Scanning our past from London: Galileo Ferraris and alternating current

Galileo Ferraris deserves to be far better known. His work with alternating current paved the way for others to develop the induction motors and the three-phase transmission of power that we take for granted today. Because of his "social" concerns, he argued that electric power should be distributed as widely as possible and available to everyone. He argued, for example, that with electric power in the home a mother might earn money by working at home with a loom, rather than by going out to work. Both for his contributions to electrical engineering and for his work to make the benefits of electricity widely available, Galileo Ferraris deserves to be remembered as one of the great names in our profession.