Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist

by Ronald R. Kline

Overview

When Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865-1923) died suddenly at the height of his fame, his face was as familiar to Americans as that of Babe Ruth, Henry Ford, or Jack Dempsey. Newspapers quoted his views on religion, politics (he was a Socialist), science, and future technological wonders. All were intrigued 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 Alva Edison.

This intellectual biography follows Steinmetz from his education in Germany to his rise as General Electric's chief consulting engineer. Steinmetz obtained nearly 200 patents; he made his most important contributions in electrical energy loss (or hysteresis), the understanding and wider use of alternating current, and high-voltage power transmission. General Electric 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 councilman in Schenectady, New York, and part-time professor 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. In a life filled with contrasts, perhaps even Steinmetz himself, a prominent Socialist serving as chief engineer of a major corporation, was not always able to separate the myth from the man.

Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist was the subject of the 2014 PBS documentary film, "Divine Discontent."

"Well informed by recent studies of similar mythologizing, Kline explains both the rise and decline of Steinmetz's popular reputation." — Robert Friedel, Science

"Kline's explanations are lucid and he offers broader insights about science and technology that will interest all cultural historians." — Mark Pittenger, Journal of American History

"Steinmetz not only provides the first comprehensive, technically sophisticated analysis of Steinmetz's engineering achievements, but also carefully examines his influential political and social writings, and judiciously dissects the making of the 'Wizard of Schenectady' legend." — David Sicilia, Reviews in American History

Product Details

BN ID:	2940163111220
Publisher:	Plunkett Lake Press
Publication date:	12/12/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	1,035,863
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Ronald R. Kline earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering at Kansas State University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in History of Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the Sue G. and Harry E. Bovay, Jr. Professor in History and Ethics of Engineering at Cornell University, with a joint appointment between the Science and Technology Studies Department in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering. He directs the Bovay Program in the History and Ethics of Engineering in the College of Engineering and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the history of science and technology in the Cold War and the history of information technology.

The author of numerous articles on the history of engineering, industrial research, technology in rural life, and information science and technology, as well as engineering ethics, he is past president of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) and the IEEE Society for the Social Implications of Technology, and former chief editor of IEEE’s Technology & Society Magazine. In 2016, SHOT awarded him its highest honor, the Leonardo da Vinci Medal, for contributions to the history of technology. He is the author of three books, Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist (1992), Consumers in the Country: Technology and Social Change in Rural America (2000), and The Cybernetics Moment, Or Why We Call Our Age the Information Age (2015), all published by Johns Hopkins University Press.