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How Steinmetz became the "Wizard of Schenectady"
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- Charles Proteus Steinmetz was known as the "Wizard of Schenectady." This video is on his wild and influential life and how he more than earned that moniker.
For the script:
My mailing list: kathylovesphys...
My Patreon Page: www.patreon.co...
Jeff Parisse's video on our Spark Museum trip: • Spark Museum Road Trip #4
My top 2 favorite Steinmetz biographies:
John Hammond "Charles Proteus Steinmetz: A Biography" (1924)
Ronald Kline "Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist" (1992)
I also highly recommend this list of Steinmetz's photos (New York Heritage Steinmetz Digital Collection): nyheritage.org...
Links to videos used:
Edison Tech Movie about GE research labs: • Steinmetz and Rice fou...
Union College Movie: • Phasors Steinmetz and ...
1922 Radio address by Steinmetz: nyheritage.con...
miSci newsreel of Edison's 1922 visit to Schenectady "Thomas Edison in Schenectady": • Thomas Edison in Schen...
miSci Film from 1976 where an actor pretends to be Edison to talk about Steinmetz "The Beginning of GE": • The Beginning of GE - ...
Kolin Hagar's radio interview from 1972 where he tells the Steinmetz/Ford story: edisontechcent...
Film of Steinmetz's restored 1914 electric car (Shared by Union College and the Edison Tech Center): • 1914 Detroit Electric ...
As usual, a big thank you to the fabulous Kim Nalley for singing "electricity" and some background music. www.kimnalley.com
It's interesting how some historical figures stick around in the public imagination and others don't. Thanks for bringing Steinmetz to my attention!
My grandfather, Clarence Porter Turner, worked at GE as an electrical engineer at the same time Steinmetz did. My father told me a story.... that on occasion, grandfather would be in the same lab with Steinmetz, and if the phone rang, Steinmetz would want to answer it, but he was too short to reach the handset. So he would yell out, "Turner! My stool." Grandfather would rush over and position a stool under the phone so Steinmetz could take the call.
That is a new story, thank you for telling me
@@Kathy_Loves_Physics You probably know the famous Steinmetz anecdote that my father who worked in GE production in Sch,dy always told. All Steinmetz photos show him with his cigar. (If he hadn't died of a heart attack he probably would have died later of mouth, throat or lung cancer the way the other famous cigar smoker Freud did--and possibly President Grant as well). When asked not to smoke in the lab, Steinmetz declared "No cigar--no Steinmetz". Had he lived I wonder if he would have been the one genius to figure out how to overcome the battery range problem that sank all the other electric car companies.
Everyone had to breathe his second hand smoke. He couldn’t put a phone where he could reach it so he yelled at people when it rang. That sounds like a toxic work environment.
@@monkfoobarNothing much has changed. A fellow worker of mine was driven to suicide 7 years ago by the American asset striper Company.
Steinmetz provided the necessary math and electrical theory, which transformed electrical from art into science. He almost doubled the efficiency of electrical transformers and motors. For some unknown reasons, many of Steinmetz achievements have been ascribed to Tesla.
Great video, thank you...
I had never heard that many of S's achievements were ascribed to Tesla. Do you have a good reference for that?
What a story. Penniless, unpleasant looking with no facility with the language but goes on to live and work so large. Truly a great soul who got the most out of his life. I hadn't realized that he was so important in the science of electrical surge suppression.
Don't judge a book by its cover
Yea... there sure are a lot of these kind of stories aren't there? And he adopts a grown man who has 3 kids? And he's a socialist and the religion I don't dare say here? And then instead of electricians going to school to learn a trade, they need a liberal arts education? A well rounded re-education? I am skeptical that any of these people actually did anything except cover up old tech. Ein stein is another Fraud. Completely and totally.
@@spiritinthesky572
This is complete tommy-rot.
@@spiritinthesky572
What religion? Steinmetz was agnostic.
“Making chalk mark on generator: $1. Knowing where to make mark: $9,999.” Thank you, Kathy, I had forgotten that wonderful anecdote.
that is just way too cool and smart. It was my favorite part of the video
And I had no idea who it was about. Now, thanks to Katky, I finally know.
I have heard that saying many times but never knew it’s origins, now I know. Thanks Kathy!
Was this the original inspiration for the Mastercard commercials that followed a similar form, ending with “…Priceless.”? That’s immediately what came to mind upon hearing the funny punchline.
How have I never learned more about this Man. I absolutely love this guy. That quote to his response to Ford is hilarious. I just loved how he lived his life and utilized his scientific knowledge to enhance his life in all sorts of facinating ways.
My grandmother, Matilda Kuttler, was Steinmetz's housekeeper. She later married my grandfather, Emil Wintzer who was a master tool and die maker at GE. They were both from Alsace.
I have a personal connection to Steinmetz: I grew up in the Steinmetz Homes housing projects of Schenectady in the late 1960s to mid 1970s.
My biological father and maternal grandfather work at GE Schenectady where Steinmetz became famous.
I lived next to Union College campus and later got accepted there when I was living in a group home in Albany.
I attended Williams College instead but I set the schools half mile run record at a track meet at Union College in 1986.
From this video I learned Steinmetz was high-spirited and idealistic in a location with a cold harsh climate. He had an incredibly strong mind and spirit.
Where can one find a history of the Steinmetz Homes housing projects? I grew up in Sch,dy in the late 1940's and early 1950's plus my father and grandfather both worked at the GE plant in the production dept. My memory of that time was that the Steinmetz Homes projects already had all the crime and ghettoization that all of these projects soon were reported to be like in the 1960's and 1970's. I would have thought that it was a very rare occurrence for a product of this housing development to attain a liberal arts college degree as you did.
Lucky guy
Is Steinmetz Homes the same as Yates Village? I lived there
So that's where this chalk mark joke came from !!! I never knew it was a (potentially) real story.
Thank you for these two episodes full of twists and turns ! Just fantastic !
Originated, came from...
@@christopherellis2663 thanks. My English isn't as good as I'd like it to be... :)
I’m a 4th generation Schenectady native. Both of my grandfathers worked at GE, my Dad was a GE engineer. Great video!! I love Schenectady so many people here have no idea of the importance of this city.
I moved here 5yrs ago and I love Schenectady the community here is beautiful. I have a strong belief that the growth of Schenectady is going to make a big impact on the world!!!!
I lived there in the 80s and 90s and enjoyed it a lot. I miss those crisp clear autumn skies and quiet streets near Union College.
The story moves me because my father, who recently passed, worked for a while at Bell Labs, in Holmdel, NJ, and our the basement of my childhood home was filled with all kinds of electronic lab bench gear and jars of electronic components, including transistors.
The resulting enthusiasm for understanding transistor circuits, got me into the gifted and talented program in elementary school. I learned a lot about electronics at a very early age in that environment, my father’s encouraged access to the ideas and the tools was key, and am still passionate about diving into the most subtle aspects of electronic theory and practice.
I suspect there are many more hidden discoveries yet to be made by similarly curious, serious, and bold enthusiasts. Let these videos encourage more of the same! Electricity is where the action is, literally and figuratively. Optics is a close second, lol.
Science is stuck in an axiomatic log-jam, raise a glass to the spirit shon here!
It gladdens my heart to see the great man getting some props.
Great video as always, Kathy. Steinmetz is one of the unsung heroes of electrical engineering. Thank you.
I remember reading a book about Steinmetz when I was a kid in the 60's and I later went on to become an electrical engineer, partially because of people like him. I'd forgotten about Steinmetz until I stumbled across your video. Thanks for bringing back this important figure from history
My father worked at General Electric in Schenectady, NY his entire career. The Open House we attended in 1976 was amazing. Seeing the immense turbine generators influenced me to become an Electrical Engineer, graduating in 1983. As it turned out, my brother in law works at the GE Lab in Schenectady too. This video was a wonderful review of the immense amount of history and incredible minds behind many of modern life's innovations. Thanks for putting it all together. I really enjoyed it.
I've always wondered why all the geniuses at the GE lab and Union College were never able to figure out a way to rehabilitate Schenectady after suburbanization gutted it.
Now I watched it and I'm blown away. What a great job Kathy. I'm going to forward this link to all my Schenectady friends.
Brillaint stuff, Kathy! I'd never heard of Steinmetz before finding your presentations and what a hero the guy was.
Kathy loves electricity and I love Kathy. Thank you, Kathy, for another spell binding story (and history lesson).
Oh, your history of electricity videos are so comprehensive and fun to follow, and your enthusiasm and warmth is so contagious. This detailed story-telling format of the rise of greatness and the controversies and challenges along the way, is the universal format to do such important innovation history full justice; this is a master class on how to present the history of ideas. A truly wonderful and exceptional production.
Kathy Thank you so much for your work. I'm an electrical engineer, and now Professor of Electronics/Automation at SUNY Adirondack (Glens Falls, NY) and I live in Sartoga Springs, and I've done work at the GE R&D Center in Niskayuna, NY. Your video on how 60HZ and 120V was decided on is beyond great. I found it fascinating!!
Thanks, I want to edit the 120 volt one so badly as it has a physics mistake and a bit that is confusing (because that is what I am like :)
My god, Thank you so much for all of the effort you have put into everything. I must tell you That my father was born in nineteen twenty three. He grew up in the slums of toronto with almost no education. He was a dispatch writer in holland. He came back from the war and tried several things.
Like like delivering bread by horse and card and delivering milk by horse and cart. He then
Got a chance to work in the machine shop. A very small one and the chat thought I'm everything. Then my father decided to educate himself completely on electricity. He ended up being the general foreman of a huge factory. And work there for thirty eight and a half years. The reason why I am writing this down for you is the fact that I am truly astounded by the stories you tell of ordinary people teaching themselves, Learning by accident or some kind of fate, And rising above everything on the basis of their meric and sexceeding and having lives. I believe this is why I enjoy your stories with the touches of humanity so much. People who stumble and scrape.
Through the starting stages of life and then catch a spark and run with it. My father would have Enjoyed your stories. Thank you
I wish I could have met your father. He sounds amazing
@@Kathy_Loves_Physics Thank you so much. I think it's the humanity you weave into your stories. You know, The kind of thing where a woman takes the Chriseste pictures and solves a mystery for everybody. the guy who's using a pape Mache Tube and solves something everyone was looking at before. By the way here is a fun little fact for you. My dad ran the manufactrain in a branch planned in of an american company. The American company Eventually, supplied 2 heaters on the space shuttles that kept the tires warm In space. You could stretch a point and say that. My dad went from delivering by Horse and cart To the space shuttle. He had nothing to do with it, He was in manufacturing, But I like to keep that Thought in mind. Like I said before, Stories with humanity, I love it
Thanks for this! As an EE I love so much to hear stories of those who came before and added to the pool of knowledge from which we all drink.
Thank you for yet another amazing video on this great but also extremely kind, loving and intelligent man. It really warms my heart to know that he was so well loved in his lifetime and beyond by those he touched and helped. He definitely deserves to be put back into the spotlight for an amazing life of discovery, hard work and fun.
What a great video presentation is it? Most of the photographs & motion picture extracts that have good historical value are for the 1st time in the internet, I suppose.
Steinmetz has done many important contributions in the field of electricity both theoretically & practically.
Thanks, Kathy & your team for bringing this video in perfect order.
I don’t think I put anything new that hasn’t been on the Internet before because I got all of those pictures off the Internet. Still, I’m glad you liked it. I would tell my team that they did a good job but I am my team so I guess I will just… Tell myself I did a good job? Cheers,
Kathy
@@Kathy_Loves_Physics 👍👍👍
Another fantastic video, Kathy! Love your deep dives into the history of Science!
Excellent video. Very interesting, informative and worthwhile video. My recollection is that Steinmetz authored a book on Engineering Mathematics. It's said he'd row a boat out on a lake for solitude to work on projects requiring computation. He didn't need to take logarithmic tables with him as he could calculate the logs in his head.
What a great channel. Love this stuff. When I was in college studying linear systems in my EE program I borrowed my dad's textbook from the 50s as a reference, I hoped, for Laplace transforms. Instead I found the Heaviside transform (??) and asked 'whats this?'. Dad said 'Oliver Heaviside invented operational calculus which mathematicians scoff at but lets us solve differential equations easily and makes modern electrical engineering practical. That and phasors, which a genius dwarf Steinmetz came up with. We'd have never come as far as we have without those men'. I was fascinated and loved the stories of the people behind the science ever since.
You are an incredible history explainer. Thanks for your enormous efforts to find historical facts! Also your dedication and teacher skills are impressive! When your book comes out as an audio book I will get it and hopes it will be many hours with you as the narrator!
As a person born and raised in Schenectady thanks for this.
Extraordinary research work! And what a legendary guy
I just barely found your channel and I have to say, I am very impressed. I love it. Not just for the content (which is amazing all by itself), but it's the right amount of time, it's intriguing, it's not silly like other channels. I love it.
I've been waiting anxiously for this Kathy. Thank you. Gotta run now and watch it.
Thank so much for this video. I have a book written by Steinmetz printed in 1918 and it has a picture of him inside the front cover.
Kathy is an engaging, knowledgeable story-teller. I am resolved to see all she has posted.
Finally through the whole channel! Now i hit the bell notification and can wait for the video NEXT TIME! Thank you for all this research.
I love the longer format! Keep it up Kathy!
standing in that Faraday cage at the Spark museum is a highlight of my life. My mother named her first baby John, he didn't survive more than a few weeks. Born about the same time as "that" John Jenkins. I live a few miles north in Victoria BC Canada. I was particularly impressed with the candlestick phone used in the first transcontinental phone call. Only a few weeks before I had my first smart phone and had used it for Skype and I was standing there thinking how the phone in front of me had Edison's fingerprints on it (at least at some point) and here I was with a device in my pocket that could do video calls around the world. Thank you Kathy for such wonderful, informative videos
Absolutely wonderful story!!! Thanks for sharing 👍.
Kathy, thank you for another wonderful episode in your history series. As a kid in the mid 1960's, I used to devour all the books on technology I could find (but not too technical, a lot of math was beyond me). Your videos fill in interesting and missing details about the new inventions and their discoverers.
I recall reading about Mr. Stienmetz in the books my parents had. One of the pictures that's emblasoned on my memory was one of Edison and Stienmetz leaning over a table, examining an electrical insulator that had been shattered by lighting. I think that photo came from a frame of the GE movie that you have here. Wow, what a wild connection!
Thanks again!
Wonderful video about an under appreciated genius
Job well done, as usual
Your enthusiasm is infectious
Which is the good kind of infectious
Steinmetz truly understood that training makes you a worker, but education makes you a citizen. Love the video.
Well put. That idea is lost in public education now also.
Education makes you a citizen? Sounds like something a socialist would say.
These videos are so good. Your energy and passion really make these stories enjoyable. I’ve been studying the history of chemistry and physics long before internet. Always asking, “How do we know - that we know - what we know?”
These people are fascinating, their lives were so consequential to us. Newton, A Lavoisier, Jacques de Vaucanson, Faraday, Joseph Jacquard, Maxwell, Tesla, Rutherford, Planck, Meitner, Einstein, Feynman
Kathy, a little Steinmetz "trivia" for you...according to Tom Lewis' book - "Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio" - "The American writer John Dos Passos suggested that Steinmetz was the most valuable piece of apparatus General Electric had. The company realized it too, tolerating his regimen of about 500 cigars a month, despite strict rules forbidding tobacco."
I am impressed by the Steinmetz story. You have made a wonderful presentation of his life story. ❤
Thanks for another wonderful episode.
I almost missed it, the read border on the thumbnail almost tricked me into thinking I had already watched it!
As a BSEE from Union College I concur most emphatically!
Thank you for another fantastic video, and Vielen Dank aus Deutschland...
I have a few of his laboratory glass jars that my late mother bought at a sale in Schenectady New York, and her dad, my grandfather was also connected to GE and Union College, but separated by about a generation.
My grandfather was the head of the chemistry department at Union College, and also a consultant for GE.
I was having a bad day and not feeling my usual harmony, when I saw you had posted a new video, and not just that it was about Charles Proteus Steinmetz. It brought a smile to my face, thank you. First, before I begin, let me say your hair looks amazing. I love the look, keep up whatever it is you are doing. Another six minutes to go, and I am sitting here having just experienced a profound shift in my opinion of Thomas Edison after seeing that 1976 footage of him. For someone to make such a statement speaks volumes about what they have learned and how they grew throughout their life. Thank you, for that is a profound gift. And if I am honest, you have already given me so much as far as understanding the history of science. It has been of great assistance to me in developing my understanding of the universe, to which I suspect you are very skeptical of. As I am certain you are aware of my ideas, due to my many comments where I often discuss them to some degree, and I suspect you review comments on your older videos. But then again, I may be wrong. What do I know.
I love Charles Steinmetz and was aware of much that you shared, but not all. I had a friend who died a few years ago, an octogenarian who had a very Steinmetz build at this time of his life. My friend was a rare and dying breed in that he was, first of, quite smart as he taught himself to read/write at 3, and classically educated with degrees in art and the philosophy of education. He was an accomplished artist, musician and started and ran the first Art School in Norway for 20 years, where the Dean of Art at the University of Edinburgh would send his faculty to learn how to teach art from my friend. He taught me much and we debated even more, but more importantly, we had an intellectual bond that transcended generations. I miss the stodgy old codger.
If I may make a suggestion, how about Irving Langmuir and his research on ionized gasses and why he called them Plasma. Subtopic, Hannes Alfven and Anthony Perrat.
Looking forward to the spark museum.
I’m so glad you liked it, and that I can make your day a little better, but I have to warn you that the 1976 video is of an actor pretending to be Edison as Edison died in 1931.
@@Kathy_Loves_Physics Those Ol' photos were of renowned VIPs. Guess Kathy is VIP too. (kid in toy store,wow). This vid is more than I can remember&more than I forgot. A brain booster-shot!
@@Kathy_Loves_Physics Tank you for the clarification.
Another suggestion for you is Wilhelm Weber who 50 years before Bohr developed a planetary model of the atom using only charge.
My 5th grade teacher, over some weeks in 1969, read to the class a book about Steinmetz. I was captivated by the entire story. She also read to us "Wind in the Willows."
Thanks, Kathy: A former long-term [25 years] GE employee.
Dear Kathy, thank you so much for your wonderful story about Mr. Steinmetz who I have wondered about since my father, a civil engineer, told me about him.
Your videos are so amazing! Please keep it up! You bring so much context. I appreciate all the work you put into them.
Finally!Part two, after watching the first part two days ago, i was kind of dissapointed no part 2 yet
I am super curious and excited for future episodes!
I hope this channel gets way more famous ❤️
Thanks and me too 🤣
It's tragic that this amazing man has faded from the public consciousness. Thank you so much for telling his story.
Only those that care to know , know .
Keep up the great work. Your enthusiasm for the subject is what makes these videos great!
You talks are fun and exciting. You are one of the few positive forces on the internet. I can't sleep and listen to you.
Fantastic video about an amazing and truly wonderful individual. Thank you!
I love the Spark Museum! I was raised near Bellingham and that is definitely a gem.
Isn’t that a fantastic place? Did you see my video about visiting there?
@@Kathy_Loves_Physics
That's next up on my queue!. I love your work. Thank you for informing and entertaining us!
Thank you!
Thank you for another fun romp through the lives that have built our knowledge of our world. I always laugh inside when people speak of being totally independent from other people, since we have always been dependent on so many others, starting with our parents.
Your knowledge and enthusiasm is a gift to the rest of us. Thanks.
Wow. So glad to know the unsung heroes, who actually played a very important part, in the way we live today!
Wonderful history, thank you for making this Kathy
Hearing about where I live is freaking me out man, it’s now so different from what it was back then so I often forget about how famous it was lol
Even my 2 year degree in electrical engineering technology required a broad array of non technical courses, as well as a later 4 year degree in business. I'm thrilled with the joy of being well rounded in my education.
Thanks Kathy
I grew up right near Steinmetz Park and used to swim in the lake in the summer.
I remember reading about Steinmetz during the 1950's.
Thank you for the reminder.
Love, love, love it!
Kathy, you sure are an energetic gal.
I knew most of what you were presenting but you sure put on a great, fun way of putting it all together. Oh your links to other goodies is superb!!
THANK YOU
❤Thanks for enlightenment over the Einstein Steinmetz photo which was altered. Tesla was never in it. I did my own photoshop of Einstein and Steinmetz with musical instruments. Steinmetz has a clarinet and Albert has an electric guitar which is red shifted and warped. Shall I send it to you? Just having fun. Thanks again Kathy!
I live near Schenectady. I remember seeing those exhibits at the museum some years ago. Time for another trip.
For the nerds growing up around Schenectady, curiosity about Steinmetz was sparked by Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Player Piano".
Never heard of that novel, I’ll have to check it out
@@Kathy_Loves_Physics My son tells me that Vonnegut worked at GE
Thank you Kathy. That was a half hour very well spent.
I have always had that picture with Einstein in my office and I worked in the building that had the high voltage lab.
I happened to read a book about Steinmetz in sixth grade, in the early 1960s. I have always wondered why he was not more well known! I learned a lot of new things about him in this video, do thanks!😃
Awesom video… laughed at when the electric car drove away with sound dubbed in from an internal combustion engine..
23:23 "Edison was almost deaf"
23:24 "Charles Steinmetz tests his newest invention, the CANNED AIR BOAT HORN".....
Well, not really, but the potential appears to have been very possible....
What a great video. I just discovered your Channel. I will be binge-watching it for a while. I didn't know very much about Steinmetz at all. Thank you for this great video
Great portrait, thank you. Love that you blanked the punchline out of the text before the reveal :)
Incredible research and a superb film
Can't say enough good about this video, thank you so much for this and all your elucidating videos.
Love your videos. I worked for GE, mostly in the 1980s. I actually led a couple of corporate R&D funded projects, but not at Schenectady. I have heard about Steinmetz, but this video has lots of personal details that I did not know. Wonderful!
Always wonderful knowledge
Being a former resident of Schenectady, I got a big kick out of this video.
Well done. Thanks for sharing I have been watching lots of your videos Fantastic ! All the best to you and yours from John in Texas
This was so interesting! I feel ashamed that iu studied physics upstate and never knew he lived in schenectady
Amazing 😉 story ! Good job 👍 🥰🥰love your final experiment about lighting in the Spark Museum
Donnie Birch in the house.
Beautiful job Kathy.
A very interesting man. His home was not far from Union College. Sadly, the home was simply demolished with little thought of preservation. His cabin was going to be lost when they re-routed the Mohawk River and eliminated the little stream that it was located on. That's when Ford stepped in. Henry probably just wanted more for his $10K. Steinmetz is buried and has a marker in a cemetery near State Street and Brandywine in Schenectady.
I wondered what happened to that house. It’s such a shame.
Wow!! Great best videos! Great history and technology. Thank you so much! I love the end at the museum too. I need to go there!
Very instructive and informative. Thank you Kathy!
Great work!!
I very much enjoyed your two videos on Steinmetz.
Steinmetz is not entirely unknown in the Chicago area. Steinmetz High School (now Steinmetz College Prep) was opened in 1934.
Been studying this chap for a while; thanks for the background...
Observation is a scientific tool, communication the medium and are we not all creatures..
He still got a few things wrong.
This is an amazing video you did on an amazing man. Thank you for sharing this with the Physic and Engineering community.
In your previous video I made a sort of lengthy comment on Steinmetz but I don't know how much you read the comments. I'll just mention that "the river" which you mention in both videos is the Mohawk river where I fished as a child. Also I wonder if you researched the Schenectady Gazette which should contain lots of material on Steinmetz. I also want to repeat that you could probably do a great video on Irving Langmuir. Lastly, I was surprised that you did not mention the incident involving GE's ban on smoking. Thanks for this great video.
Jan, I had so many great stories about Steinmetz, too many to include them all. I was tempted to include the story about Steinmetz and GE’s been on smoking as well as the fact that Steinmetz and one of the Berg brothers stopped smoking for a full year on a dare and then sent each other telegrams on the anniversary of their dare that they were smoking up a storm.
@@Kathy_Loves_Physics Thanks for the reply. My grandfather was a friend of Steinmetz.
really good content....seriously
thanks