[13], At the time of his death, Steinmetz held over 200 patents:[3], 19th and 20th-century mathematician and electrical engineer, Quoting from Alger, "Steinmetz was truly the patron saint of the GE motor business.". They did, and the generator performed to perfection. Back at General Electric, he brought in a gigantic apparatus, then another. | See, in January 1914, Steinmetz gave a talk with the title of The Future of Automobiling Belongs to the Electic as gas cars were very expensive and, unlike a horse, an electric car requires no attention.[21] Edison immediately asked Steinmetz if he could add that the electric car requires no attention if equipped with an Edison battery.[22] Steinmetz agreed and even signed the ad and Edison used this and his image to promote the Edison battery. [34], A 1914 "Duplex Drive Brougham" Detroit Electric automobile that once belonged to Steinmetz was purchased by Union College in 1971, and restored for use in campus ceremonies. Steinmetz knew that higher voltages had been made before, specifically by Elihu Thomson, Nikola Tesla and the GE lab. Why dont you come and live with me? he asked. Steinmetz soon moved into a rented house with his assistant, Ernst Berg where they were often joined by Ernsts brother Eskil visiting from Sweden. He systematized the use of complex number phasor representation in electrical engineering education texts, whereby the lower-case letter "j" is used to designate the 90-degree rotation operator in AC system analysis. [21] Charles Steinmetz The Future of Automobiling Belongs to the Electric delivered Jan 28, 1914, found in Automobile Topics (Feb 7, 1914), 1091. His book Theory and Calculation of Alternating Current Phenomena (coauthored with Ernst J. Berg in 1897) was read and understood by only a very few. The IEEE Charles Proteus Steinmetz Award is given in his honor. In spite of his love for children and family life, Steinmetz remained unmarried, to prevent his spinal deformity from being passed to any offspring. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine In his old photographs with the Berg brothers, Steinmetz labeled them as his family, however, with the Haydens this was finally true and in 1905, Steinmetz formally adopted Roy Hayden. It has been destroyed.[18] But how to fix that without rejecting technological advances? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. [2][18], Steinmetz also greatly advanced the understanding of lightning. He asked for an itemized bill. He chose Proteus as his middle namethe nickname his professors in Germany had affectionately bestowed upon him in recognition of the shape-shifting sea god. With these, all requirements are complete to develop the most perfect civilization the world has ever seen. Hayden favored the idea, but his future wife was wary of the unorthodox arrangement. I am going to show you a small clip from a documentary made by the Edison Tech club about it, which is why they have so many images of Edison even though Edison never worked at GE nor had anything to do with GEs decisions: What that movie didnt say is that the reason that Whitney created an independent laboratory for the GE research is that an accident burned down part of the stable that Steinmetz and the research group were using for a laboratory in January of 1901. Joseph Hayden was all for it. [16] Eickemeyer's firm developed transformers for use in the transmission of electrical power among many other mechanical and electrical devices. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. [1] Charles Steinmetz The Vitality of Schenectady (April 7, 1911) Schenectady Board of Trade. mathematician, engineer and inventor charles proteus steinmetz was responsible during the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th century for solving a number of problems related to the generation and transmission of electricity, at a critical time in history rife with developments that formed the technological characteristics of the Schenectady County Historical Society 32 Washington Ave. Schenectady, NY 12305 518-374-0263 . [6] Hammond, Charles Proteus Steinmetz, 239. Updates? Then, in 1900, the club started to break up as the Berg brothers moved away to work at other jobs or to live less-bohemian lives on their own. Steinmetz also greatly advanced the understanding of lightning. [8] Guy Bartlett. Gradually, through his writing, lecturing, and teaching, his method of calculation with complex numbers was universally adopted in work with alternating currents. He established a small laboratory at the factory, where he did much of his scientific research. Charles Proteus Steinmetz At first, Charles struggled in school then, suddenly when he was around 10 years old, school just started to click. Now what was so influential about this demonstration was not just that artificial lightning was amazing and it is a good idea to test arrestors but that it caused a reunion between Edison and GE, a reunion that GE used to promote themselves. By January 1895, Eskil was back in Europe and Steinmetz wrote to him to come over at once, without wasting any more time in Europe, and that, you will have to work here, and a good deal of it, but there is plenty of time left to have a good time, thus come over at once.[3] Soon Eskil was living with them and part of the family pictures. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In 1893 Eickemeyer's company, along with all of its patents and designs, was bought by the newly formed General Electric Company, where Steinmetz quickly became known as the engineering wizard in GE's engineering community. stonemason We have taken out crops year after year and never put anything back on the earth. The writer put him down as a confirmed agnostic, for an atheist is a person who knows there is no God, and Steinmetz was not of that", Ronald R. Klein, Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology), 1992. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name from Middle High German steinmetze, German Steinmetz stonemason, worker in stone. 10 When did Charles Proteus Steinmetz come to America? Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. This wasnt as much as an all-boys club as you might think as there were several women and many children that would visit regularly, including Ernst and Eskil Bergs sister Julia, Millers sister Florence, a neighbor named Mrs. Krueger who was basically the den mother of this whole mad group and Steinmetzs half-sister Clara who would often stay for long periods until the craziness of the situation became too much when she would escape to her own devices in New York.[6]. [14] Hammond, Charles Proteus Steinmetz: A Biography, 296. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Copyright 2023 MassInitiative | All rights reserved. [citation needed], Faced with an expiring visa, he emigrated to the United States in 1889. [further explanation needed] He was a member and adviser to the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta at Union College, whose chapter house was one of the first electrified residences. [13], Steinmetz founded America's first glider club, but none of its prototypes "could be dignified with the term 'flight'".[24][25][c]. I am not 100% sure what motivated Edison to do this but as far as I can tell it went down like this: a few years earlier, Henry Ford who was a GIANT Edison supporter decided to make a museum dedicated to show industrial history which eventually turned into the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. And, why is it , Am I really going to light a fire with my bare finger? The Charles P. Steinmetz Scholarship is awarded annually by the college,[33] underwritten since its inception in 1923 by the General Electric Company. Until that time the power losses in motors, generators, transformers, and other electrically powered machines could be known only after they were built. In Greek mythology, Proteus was a cave-dwelling prophetic old man who always returned to his human formthat of a hunchback. 8-9, (June 1923), 207. It started in March of 1903 when Success magazine ran a big article about Steinmetz where they said, he is known and recognized by engineers everywhere as the man who probably knows more about the practical application of electricity than any other man in this country.[13] Soon the newspapers were full of articles about Steinmetz, which was pushed by GE and Union College. When it survived the night, Steinmetz figured it was stable enough to live in). 22. 31. In 1892 Steinmetz gave two papers before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers on his new law concerning hysteresis loss. [13], When Joseph LeRoy Hayden, a loyal and hardworking lab assistant, announced that he would marry and look for his own living quarters, Steinmetz made the unusual proposal of opening his large home, complete with research lab, greenhouse, and office to the Haydens and their prospective family. In 1893 the newly formed General Electric Company purchased Eickemeyers company, primarily for his patents, but Steinmetz was considered one of its major assets. Steinmetz legally adopted Joseph Hayden as his son, becoming grandfather to the youngsters, entertaining them with fantastic stories and spectacular scientific demonstrations. His systematic experiments resulted in the first laboratory created "man-made lightning", earning him the nickname the "Forger of Thunderbolts". When Roy Hayden married a woman named Corrine in 1903, Steinmetz invited the newly married couple to live with him. When he arrived hed discovered that lightning had damaged the building and shattered a large silver glass mirror. The surname Steinmetz is the 19,529th most prevalent last name internationally. He possessed a marvelous insight into all scientific phenomena and an unequaled ability to explain the most difficult and abstruse problems by systematic mathematical methods. What did Charles Proteus Steinmetz invent? The Charles P. Steinmetz Memorial Lecture series was begun in his honor in 1925, sponsored by the Schenectady branch of the IEEE. Then soon after that (or perhaps before), Steinmetz bought a 1914 Detroit Electric, a model 48 Duplex (and no, I dont know enough about old cars to know what that means). Olin building.[35][36]. Within two years, Steinmetz had built three new schools and enlarged 2 more and built numerous playgrounds, set up a system of school meals, set up systems of school doctors, and created an epidemic plan (which was good timing as the pandemic of 1918 was just about to arrive). STEINMETZ DIES IN SUDDEN RELAPSE; Heart Attack Takes Electrical Wizard While the Nurse Goes for His Breakfast. The problem that Steinmetz faced was that electrical engineers were not taught enough mathematics to understand his new mathematical treatment of problems using complex numbers. The time is not far.[19] Not only that, but Steinmetz felt that we could reach a perfect society that was powered by electricity instead of by the oppression of the poor, as he explained in a radio address in 1922: with one taking care of the disproportion and supplies of energy, the other of materials. [23] The New Steinmetz Electric The Central Station (March, 1920), 302-3. A prime example of this phenomenon is lightning, and Steinmetz investigation of lightning phenomena resulted in his theory of traveling waves and opened the way for his development of devices to protect high-power transmission lines from lightning bolts. Papers include letters, notes clippings . The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". [40], Steinmetz is featured in John Dos Passos' U.S.A. trilogy in one of the biographies. He served as president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 190102. To educate the electrical engineering profession, he published several textbooks, including Engineering Mathematics (1911), and expanded his original 1897 book into three separate volumes. Omissions? [41][42] He also serves as a major character in Starling Lawrence's The Lightning Keeper.[43]. Thus, Steinmetz reputation was assured at the age of 27. Using complex mathematical equations, Steinmetz developed ways to analyze values in alternating current circuits. What do you do if your car overheats and wont start? In just a few years, Steinmetz would prove his American friend right. A humorous aspect of the story is the "itemized bill" he submitted for the work performed. In a world that compelled conformity, Steinmetz played by his own rules and had a fantastic time doing it. Steinmetz is a major character in the novel Electric City by Elizabeth Rosner. Hayden had come to cherish Steinmetzs eccentricities, and he understood that the Bohemian scientist really yearned for a family of his own. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. A Steinmetz solid is the solid body generated by the intersection of two or three cylinders of equal radius at right angles. The president of Harvard declared, in an American-centered way, that Steinmetz was, the foremost expert in applied electricity of this country, and therefore the world.[10] The following year, a liberal college in Schenectady called Union College gave Steinmetz an honorary doctorate and hired him as a professor of electrical engineering. [22], While serving as president of the Schenectady Board of Education, Steinmetz introduced numerous progressive reforms, including extended school hours, school meals, school nurses, special classes for the children of immigrants, and the distribution of free textbooks. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. In 1910, GE created that department and made Steinmetz the head. The men would simply have to drop everything and sit down to the table. [5] Tom D. Crouch A Dream of Wings (W. W. Norton, 2002), 172. STEINMETZ, CHARLESElectrical engineer and socialist Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865-1923), born in Breslau, Germany, on April 9, was a public figure of the Progressive Era who tried to engineer a better society by creating an early code of engineering ethics, running for political office, and advocating a technocratic form of socialism. Why was Charles Proteus Steinmetz important to General Electric? Soon he had groups of partiers visiting every summer weekend for long parties and constant attempts to dam the river. Steinmetz attended Johannes Gymnasium and astonished his teachers with his proficiency in mathematics and physics. In a noisy and explosive demonstration witnessed by Edison himself, Steinmetz unveiled a 120,000-volt lightning generator. What does Shakespeare mean when he says Coral is far more red than her lips red? He was assigned to the new calculating department, the first job of which was to work on the companys proposal for building the generators at the new Niagara Falls power station. Steinmetz, Scott wrote, responded personally to Fords request with the following: Knowing where to make mark $9,999. [11] Here is a small clip from Union College about this.[12]. [24] Steinmetz Electric Truck Called Marvel by Experts The American Monthly vol. [26] Einstein visits high power radio RCA News, Vol. Charles Proteus Steinmetz, orig. Steinmetz, on the other hand, felt that a full liberal education not only would help with knowing the origin of terms but also because the vocation of the engineer is especially liable to make the man one-sided. However, they couldnt really get any of their prototypes off the ground, Steinmetz said that they made a few jumps but nothing they produced, could be dignified with the term flight.[5] Amusingly, Steinmetz managed to make it look like they flew with trick photography. GE was a little nervous about having Steinmetz doing this publicly, but he was just too famous for them to fire or reprimand. Later he was naturalized, and became interested in politics in Schenectady. [14] Now, of course, every tech company has such departments. Now I am going to talk about a really famous photograph of Albert Einstein that was edited to make it look like it was a private meeting and why. Had come to America hayden as his middle namethe nickname his professors in Germany affectionately... Law concerning hysteresis loss the understanding of lightning by the Schenectady branch of the IEEE resulted. By his own rules and had a fantastic time doing it come cherish. 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