03-31-2015, 05:04 PM
It's all gray, never as simple as books make it out to be.
Ormond Raby does claim that Fessenden designed lead-in wires for lamps that Westinghouse used later. It's possible, but you can't use that book as a source for anything because Raby has invented all the dialog in it without citing any sources. It's more like a novel than a history. Raby does claim to have read many of Fessenden's publications and no doubt he did, but other than saying there were many of them, he doesn't provide a list.
The GE alternator was Steinmetz' design; Alexanderson didn't enter the picture until later. As I recall reading, Fessenden and Alexanderson both contributed to the designs used at Brant Rock, but the subsequent development into the 200kW commercial models was largely Alexanderson's work. There are several pages on the Brant Rock models in Alexanderson's biography (James Brittain, 1992).
Ormond Raby does claim that Fessenden designed lead-in wires for lamps that Westinghouse used later. It's possible, but you can't use that book as a source for anything because Raby has invented all the dialog in it without citing any sources. It's more like a novel than a history. Raby does claim to have read many of Fessenden's publications and no doubt he did, but other than saying there were many of them, he doesn't provide a list.
The GE alternator was Steinmetz' design; Alexanderson didn't enter the picture until later. As I recall reading, Fessenden and Alexanderson both contributed to the designs used at Brant Rock, but the subsequent development into the 200kW commercial models was largely Alexanderson's work. There are several pages on the Brant Rock models in Alexanderson's biography (James Brittain, 1992).
