31. He soon obtained a job with a small electrical firm owned by Rudolf Eickemeyer in Yonkers, N.Y. At about the same time, Steinmetz Americanized his first name to Charles and substituted Proteus, a university nickname, for his two middle names. [20] Steinmetz speaks on WGY radio miSci Museum of Innovation and Science, https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/schmuse/id/269/rec/167. The Hayden children had a grandfather, Daddy Steinmetz, who ensured that they grew up in a household filled with wonder. If you did and hated having to take English, History, and Languages you can blame Steinmetz too, I guess. Proteus was as happy as hed ever been in his life. He received 2 honorary degrees, the A.M. from Harvard (1902) and Ph.D. from Union (1903). [18] Sender Garlin Charles P. Steinmetz, scientist and socialist (American Institute for Marxist Studies, 1977), 12. In the groundbreaking paper, "Complex Quantities and Their Use in Electrical Engineering", presented at a July 1893 meeting published in the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), Steinmetz simplified these complicated methods to "a simple problem of algebra". Ford was delighted until he got a bill for $10,000, at which point he demanded an itemized bill. Charles Proteus Steinmetz (April 9, 1865, - October 26, 1923) was born in Breslau, Prussia (part of Germany at the time) (now known as Wroclaw, Poland). Steinmetz fostered the development of alternating current that made possible the expansion of the electric power industry in the United States, formulating mathematical theories for engineers. [32] Tamed Lightning Scientific American vol. Soon, Steinmetz was dining each night in his home with Hayden and his wife, Corrine, a stout, round-faced French-Canadian. In Greek mythology, Proteus was a cave-dwelling prophetic old man who always returned to his human formthat of a hunchback. In 1892 Steinmetz gave two papers before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers on his new law concerning hysteresis loss. What are 6 of Charles Dickens classic novels? But he was a giant among scientific thinkers, counting Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison as friends, and his contributions to mathematics and electrical engineering made him one of the most beloved and instantly recognizable men of his time. GE and Union college continued to use his image to promote themselves so that he was commonly known to the general public up until the 1960s. ABOUT. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), American Institute of Electrical Engineers, International Municipal Signal Association (IMSA), "Theory of the General Alternating Current Transformer", "The Natural Period of a Transmission Line and the Frequency of Lightning Discharge Therefrom", "Speed Regulation of Prime Movers and Parallel Operation of Alternators", "The Value of the Classics in Engineering Education", "The death of energy and the second law of thermodynamics, with particular reference to the thermodynamics of the atmosphere", "Charles Proteus Steinmetz, the Wizard of Schenectady", "Charles Steinmetz: Union's Electrical Wizard", "Steinmetz, Putting it in Perspective - R, L, and C Elements and the Impedance Concept", Charles Steinmetz: Improvements to Alternating Current Motor, "Steinmetz electric car 1914 - Steinmetz, Charles", "Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Pioneer of Alternating Current", "Technology innovator to headline Steinmetz Memorial Lecture - Union College", "Dr. Charles Proteus Steinmetz memorial lecture series", "Steinmetz Symposium: Celebrating 25 years of student research", "Charles P. Steinmetz Scholarship (Union College-NY) Scholarship Library", "Steinmetz car gets prominent spot at Union College", "Steinmetz Car drives into the spotlight", "American Inventors, September 21, 1983, Smithsonian Postal Museum", "Edison, Steinmetz statues slated for park near Schenectady GE", "The Fine Line between Poetry and Mathematics", "Starling Lawrence Writes a Novel About the Early Days of G.E", "Charles Proteus Steinmetz, The Man Who Either Tamed Lightning, Created Lightning, Neither, or Both", "Charles Steinmetz: Scientist and Socialist (18651923): Including the Complete Steinmetz-Lenin Correspondence", "Book Review: Alternating Current Phenomena", Charles Proteus Steinmetz, the Wizard of Schenectady, Charles Proteus Steinmetz: Accomplishments and Life, Newspaper clippings about Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Dual-rotor permanent magnet induction motor (DRPMIM), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Proteus_Steinmetz&oldid=1132596786, Members of the Socialist Party of America, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2022, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from July 2015, Articles with German-language sources (de), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, At Union College, as chair of electrical engineering from 1902 to 1913, First vice-president of the International Association of Municipal Electricians (IAME) {which later became the, This page was last edited on 9 January 2023, at 16:58. [10] According to Western Electrician (July 12, 1902), vol. When Roy Hayden married a woman named Corrine in 1903, Steinmetz invited the newly married couple to live with him. Tesla sailed for America in 1884, arriving in New York with four cents in his pocket, a few of his own poems, and calculations for a flying machine. [26][d] He died on October 26, 1923, and was buried in Vale Cemetery in Schenectady. Steinmetz's connection to Union is further celebrated with the annual Steinmetz Symposium,[32] a day-long event in which Union undergraduates give presentations on research they have done. 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. [3] Charles Steinmetz to Eskil Berg (Jan 9, 1895) Steinmetz Digital Collection of Schenectady #473868 https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/schmuse/id/119/rec/5. GE was a little nervous about having Steinmetz doing this publicly, but he was just too famous for them to fire or reprimand. Steinmetz loved the trip but found it a bit tiresome and declared that their next one would be to the Mediterranean. A public park in north Schenectady, New York was named for him in 1931. Or you can decide to believe, cause why not? His contributions to mathematics and electrical engineering made him one of the most beloved and instantly recognizable men of his time. In 1892 he read two papers on the subject to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Steinmetz third major scientific achievement was in the study and theory of electrical transientsthat is, changes in electrical circuits of very short duration. [39], In May 2015, a life-size bronze statue of Charles Steinmetz meeting Thomas Edison by sculptor and caster Dexter Benedict was unveiled on a plaza on the corner of Erie Boulevards and South Ferry Street in Schenectady. He arrived at Ellis Island in 1888 and was nearly turned away because he was a dwarf, but an American friend whom Steinmetz was traveling with convinced immigration officials that the young German Ph. Today virtually all the appliances that plug into a wall outlet use alternating current. Steinmetz's first important research was on hysteresis, by which power is lost because of magnetic resistance. Henry Ford was thrilled until he got an invoice from General Electric in the amount of $10,000. The trip exhausted the 58-year-old scientist, and on October 26, back in his home on Wendell Avenue, his grandson Billy brought him breakfast on a tray, only to observe Steinmetz lying motionless on his bed, a physics book by his side. [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. Thus, Steinmetz reputation was assured at the age of 27. Gradually, through his writing, lecturing, and teaching, his method of calculation with complex numbers was universally adopted in work with alternating currents. The Wizard of Schenectady was gone. [35] Gerry Boehme, Henry Ford: Assembly Line and Automobile Pioneer (New York: Cavendish Square Publishing, 2019), 89. Note that this guy is not Nikola Tesla but instead the engineer John Carson who I mention in my video about the history of FM radio (he is the one who said that FM wouldnt work to remove static and said, static, like the poor will always be with us)[26] Many years after the event GE claimed that Steinmetz and Einstein hung out for hours after this and talked about science, engineering, and socialism. He went first to Zurich, then, in 1889 arrived in the United States. Once assembled, he studied the pattern and was convinced that the shattered mirror revealed the lightnings path of electrical discharge. 1 Who is Charles Proteus Steinmetz invent? In all, he patented some 200 electrical inventions. Not much taller than the children who ran about his laboratory and greenhouse, Steinmetz entertained them with stories of dragons and goblins, which he illustrated with fireworks he summoned from various mixtures of sodium and hydrogen in pails of water. [4] Charles Proteus Steinmetz, The Mentor-World Traveler 13 (May 1925), 14. Love Kathy Loves Physics? 5 Summary. The Steinmetz car is permanent displayed in the first-floor corridor between the Wold Center and F.W. When some of his fellow party members were arrested, Steinmetz took over the editorship of the party newspaper, The Peoples Voice. One of the articles he wrote was considered inflammatory; the police began a crackdown on the paper, and Steinmetz had to flee Breslau (1888). By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. What did Charles Steinmetz do at General Electric? He made ground-breaking discoveries in the understanding of hysteresis that enabled engineers to design better electromagnetic apparatus equipment, especially electric motors for use in industry.[1][2][a]. Charles Steinmetz (near center) sitting next to Edwin Houston and in front of T. Commerford Martin, See also: Papers of Charles Proteus Steinmetz. By 1914, as I said before, Steinmetz agreed to let Edison use his words and images to promote Edisons battery. He patented over 200 inventions. Search the site. 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. This was his last major project at the General Electric Company, where he had become head of the engineering consulting department. [10][11] Steinmetz, who stood only 4ft 0in (1.22m) tall as an adult,[5] had dwarfism,[9] hunchback,[9] and hip dysplasia, as did his father and grandfather. Born in Breslau, Germany (now Poland) as Carl August Rudolph Steinmetz on April 9, 1865, Steinmetz was born with a physical deformity that left him with a hunched back and lame left leg. Charles Steinmetz and Thomas Edison each enjoy a cigar as they take a short respite from a tour of the GE plant in 1922. Loki: The Life of Charles Proteus Steimetz. Also, soon after the meeting, Steinmetz gave a series of lectures about Einsteins theory of relativity for laymen to give people, a general knowledge and understanding of the new ideas on time and space.[28] Also, in February of 1922, Steinmetz wrote Vladimir Lenin, yep that Lenin, a letter offering his services to help out Russia with their electricity systems to which Lenin politely declined but sent a signed picture and publicized their letters. 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. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. In spite of his love for children and family life, Steinmetz remained unmarried, to prevent his spinal deformity from being passed to any offspring. [13] Herbert Wallace A Man Who Knows Success Magazine vol. His systematic experiments resulted in the first laboratory created "man-made lightning", earning him the nickname the "Forger of Thunderbolts". Steinmetz was excited about the job and decided to do it for free. STEINMETZ DIES IN SUDDEN RELAPSE; Heart Attack Takes Electrical Wizard While the Nurse Goes for His Breakfast. He felt that America, has given me everything I wanted the only criticism which I can make is that I would far more enjoy my advantages if I knew that everybody else could enjoy the same. 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. In the fall of 1923, Steinmetz and his family traveled west by train, stopping to see the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and the actor Douglas Fairbanks in Hollywood. [1] Charles Steinmetz The Vitality of Schenectady (April 7, 1911) Schenectady Board of Trade. Where did Charles Proteus Steinmetz live? 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. [13], After an uneasy start, the arrangement worked well for all parties, especially after three Hayden children were born. Steinmetz earned wide recognition among the scientific community and numerous awards and honors both during his life and posthumously. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". It was around this time that the press started to get interested in Steinmetz. Steinmetz agreed to all of Corrines terms. Froehlich, Fritz; Kent, Allen (editors, 1990). This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Charles Proteus Steinmetz (April 9, 1865, - October 26, 1923) was born in Breslau, Prussia (part of Germany at the time) (now known as Wroclaw, Poland). He at once began to indoctrinate the engineers with his method of calculating alternating-current circuits. The men would simply have to drop everything and sit down to the table. Hayden favored the idea, but his future wife was wary of the unorthodox arrangement. 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. [2][17] His seminal books and many other AIEE papers "taught a whole generation of engineers how to deal with AC phenomena". His discoveries changed the way engineers thought about circuits and machines and made him the most recognized name in electricity for decades. In 1922, Thomas Edison came to visit Steinmetz. What exactly was the Wizard of Schenectady doing in Building 28? Ford, whose electrical engineers couldnt solve some problems they were having with a gigantic generator, called Steinmetz in to the plant. [15] Charles Steinmetz On the Value of the Classics in Engineering Education The Classical Weekly vol. Karl August Rudolf Steinmetz, (born April 9, 1865, Breslau, Prussiadied Oct. 26, 1923, Schenectady, N.Y., U.S.), German-born U.S. electrical engineer. The unusual, harmonious living arrangement lasted for the rest of Steinmetz's life. Steinmetz was a hunchback dwarf only four foot three who also suffered hip dysphasia. Advertising Notice Once the mansion was finished, Steinmetz filled the greenhouse with orchids, ferns and cacti (he delighted in their strange shapes) and focused on the menagerie of animals he had always wanted. [citation needed], Following the Gymnasium, Steinmetz went on to the University of Breslau to begin work on his undergraduate degree in 1883. Corrine Hayden then outlined the terms of their cohabitationSteinmetz would pay only for his share of expenditures. Wrocaw [13], Steinmetz founded America's first glider club, but none of its prototypes "could be dignified with the term 'flight'".[24][25][c]. [7] George Wise Willis R. Whitney, General Electric and the Origins of US Industrial Research, (Columbia University Press, 1985), 1897. , called Steinmetz in to the Mediterranean ( 1902 ), 12, Fritz ; Kent, Allen (,! Very short duration only four foot three who also suffered hip dysphasia Steinmetz over! Time I comment Schenectady, new York was named for him in 1931 electrical While... The Classics in engineering Education the Classical Weekly vol only four foot who! Some 200 electrical inventions is permanent displayed in the United States Eskil Berg ( Jan 9, ). At which point he demanded an itemized bill north Schenectady, new York was named him. Namethe nickname his professors in Germany had affectionately bestowed upon him in of. Can blame Steinmetz too, I guess of $ 10,000 scientific community and numerous awards and honors during! Where he had become head of the Classics in engineering Education the Classical Weekly vol, 1923 and! 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