Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Encyclopedia
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and electrical engineer. He fostered the development of alternating current
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
that made possible the expansion of the electric power industry in the United States, formulating mathematical theories for engineers. He made ground-breaking discoveries in the understanding of hysteresis
Hysteresis
Hysteresis is the dependence of a system not just on its current environment but also on its past. This dependence arises because the system can be in more than one internal state. To predict its future evolution, either its internal state or its history must be known. If a given input alternately...
that enabled engineers to design better electric motors for use in industry.
Early life
Steinmetz was born as Carl August Rudolph Steinmetz to Carl Heinrich Steinmetz in Breslau, Province of SilesiaProvince of Silesia
The Province of Silesia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919.-Geography:The territory comprised the bulk of the former Bohemian crown land of Silesia and the County of Kladsko, which King Frederick the Great had conquered from the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th...
. Steinmetz suffered from dwarfism
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
, hunchback
Kyphosis
Kyphosis , also called roundback or Kelso's hunchback, is a condition of over-curvature of the thoracic vertebrae...
, and hip dysplasia
Hip dysplasia (human)
Hip dysplasia, developmental dysplasia of the hip or congenital dysplasia of the hip is a congenital or acquired deformation or misalignment of the hip joint.-Terminology:...
, as did his father and grandfather. Steinmetz attended Johannes Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
and astonished his teachers with his proficiency in mathematics and physics.
Socialist activities
Following the Gymnasium Steinmetz went on to the University of Breslau to begin work on his undergraduate degree in 1883. He was on the verge of finishing his Doctorate in 1888 when he came under investigation by the German police for activities on behalf of a socialist university group and articles he had written for a local socialist newspaper.As socialist meetings and press had been banned in Germany, Steinmetz fled to Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
in 1888 to escape possible arrest. Faced with an expiring visa, he emigrated to the United States in 1889.
Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
Professor Ronald R. Kline, the author of Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist, contends that other factors were more directly involved in Steinmetz's decision to leave his homeland, such as the fact that he was in arrears with his tuition at the University of Breslau and that life at home with his father, stepmother, and their daughters was full of tension.
Despite his earlier efforts and interest in socialism, by 1922 Steinmetz concluded that socialism would never work in the United States because the country lacked a "powerful, centralized government of competent men, remaining continuously in office" and because "only a small percentage of Americans accept this viewpoint today."
Career in science
Shortly after arriving in the US, Steinmetz went to work for Rudolf Eickemeyer in Yonkers, New YorkYonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
, and published in the field of magnetic hysteresis. Eickemeyer's firm developed transformer
Transformer
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils. A varying current in the first or primary winding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic field...
s for use in the transmission of electrical power among many other mechanical and electrical devices. In 1893 Eickemeyer's company, along with all of his patents and designs, was bought by the newly formed General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
Company.
Forger of thunderbolts
One of Steinmetz's great research projects was centered with the phenomena of lightning. He undertook a systematic study of it, resulting in experiments of man-made lightning in the laboratory; this work was published. Steinmetz was called the "forger of thunderbolts", being the first to create artificial lightning in his GE football field-sized laboratory and high towers, using 120,000 volt generators. He erected a lightning tower to attract lightning and studied the patterns and effects of lightning hits on tree bark and in a broken mirror—resulting in several theories and ideas (like the effect of lightning on plant growth and ac electric poles).Later years
Steinmetz served as president of the Board of EducationBoard of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
of Schenectady, and as president of the Schenectady city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
. He was president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers
American Institute of Electrical Engineers
The American Institute of Electrical Engineers was a United States based organization of electrical engineers that existed between 1884 and 1963, when it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers .- History :The 1884 founders of the...
(AIEE) from 1901 to 1902, as well as the first vice-president of the International Association of Municipal Electricians (IAME)—which later became the International Municipal Signal Association (IMSA)—from 1913 until his death. Steinmetz wrote 13 books and 60 articles, not all about science. He was an honorary member and advisor to the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta
Phi Gamma Delta
The international fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta is a collegiate social fraternity with 120 chapters and 18 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848, and its headquarters are located in Lexington, Kentucky, USA...
at Union (whose chapter house there was one of the first electrified houses ever).
Steinmetz died on October 26, 1923 and was buried in Vale Cemetery, Schenectady.
Legacy
His connection to Union College is celebrated with the annual Steinmetz Symposium, a day-long event in which Union undergraduates give presentations on research they have done. Steinmetz Hall, which houses the Union CollegeUnion College
Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
computer center, is named after him.
Steinmetz was portrayed in 1959 by the actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Rod Steiger
Rod Steiger
Rodney Stephen "Rod" Steiger was an Academy Award-winning American actor known for his performances in such films as On the Waterfront, The Big Knife, Oklahoma!, The Harder They Fall, Across the Bridge, The Pawnbroker, Doctor Zhivago, In the Heat of the Night, and Waterloo as well as the...
in the CBS anthology series, The Joseph Cotten Show
The Joseph Cotten Show
The Joseph Cotten Show is an American anthology series series hosted by and occasionally starring Joseph Cotten. The series, which first aired on NBC, aired 31 episodes from September 14, 1956, to September 13, 1957...
. The episode centered on his socialist activities in Germany.
Patents
At the time of his death, Steinmetz held over 200 patentPatent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s:
- Steinmetz, , "System of distribution by alternating current." January 29, 1895.
- Steinmetz, , "Inductor dynamo."
- Steinmetz, , "Three phase induction meter."
- Steinmetz, , "Inductor dynamo."
- Steinmetz, , "Induction motor."
- Steinmetz, , "System of electrical distribution."
- Steinmetz, , "Induction motor."
- Steinmetz, , "Means for producing light." May 7, 1912.
- Steinmetz, , "Induction furnace."
- Steinmetz, , "Protective device."
- Steinmetz, , "Inductor dynamo."
In popular culture
Steinmetz is featured in John Dos Passos'John Dos Passos
John Roderigo Dos Passos was an American novelist and artist.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dos Passos was the illegitimate son of John Randolph Dos Passos , a distinguished lawyer of Madeiran Portuguese descent, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison of Petersburg, Virginia. The elder Dos Passos...
USA Trilogy
U.S.A. trilogy
The U.S.A. Trilogy is a major work of American writer John Dos Passos, comprising the novels The 42nd Parallel ; 1919, also known as Nineteen Nineteen ; and The Big Money . The three books were first published together in a single volume titled U.S.A by Harcourt Brace in January, 1938...
in one of the biographies.
He also serves as a major character in Starling Lawrence's The Lightning Keeper.
His name is used several times during certain episodes of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
by industrialist Mr. Burns as an expletive ("Come on, Steinmetz, while we're still young!") whenever he feels people are taking longer than he would like.
Awards
- Certificate of Merit of The Franklin Institute (1908).
- Elliott Cresson MedalElliott Cresson MedalThe Elliott Cresson Medal, also known as the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, was the highest award given by the Franklin Institute. The award was established by Elliott Cresson, life member of the Franklin Institute, with $1,000 granted in 1848...
(1913). - Cedergren Medal (1914).
Works
- Theory and calculation of alternating current phenomena", with the assistance of Ernst J. Berg, 1897. Information from this book has been reprinted in many subsequent engineering texts.
- The Natural Period of a Transmission Line and the Frequency of lightning Discharge Therefrom, The Electrical World, August 27, 1898. Pg. 203 - 205.
- Theoretical elements of electrical engineering, McGraw, 1902.
- Future of Electricity, Transcript of lecture to the New York Electrical Trade School, 1908.
- General lectures on electrical engineering, edited by Joseph Le Roy Hayden, Robson & Adee, 1908.
- Radiation, light and illumination : a series of engineering lectures delivered at Union college, ed. by Joseph Le Roy Hayden, McGraw-Hill, 1909
- Elementary lectures on electric discharges, waves and impulses, and other transients, 1911.
- Theory and calculation of transient electric phenomena and oscillations, McGraw publishing company, 1911.
- America and the new epoch, Harper, c. 1916.
- Engineering mathematics; a series of lectures delivered at Union College, 1917.
- Theory and calculation of electric apparatus, 1917.
- Essay on Science and Religion at Project Gutenberg. Homer Heath Nugent, 1922.
- Four lectures on relativity and space, McGraw-Hill book co. inc., 1923.
Further reading
- Charles Proteus Steinmetz: A Biography, John Winthrop Hammond, New York Century Co., 1924.
- Steinmetz and his discoverer, John Thomas Broderick, 1924.
- Loki: The Life of Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Jonathan Norton Leonard, Doubleday, 1929.
- The Little Giant Of Schenectady, Dorothy Markey, Aladdin Books, 1936., Sigmund Lavine, Dodd & Mead, 1955.
- Modern Jupiter, John Anderson Miller, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1958. (aka The Man Who Tamed Lightning), Floyd Miller, McGraw-Hill, 1962.
- Steinmetz the Philosopher, Ernest Caldecott, Philip Alger, 1965.
- Charles Steinmetz: Scientist and Socialist (1865–1923) Including the complete Steinmetz-Lenin correspondence, Sender Garlin, American Institute for Marxist Studies, 1977 (reprinted in Sender Garlin's 1991 Three Radicals).
- Recollections of Steinmetz - A Visit to the Workshops of Dr. Charles Proteus Steinmetz,Emil J. Remscheid, General Electric Hall of History Foundation, 1977.
- Steinmetz in Schenectady - A Picture History of Three Memorable Decades, Larry Hart, Old Dorp Books, 1978.
- Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist, Ronald Kline, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
External links
- Union College Magazine Article November 1998.
- U.S. Supreme Court, "Steimetz v. Allen, 192 U.S. 543 (1904)". Steimetz v. Allen, Commissioner of Patents. No. 383. Argued January 12, 13, 1904. Decided February 23, 1904.
- Steinmetz Symposium at Union College