Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist

424 Pages·1992·27.78 MB·English

by  Ronald R. Kline

ENGINEER AND
SOCIALISE
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When he died suddenly at the height of his fame
in 1923, his face was as familiar to Americans as
that of Babe Ruth, Henry Ford, Jack Dempsey, or
Warren G. Harding. Newspapers quoted his views
on religion, politics (he was a Socialist), science,
and future technological wonders. All were in¬
trigued by the Horatio Alger tale of the penniless,
hunchbacked German immigrant who rose to
fame as the Wizard of Science, chief engineer at
General Electric, and symbol of the new breed
of scientists who daily surpassed the feats of
Thomas A. Edison.
In Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist Ronald R. Kline
presents the intellectual biography of Charles
Proteus Steinmetz (1865-1923). Educated in Ger¬
many, Steinmetz came to America in 1889 and
soon found work with a Yonkers electrical firm.
After General Electric purchased the company in
1893, Steinmetz rose to the position of chief con¬
sulting engineer. Obtaining nearly two hundred
patents, he made his most important contribu¬
tions in electrical energy loss (or hysteresis), the
understanding and wider use of alternating cur¬
rent, and high-voltage power transmission.
The General Electric corporation, Kline explains,
became Steinmetz’s home, his identity, and a
platform from which he stepped onto the wider
stage of world affairs. As leader of the American
Institute of Electrical Engineers, Socialist council¬
man in Schenectady, and part-time professor of
political economy at Union College, Steinmetz
attempted to “ engineer” society in the direction
of a technocratic utopia by promoting welfare
capitalism, Lenin’s electrification of the Soviet
Union, and other schemes—-all with limited
success.
BOSTON
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Steinmetz
Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology
Merritt Roe Smith, Series Editor
Engineer and Socialist
Ronald R. Kline
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© 1992 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
The Johns Hopkins University Press
701 West 40th Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21211-2190
The Johns Hopkins Press Ltd., London
The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kline, Ronald R.
Steinmetz : engineer and socialist / Ronald R. Kline.
p. cm. — (Johns Hopkins studies in the history of technology ; new
ser., no. 13)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8018-4298-0
1. Steinmetz, Charles Proteus, 1865-1923. 2. Electric engineers—United
States—Biography. 3. Socialists—United States—Biography. I. Title.
II. Series.
TK140.S77K58 1992
621.3'092—dc20
[B] 91-31050
To my parents and Marge
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