AC/DC, the new book by Tom McNichol tells the little-known story of how Thomas Edison wrongly bet in the fierce war between supporters of alternating current and direct current. The showdown between AC and DC began as a rather straightforward conflict between technical standards, a battle of competing methods to deliver essentially the same product, electricity. But the skirmish soon grew into something bigger and darker. In the AC/DC battle, the worst aspects of human nature somehow got caught up in the wires. AC/DC serves as an object lesson in bad business strategy and poor decision making. Edison's inability to see his mistake was a key factor in his loss of control over the "operating system" for his future inventions–not to mention the company he founded, General Electric. Larry Mantle talks with the author of AC/DC, the story of the all-out war over dueling currents.