Charles Proteus Steinmetz

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Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Charlesproteussteinmetz.jpg
Born Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz
(1865-04-09)April 9, 1865
Breslau, Province of Silesia, Prussia
Died October 26, 1923(1923-10-26) (aged 58)
Schenectady, NY, USA
Occupation Mathematician and electrical engineer
Parents Carl Heinrich Steinmetz

Charles Proteus Steinmetz (April 9, 1865 in Wrocław – October 26, 1923) was a 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][a]

Steinmetz was born as Carl August Rudolph Steinmetz into a Jewish[3] family in Breslau, Province of Silesia. 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.

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Early socialist [edit]

Steinmetz maintained a small cabin overlooking the Mohawk River near Schenectady, New York.

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, then a popular ideological pursuit among secular German Jews.

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 taunt given to him by classmates. Proteus was a wise hunchbacked character from the Odyssey who knew many secrets and he felt it suited him.

Cornell University 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[4] concluded that socialism would never work in the U.S. 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." [5]

Engineering wizard [edit]

Steinmetz circa 1915

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 [edit]

Shortly after arriving in the U.S., 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.[6] 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.[6]

AC steady state circuit theory [edit]

Steinmetz's work revolutionized AC circuit theory and analysis, which had been carried out using complex, time-consuming calculus-based methods. In 1893 he moved to Lynn, Massachusetts to work with GE`s computers in its Calculating Department[7], Steinmetz simplified these complicated methods to "a simple problem of algebra". He was the first to use complex number phasor representation, whereby the letter j is used to designate the 90 degree rotation operator in AC system analysis.[2] His seminal books and many American Institute of Electrical Engineers papers "taught a whole generation of engineers how to deal with AC phenomena.[2][8]

AC transient theory [edit]

Steinmetz also made greater strides to the understanding of lightning phenomena. 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 resulting in several theories and ideas.

Professional and personal aspects [edit]

Steinmetz served as president of the Board of Education of Schenectady, and as president of the Schenectady City Council. He was president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) from 1901 to 1902,[9] 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. He was an honorary member and advisor to the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta at Union (whose chapter house there was one of the first electrified houses ever).

On Steinmetz's views on God, he was an agnostic.[10][b]

Steinmetz died on October 26, 1923 and was buried in Vale Cemetery, Schenectady.

Legacy [edit]

Marconi Wireless Station in Somerset, New Jersey in 1921. Steinmetz is at centre; he died two years later.

His connection to Union College is celebrated with the annual Steinmetz Symposium,[11] 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 anthology series, The Joseph Cotten Show. The episode centered on his socialist activities in Germany.

A Chicago Public High School is named for him.

A public park in north Schenectady, New York was named for him in 1931.[12]

Based on Steinmetz experiments, Steinmetz' formula defines the approximate heat energy due to magnetic hysteresis released per cycle per unit area of magnetic material.[c][13] Steinmetz equivalent circuit theory is still widely used for the design and testing of induction motors.[14]

Patents [edit]

At the time of his death, Steinmetz held over 200 patents:[15]

In popular culture [edit]

Steinmetz is featured in John Dos Passos' USA Trilogy in one of the biographies.[16] He also serves as a major character in Starling Lawrence's The Lightning Keeper.[17]

His name is used several times during certain episodes of The Simpsons 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.

Novelist John Ball grew up in Steinmetz's house. His parents were graduate students paid by GE to live with and take care of the man Ball called "Uncle Steinie". Ball used to tell Steinmetz stories to the Southern California Mystery Writers Association meetings.

Awards [edit]

Works [edit]

Notes [edit]

  1. ^ Quoting from Alger, "Steinmetz was truly the patron saint of the GE motor business."[2]
  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..."[10]
  3. ^ W_h=\eta\Beta^{k}_{max}, where η is hysteresis coefficient, βmax is maximum flux density and k is an empirical exponent.

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Charles Proteus Steinmetz". Invent Now, Inc. Hall of Fame profile.  Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b c d Alger, P.L.; Arnold, R.E. (1976). "The History of Induction Motors in America". Proceedings of the IEEE 64 (9): 1380–1383. doi:10.1109/PROC.1976.10329. 
  3. ^ Clemens, Nora; Greenberger, Robert. Discovering the Nature of Energy (1st ed.). New York: Rosen Publishing Group. p. 78. ISBN 978-1448847020. 
  4. ^ Steinmetz talks on radio about human potential http://nyheritage.nnyln.net/cdm/singleitem/collection/schmuse/id/269
  5. ^ "Charles Steinmetz: Union's Electrical Wizard". Union College Magazine. November 1, 1998. Retrieved May 31, 2009. 
  6. ^ a b "The Magnetic Force of Charles Proteus Steinmetz". IEEE Power Engineering Review 16 (9): 7. Feb. 1996. doi:10.1109/MPER.1996.535476. Retrieved 7 February 2013. 
  7. ^ Photo of GE calculation dept 1893 http://nyheritage.nnyln.net/cdm/singleitem/collection/schmuse/id/229/rec/143
  8. ^ "Steinmetz, Putting it in Perspective - R, L, and C Elements and the Impedance Concept". Zabreb School of Engineering. Retrieved 21 December 2012. 
  9. ^ "Charles Proteus Steinmetz". IEEE Global History Network. IEEE. Retrieved 8 August 2011. 
  10. ^ a b Hammond, John Winthrop (1924). Charles Proteus Steinmetz: A biography. The Century & Co. p. 447. 
  11. ^ "Union College Steinmetz Symposium". 
  12. ^ Steinmetz Park Association (2006). "Steinmetz Park Master Plan". Schenectady, N.Y. p. 3. Retrieved January 22, 2013. 
  13. ^ Knowlton, A. E. (1949). Standard Electrical of Electrical Engineers. McGraw-Hill. pp. 49 (§2.67), 323 (§4.280). 
  14. ^ Knowlton, p. 711 (§7.207).
  15. ^ "C. P. Steinmetz". Becklaser. 
  16. ^ The 42nd Parallel, p. 335.
  17. ^ Smith, Dinitia (May 13, 2006). "Starling Lawrence Writes a Novel About the Early Days of G.E". The New York Times. 
  18. ^ Whitehead, John B., Jr. (1901). "Review: Alternating Current Phenomena, by C. P. Steinmetz". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. (3rd ed.) 7 (9): 399–408. 

Further reading [edit]

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