INVENTORS HALL OF FAME
Steinmetz
Patent No. 533,244
System of
Electrical Distribution
American electrical engineer Charles Steinmetz was born in Breslau, Germany on April 9, 1865. As a child he displayed a brilliancy that was to remain with him throughout his life. After his primary and secondary education studies, he entered the University of Breslau in 1883, where he devoured books on every subject from mathematics and economics to literature and medicine.
In 1888, he wrote an outspoken editorial criticizing the government and was forced to flee Germany in order to escape arrest. He went first to Zurich, then, in the late spring of 1889, arrived as a steerage passenger in the United States. In 1893, Steinmetz joined the newly-organized General Electric Company in Schenectady, serving as a consulting engineer until his death.
His first important research was on the phenomenon of hysteresis, by which power is lost because of magnetic resistance. This research led him directly to a study of alternating current, which could eliminate hysteresis loss in motors. The difficulty was that there was really no theory of alternating current by which the electrical engineer could be guided and Steinmetz set out to remedy this deficiency.
During the next 20 years, he prepared a series of masterful papers and volumes which reduced the theory of alternating current to order. It is safe to say that, without his work, the expansion of the electric power industry in the Untied States would have been impossible, or at least greatly delayed. Steinmetz's last research was on lightning, which threatened to disrupt the new a/c power lines. Here again, he made fundamental contributions to the industry.
Charles Steinmetz died in Schenectady, New York on October 26, 1923.
The above information was supplied by the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc., Room 1D01-Crystal Plaza 3, 2021 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia 22202. Videotapes and printed materials are currently available, including the National Inventors Hall of Fame Book of Inventor Profiles ($3.00).
 |
|
 |
|
 |
