Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Charles Proteus Steinmetz | |
---|---|
![]() |
|
Born | Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz April 9, 1865 Breslau, Province of Silesia, Prussia |
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Schenectady, New York, United States |
Resting place | Vale Cemetery |
Occupation | Mathematician and electrical engineer |
Known for | |
Parent(s) |
|
Awards | Elliott Cresson Medal (1913) |
Charles Proteus Steinmetz (April 9, 1865 – October 26, 1923) was a German-born American mathematician and electrical engineer. He 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. He made ground-breaking discoveries in the understanding of hysteresis that enabled engineers to design better electromagnetic apparatus equipment including especially electric motors for use in industry.[1][2][lower-alpha 1]
Contents
Early life
Steinmetz was born Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz on April 9, 1865 in Breslau, Province of Silesia, the son of Caroline (Neubert) and Karl Heinrich Steinmetz.[3] He was baptized a Lutheran, the religion his family "nominally" belonged to.[4][5] Steinmetz suffered from dwarfism, hunchback, and hip dysplasia, as did his father and grandfather. Steinmetz attended Johannes Gymnasium and astonished his teachers with his proficiency in mathematics and physics.
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.
Socialism and technocracy
As socialist meetings and press had been banned in Germany, Steinmetz fled to Zürich in 1888 to escape possible arrest. Faced with an expiring visa, he emigrated to the United States in 1889. He changed his first name to "Charles" in order to sound more American, and chose the middle name "Proteus" after a childhood epithet given to him by classmates. Proteus was a wise hunchbacked character from the Odyssey who knew many secrets, and Steinmetz felt the name suited him.[citation needed]
Cornell University Professor Ronald R. Kline, the author of Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist, contended 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.[citation needed]
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".[6]
A member of the original Technical Alliance, which also included Thorstein Veblen and Leland Olds, Steinmetz had great faith in the ability of machines to eliminate human toil and create abundance for all. He put it this way: "Some day we make the good things of life for everybody". [7]
Engineering
Steinmetz is known for his contribution in three major fields of alternating current (AC) systems theory: hysteresis, steady-state analysis, and transients.
AC hysteresis theory
Shortly after arriving in the United States, Steinmetz went to work for Rudolf Eickemeyer in Yonkers, New York, and published in the field of magnetic hysteresis, which gave him world-wide professional recognition.[8] Eickemeyer's firm developed transformers for use in the transmission of electrical power among many other mechanical and electrical devices. In 1893 Eickemeyer's company, along with all of its patents and designs, was bought by the newly formed General Electric Company, where he quickly became known as the engineering wizard in GE's engineering community.[8]
AC steady state circuit theory
Steinmetz's work revolutionized AC circuit theory and analysis, which had been carried out using complicated, time-consuming calculus-based methods. 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". 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.[2][9] His seminal books and many other AIEE papers "taught a whole generation of engineers how to deal with AC phenomena".[2][10]
AC transient theory
Steinmetz also made greater strides to the understanding of lightning phenomena. He undertook a systematic study of it, resulting in experiments with "man-made lightning" in the laboratory; this work was published.[citation needed] Steinmetz was called the "forger of thunderbolts", being the first to create artificial lightning in his football field-sized laboratory and high towers built at General Electric, using 120,000 volt generators. He erected a lightning tower to attract natural lightning, and studied the patterns and effects of lightning resulting in several theories and ideas.[citation needed]
Professional and personal aspects
Steinmetz served as president of the Board of Education of Schenectady, New York, and as president of the Schenectady City Council. He was president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) from 1901 to 1902,[11] 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 engineering.[further explanation needed] He was an honorary member and adviser to the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta at Union College, whose chapter house there was one of the first electrified houses ever.[citation needed]
Steinmetz was a lifelong agnostic.[12][lower-alpha 2]
Legacy
Steinmetz died on October 26, 1923 and was buried in Vale Cemetery, Schenectady, New York.
![](/w/images/thumb/6/6b/Albert_Einstein_with_other_engineers_and_scientists_at_Marconi_RCA_radio_station_1921.jpg/300px-Albert_Einstein_with_other_engineers_and_scientists_at_Marconi_RCA_radio_station_1921.jpg)
Based on Steinmetz experiments, "Steinmetz's formula" defines the approximate heat energy due to magnetic hysteresis released, per cycle per unit area of magnetic material.[lower-alpha 3][13] Steinmetz equivalent circuit theory is still widely used for the design and testing of induction motors.[14]
One of the highest technical awards given by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, for major contributions to standardization within the field of electrical and electronics engineering, is named in his honor as the IEEE Charles Proteus Steinmetz Award.
His connection to Union College is celebrated with the annual Steinmetz Symposium,[15] a day-long event in which Union undergraduates give presentations on research they have done. Steinmetz Hall, which houses the Union College computer center, is named after him.
Steinmetz was portrayed in 1959 by the actor Rod Steiger in the CBS television anthology series, The Joseph Cotten Show. The episode focused on his socialist activities in Germany.
A Chicago public high school, Steinmetz College Prep, is named for him.
A public park in north Schenectady, New York was named for him in 1931.[16]
Patents
At the time of his death, Steinmetz held over 200 patents:[17]
- U.S. Patent 533,244, "System of distribution by alternating current" (January 29, 1895)
- U.S. Patent 559,419, "Inductor dynamo"
- U.S. Patent 583,950, "Three phase induction meter"
- U.S. Patent 594,145, "Inductor dynamo"
- U.S. Patent 714,412, "Induction motor"
- U.S. Patent 717,464, "System of electrical distribution"
- U.S. Patent 865,617, "Induction motor"
- U.S. Patent 1,025,932, "Means for producing light" (May 7, 1912)
- U.S. Patent 1,042,986, "Induction furnace"
- U.S. Patent 1,230,615, "Protective device"
- U.S. Patent RE11,576, "Inductor dynamo"
In popular culture
Steinmetz is featured in John Dos Passos's U.S.A. trilogy in one of the biographies.[18] He also serves as a major character in Starling Lawrence's The Lightning Keeper.[19]
Novelist John Ball grew up in Steinmetz's house. His parents were graduate students paid by General Electric to live with and take care of the man Ball called "Uncle Steinie." Ball used to tell his Steinmetz stories to the Southern California Mystery Writers Association meetings.[citation needed]
Steinmetz is a major character in the novel Electric City by Elizabeth Rosner. In this epic story of technology, Rosner connects Steinmetz's early ethos as a socialist with his humanitarian vision of a better society based on technological progress: "The political arena that had summoned him in his youth, Socialist views that sent him into exile all those years earlier, further contributed to a seemingly endless hunger for change".[20]
Awards
- Certificate of Merit of Franklin Institute (1908)
- Elliott Cresson Medal (1913)
- Cedergren Medal (1914)
Works
- On the Law of Hysteresis[dead link], AIEE Trans., IX:3-64, 1892; Proc. of the IEEE, 72(2):197-221, doi: 10.1109/PROC.1984.12842
- Complex Quantities and Their Use in Electrical Engineering, AIEE Proceedings of International Electrical Congress, July 1893, pp. 33–74
- Theory of the General Alternating Current Transformer[dead link], AIEE Trans., XII:245-256, Jan. 1895
- Theory and Calculation of Alternating Current Phenomena, with the assistance of Ernst J. Berg, 1897.[21] Information from this book has been reprinted in many subsequent engineering texts.
- The Alternating Current Induction Motor[dead link]. AIEE Trans., XIV (1): 183-217, 1897.
- The Natural Period of a Transmission Line and the Frequency of Lightning Discharge Therefrom, The Electrical World, p. 203-205, August 27, 1898.
- Speed Regulation of Prime Movers and Parallel Operation of Alternators[dead link], AIEE Trans., XVIII:741-744, Jan. 1901.
- Theoretical Elements of Electrical Engineering, McGraw, 1902.
- The Alternating-Current Railway Motor[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXIII:9-25, Jan. 1904.
- Lightning Phenomena in Electric Circuits[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXVI(1):401-423, Jan. 1907.
- Electrical Engineering Education[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXVII(1):79-85, Jan. 1908.
- Future of Electricity, Transcript of lecture to the New York Electrical Trade School, 1908.
- Primary Standard of Light[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXVII(2):1319-1324, Jun. 8, 1908.
- The General Equations of the Electric Circuit[dead link], AIEE, Trans., XXVII(2):1231-1305, Jun. 8, 1908.
- General Lectures on Electrical Engineering, edited by Joseph Le Roy Hayden, Robson & Adee, 1908.
- Prime Movers[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXVIII(1):63-84, Jan. 1909.
- The Value of the Classics in Engineering Education[dead link], AIEE, Trans. XXVIII(2):1103-1106, Jun. 9, 1909.
- Radiation, Light and Illumination : A Series of Engineering Lectures Delivered at Union College, ed. by Joseph Le Roy Hayden, McGraw, 1909
- Disruptive Strength with Transient Voltages[dead link], with Hayden, Joseph L. R. principal author, AIEE Trans., XXIX(2):1125-1158, May 10, 1910.
- Engineering Mathematics; A Series of Lectures Delivered at Union College, McGraw, 1911.
- Mechanical Forces in Magnetic Fields[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXX(1):367-385, Jan. 1911.
- Elementary Lectures on Electric Discharges, Waves and Impulses, and Other Transients, McGraw, 1911.
- Theory and Calculation of Transient Electric Phenomena and Oscillations, McGraw, 1911.
- Some Problems of High-Voltage Transmissions[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXXI(1):167-173, Jan. 1912.
- Instability of Electric Circuits[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXXII(2):2005-2021, May 13, 1913.
- Recording Devices[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXXIII(1):283-292, Jan. 1914.
- Outline of Theory of Impulse Currents[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXXV(1):1-31, Jan. 1916.
- America and the New Epoch, Harper, c. 1916.
- Theory and Calculation of Electric Apparatus, McGraw, 1917.
- America's Energy Supply[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXXVII(2):985-1014,Jul. 18, 1918.
- The Oxide Film Lightning Arrester[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXXVII(2):871-880, Jul. 18, 1918.
- The General Equations of the Electric Circuit-III[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXXVIII(1):191-260, Jan. 1919.
- Power Control and Stability of Electric Generating Stations[dead link], AIEE Trans., XXXIX(2):1215-1287, Jul. 20, 1920.
- Condenser Discharges Through a General Gas Circuit[dead link], AIEE Trans., XLI:63-76, Jan. 1922.
- Essay on Science and Religion at Project Gutenberg. Homer Heath Nugent, 1922.
- High-Voltage Insulation[dead link], with Hayden, J. L. R. principal author, AIEE Trans., XLII:1029-1042, Jan. 1923.
- Frequency Conversion by Third Class Conductor and Mechanism of the Arcing Ground and Other Cumulative Surges[dead link], AIEE Trans., XLII:470-477, Jan. 1923.
- Four Lectures on Relativity and Space, McGraw, 1923.
- Cable Charge and Discharge[dead link], AIEE Trans., XLII:577-592, Jan. 1923 .
- Overdamped Condenser Oscillations[dead link], AIEE Trans., XLIII:126-130, Jan. 1924.
See also
- Nikola Tesla — a contemporaneous electrical pioneer in alternating current and high voltage research
Notes
- ↑ Quoting from Alger, "Steinmetz was truly the patron saint of the GE motor business."[2]
- ↑ Quoting from Hammond, "This has placed him before the public as an atheist.* The title he did not deny. The writer, however, would 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..."[12]
- ↑
, where η is hysteresis coefficient, βmax is maximum flux density and k is an empirical exponent.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Charles P. Steinmetz, scientist and socialist (1865-1923), including the ... - Sender Garlin - Google Books
- ↑ Credo: Unitarians and Universalists of Yesteryear Talk About Their Lives and ... - Don McEvoy - Google Books
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
- ↑ Retrieved November-2-2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Knowlton, p. 711 (§7.207).
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The 42nd Parallel, p. 335.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Electric City, Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2014, p. 53.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Further reading
- John Thomas Broderick, Steinmetz and His Discoveries. Robson & Adee, 1924.
- Ernest Caldecott and Philip Langdon Alger (eds.), Steinmetz the Philosopher. Schenectady, NY: Mohawk Development Service, 1965.
- Sender Garlin, Charles Steinmetz: Scientist and Socialist (1865–1923): Including the Complete Steinmetz-Lenin Correspondence. New York: American Institute for Marxist Studies, 1977. —Reprinted in Sender Garlin's 1991 book Three Radicals.
- James B. Gilbert, "Collectivism and Charles Steinmetz", Business History Review, vol. 48, no. 4 (Winter 1974), pp. 520–540. In JSTOR
- Arthur Goodrich, "Charles P. Steinmetz, Electrician", The World's Work, vol. 8 (June 1904), pp. 4867–4869.
- Larry Hart, Steinmetz in Schenectady: A Picture History of Three Memorable Decades. Old Dorp Books, 1978.
- John Winthrop Hammond, Charles Proteus Steinmetz: A Biography. New York: The Century & Co., 1924.
- Ronald R. Kline, Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.
- Sigmund A Lavine, Steinmetz, Maker of Lightning. Dodd, Mead & Co., 1955.
- Jonathan Norton Leonard, Loki: The Life of Charles Proteus Steinmetz. New York: Doubleday, 1929.
- John Anderson Miller & Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Modern Jupiter: The Story of Charles Proteus Steinmetz. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1958.
- Floyd Miller, The Electrical Genius of Liberty Hall: Charles Proteus Steinmetz. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962.
- Emil J. Remscheid & Virginia Remscheid Charves, Recollections of Steinmetz: A Visit to the Workshops of Dr. Charles Proteus Steinmetz. General Electric Company, Research and Development, 1977.
External links
![]() |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Charles Proteus Steinmetz |
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- Charles Steinmetz: Union's Electrical Wizard[dead link], Union College Magazine, November 1, 1998.
- Finding Aid to Charles Steinmetz Papers, Schenectady County Historical Society.
- Charles Proteus Steinmetz, the Wizard of Schenectady, Smithsonian Institution
- Charles Proteus Steinmetz: Accomplishments and Life, Edison Tech Center, Hall of Fame
- United States Supreme Court, "Steinmetz v. Allen, 192 U.S. 543 (1904)". Steinmetz v. Allen, Commissioner of Patents. No. 383. Argued January 12, 13, 1904. Decided February 23, 1904.
- Divine Discontent, a documentary on Steinmetz
- Articles with dead external links from June 2015
- Articles with hCards
- Articles with unsourced statements from June 2015
- Wikipedia articles needing clarification from July 2015
- Articles with unsourced statements from July 2015
- Articles with unsourced statements from July 2014
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- 1865 births
- 1923 deaths
- American agnostics
- American electrical engineers
- American inventors
- American scientists
- American socialists
- General Electric people
- German emigrants to the United States
- Members of the Socialist Party of America
- People from Schenectady, New York
- People from the Province of Silesia
- People from Wrocław
- People with dwarfism
- Schenectady City Council members
- University of Breslau alumni