The Wizard of Schenectady: Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Steinmetz (center) pictured between Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla
Charles Proteus Steinmetz, originally born Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz in Breslau Prussia (now Wroclaw, Poland) in 1865, was a genius. His middle name “Proteus” was a nickname given to him by fellow children when he was growing up, naming him after the dwarf Proteus in The Odyssey “who knew many secrets” (steemit.com). As an adult, Steinmetz officially took on the nickname as his middle name. After high school, he attended the University of Breslau and majored in mathematics. In college, Steinmetz joined a socialist club and eventually became the editor of the club’s newspaper entitled “The People’s Voice” and was later banned from Germany by the government due to his affiliation with the Social Democratic Party (Dos Passos p255, Britannica.com).
In 1888, Steinmetz was 24 years old and arrived at Ellis
Island on a boat called La Champagne (Dos Passos p255, Smithsonianmag.com). He
got a job working for Eichemeyer and Osterheld in Yonkers New York at a factory
that made hat making machinery (Dos Passos p255). Through his knowledge of higher
mathematics, Steinmetz developed new ideas about electrical engineering and worked
on his Law of Hysteresis. Steinmetz’s genius was not lost on his employers and
he was later promoted from a draftsman to the head of the laboratory at the
factory. Later on General Electric bought out many companies, including
Eichemeyer and Osterheld and gained Steinmetz in the process.
Steinmetz lived out his life working for General Electric where he made many huge advances in the field of electrical engineering. Referred to as the “Father of modern electrical engineering” and “The Thunderer“, Steinmetz is responsible for the first alternating current motor and many other advances in electrical engineering.
Highlighted briefly in the 42nd Parallel, the life of Steinmetz is described, in the beginning, in a way that shows him in a similar light as many of the other characters in Dos Passos; a dreamer, searching for a form of truth, perhaps. But in addition to this, Steinmetz is an immigrant. An immigrant who experiences eventual success and the American dream, an experience that many who immigrated to America did not have. Struggling to make it in American, Steinmetz had similar ideals to those of Mac, as a socialist in his youth. But Steinmetz sells out after his success, something that Mac often mentioned not wanting to do, and becomes “the little parlor magician” (Dos Passos 256).
Steinmetz lived out his life working for General Electric where he made many huge advances in the field of electrical engineering. Referred to as the “Father of modern electrical engineering” and “The Thunderer“, Steinmetz is responsible for the first alternating current motor and many other advances in electrical engineering.
Highlighted briefly in the 42nd Parallel, the life of Steinmetz is described, in the beginning, in a way that shows him in a similar light as many of the other characters in Dos Passos; a dreamer, searching for a form of truth, perhaps. But in addition to this, Steinmetz is an immigrant. An immigrant who experiences eventual success and the American dream, an experience that many who immigrated to America did not have. Struggling to make it in American, Steinmetz had similar ideals to those of Mac, as a socialist in his youth. But Steinmetz sells out after his success, something that Mac often mentioned not wanting to do, and becomes “the little parlor magician” (Dos Passos 256).
Question: In a way, it appears that Dos Passos is accusing Steinmetz of losing touch with humanity and the struggles of the working class. What do you think Dos Passos is trying to say about Steinmetz in his passage?
Works Cited
Alex Beyman. "Charles Proteus Steinmetz: The
Electrical Wizard of New York - Steemit." Steemit. N.p., 21 Aug. 2016. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.
<https://steemit.com/science/@alexbeyman/charles-proteus-steinmetz-the-electrical-wizard-of-new-york>.
"Charles Proteus Steinmetz." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.
<https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Proteus-Steinmetz>.
"Charles Proteus Steinmetz: The Man Who Made
Lightning - Undated." YouTube.
YouTube, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6lYoKBnPOY>.
King, Gilbert. "Charles Proteus Steinmetz, the
Wizard of Schenectady." Smithsonian
Magazine. Smithsonian, 16 Aug. 2011. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.
<http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/charles-proteus-steinmetz-the-wizard-of-schenectady-51912022/?no-ist>.
Passos, John Dos. The
42nd Parallel. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Print.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteYour post was very interesting and showed a different side of Steinmetz. The passage on page 255-257, in The 42nd Parallel, reveals Steinmetz remains a socialist while having a good job at General Electric and,thus, is a contradiction to his own opinions because he also labors for a big corporation and provides his skills tot he corporation without much equality. Passos notes that "General Electric humored him, let him be a socialist" (Passos 256) and then repeats the the line "let him be a socialist" (Passos 256) as in to say that Steinmetz was open about his socialistic views, but that he was still taken advantage of and that he might not have realized it. As Steinmetz gave speeches about socialism and equality, but at the end "Steinmetz was the most valuable piece of apparatus General Electric had until he wore out and died" (Passos 257). This phrase could be a play on how Steinmetz might have spoke about socialism which encourages equality and rights for workers, but he too was a victim of corporate power and his skills were taken advantage of from corporations. Overall, I liked your post and it was a great introduction to Steinmetz.
The fact that in each of the small biographies in the novel end with the death of a successful, nonfiction character makes me agree with you that Dos Pasos is commenting on the insignificance of the success of the individual. Because a person is going to die anyway, Dos Pasos is saying they should dedicate their resources to the socialist causes. However, Dos Pasos might also believe that these successful people are contributing to society more than Mac for example because they have impact on the world through invention and not whimsical travel.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting post! When reading Proteus in conjunction with your post, it becomes evident that Steinmetz really made some significant contributions to the idea we currently hold as the standard of modern life. Perhaps Dos Passos wants us to consider the characteristics of who build modern electrical engineering: a hunchback immigrant. This in relation to his beliefs in socialism focuses on the quality of man, which is further cemented by his death at the end of the passage, with death as the great equalizer of humanity.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how Steinmetz was an immigrant who eventually did reach success and lived the American Dream, a complete contrast to the post in regards to the Chinese immigrants stuck on Angel Island and many characters we see in various novels.
ReplyDeleteYou raise an interesting point regarding the forces that shaped Steinmetz in terms of his family background and political convictions, and how these forces are at odds with his success in the engineering field. In a way, he has fulfilled the American Dream, climbing up the greasy poll and contributing something truly groundbreaking to society (and receiving credit, no less). And yet, he is also somewhat of a sell-out, perhaps even going against his socialist views by fostering the development of the machine (a development that continues to be exploited by corporations to this day). I’m interested to hear others thoughts on this subject in discussion tomorrow because I don’t know what to make of Steinmetz and the implications of his findings!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that by working hard and making a living for himself, many would say that Steinmetz was selling himself out to the corporation and becoming a part of capitalism. The more he tried be an individual and make a contribution to science, the more he became an "apparatus". Yet, by becoming famous for his contribution to electrical engineering, he was in a more comfortable position to talk about socialism and have other people listen. Mac on the other hand chooses to go head first into his ideals and ends up leaving his family and wandering around the US. As much it is a conflict between idealism and realism, it is also a conflict between personal life and public life.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how Steinmetz was used by General Eletric in the novel, as it shows the dominance of corporate power during that time. Even though he may have espoused his views on Socialism during that time, the fact he was still used as a pawn may reveal how immigrants may have had to follow the rules of capitalism and society in the US -- whether they liked it or not.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you bring up that Dos Passos considers Steinmetz a sell-out; I think this stems more from the fact that Steinmetz gave up on socialism, which was one of Dos Passo's core views, rather than because he lost touch with the working class struggles. Dos Passos does show us characters like Eleanor, who are trying to lift themselves up from the everyday struggles and become successes- it doesn't seem like he denounces this. Ironically, it seems that Steinmetz is simply a success story of what many of the characters in the 42nd parallel fail to achieve.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think what is interesting about Steinmetz is his name, specifically his middle name which was a childhood nickname that was probably used to tease him that he embraced by making it his official middle name. Each of the characters stories in The 42nd parallel start from their childhood and something from their childhood shapes their adult life just like Steinmetz's middle name. It is also important to note that this is around the same time as Freud, who thought that any psychological issue a person had was an affect of something that occurred in their their childhood.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Camille that Dos Passos seems to be implying that the lives of these people are ultimately meaningless. Steinmetz especially seems to be just a tool for corporations to exploit, and he is described by Dos Passos as a "piece of apparatus from General Electric."
ReplyDeleteSteimetz success story after immigrating to the US seems like a typical american dream story many immigrants desire after immigrating to the US. However one aspect I noticed about Steimetz that helped him really elevate in US society was his education. Even though he immigrated to the US during a time when immigrants were not treated and viewed very well, it's interesting how his past educational background always helped him in his career.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned above, I think it is interesting how Dos Passos continually relates Steimetz to "an apparatus". An appartus is such a technical term and almost degrades Steimetz to a nonhuman entity. Why does Dos Passos choose this type of diction and how does it differ to the other biographies?
ReplyDeleteI understand the argument that Steinmetz was a moral sellout. Yes, he was a socialist who's engineering intellect may have been pimped for profit, but I see another side to this story. I like to imagine Steinmetz made a conscious decision to contradict his personal and political believes in order to develop technologies that could ultimately help to empower a movement by the people - the working class and the immigrants like himself. I envision a scene of dramatic irony in which a collection of socialist thinkers are gathered amidst the veil of night, contemplating ways in which to improve the lives of their peers, cursing Steinmetz name, all the while huddled around a small lamp who's circuitry was born from the mind of Steinmetz. And from our brief introduction to Steinmetz through Dos Passos' passage, Steinmetz never divorced from his political and social beliefs because it mattered very little to GE how his moral compass pointed so long as new transformers were being built. So as far as we know, Steinmetz was never in a position where he had to choose between his personal believes and the almighty dollar.
ReplyDeleteIn the context of the 42nd Parallel in which many of the characters never find a way to break through their walls of poverty or hardship, Steinmetz did. And he did it in a way that allowed for the masses to take advantage of his contributions.