[Phys-L] Re: Why 60 hertz?

[John Clement <clement@HAL-PC.ORG>]

After reading Tony Rothman's new book, I am very skeptical of any "generally
accepted" claims.  I have no doubt that Tesla was a genius, but the other
article has a bit more ring of truth because it shows how chaotic the
development was.  I think it is doubtful that Tesla's decision (if true) had
more than a peripheral effect on the final frequency.  Most enclopedias
claim "generally accepted" truths, when the reality is quite different.  For
example Edison did not invent the electric light, and Bell did not invent
the telephone.  DeForest was a charlatan and accidentally invented the
vacuum tube, which he never understood.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


> According to the Absolute Astronomy Reference
> http://www.absoluteasztronomy.com/encyclopedia/a/al/alternating_current
>
> "It is generally accepted that Nicola Tesla chose 60 Hz as the lowest
> frequency that
> would not cause street lighting to flicker visibly. The origin of the 50
> hertz frequency
> used in other parts of the world is open to debate but seems to be a
> rounding off
> of 60 Hz to the 1 2 4 5 10 structure popular with metric standards."
>
> Herb Gottlieb
>
>
> On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 09:48:53 -0700 Larry Smith <larry.smith@SNOW.EDU>
> writes:
> > A student asked the historical question about why America chose wall
> > AC to be 60 hertz and why Europe chose 50 hertz.  I'm interested
> myself.
> > Thanks in advance,  Larry
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