on it, too. But there’s not. So SPEND some money, and go get some goof off, and hope it leaves some paint on your fridge after you remove your idiotic idea.

Surprised he hasn’t got it stuck to himself.

Monty needs to cut back on the caffeine, or Get Back on His Meds!

…and the Diet of Worms in 1521.

I can’t find the actual quote, but Picasso said something like “Someone does it first, then someone else does it pretty.” (I think it was a dig at Matisse.)

I think Moondog opened a can of beer, not worms.

EB knows Monty very well.

Quick! Slap a piece over his mouth!!!!!!!! :)

I had a friend who invariably responded to such boasts with “How does that make you a special person?”.

Actually, Tesla wanted to work for Westinghouse. He had gotten screwed over by Edison (Edison had promised to pay him $10,000 for something and then reneged on the deal) and gladly went to work for Westinghouse.

There is an interesting story about the argument of AC vs DC power in the US when it became apparent that the country would soon be electrified. Edison was promoting DC power. Westinghouse and Tesla were promoting AC power. DC power would not kill you, but had to have a booster station every mile and a half. AC could kill you, but could be sent over hundreds of miles of wire.Edison conducted experiments on old horses to see how much AC power it would take to kill them. About that time the state of New York was looking for a more humane way then hanging of executing those sentenced to death under capitol punishment laws. Since Edison was considered a smart guy they asked him what he would recommend. Seeing an opportunity to discredit AC power, Edison recommended a certain amount of AC current.Horrified that AC power might be discredited, Westinghouse spent thousands of dollars in appeals for the first person scheduled to die by AC current. The appeals were unsuccessful.The execution did not go well. Nobody knew about how to send a fatal AC current through the human body. It took 20 minutes for the condemned man to die. His eyes bulged out of his head and he sort of melted. The whole thing backfired on Edison. Westinghouse and Tesla won the argument and AC became the method of electrical wiring the US.Many years later Edison was asked about the whole DC vs. AC controversy. He said something to the effect “It’s a good thing that George (Westinghouse) won that argument, otherwise there would be a power station every mile and a half all over the country.”

Monty, its known as Stigler’s law of eponymy. Though Steve Stigler (one of my profs at grad school) attributed it to Robert K. Merton.

Monty is right!