Continuing the tradition of Edison (center) in the Steinmetz era: left to right, William D. Coolidge, Willis R. Whitney, Charles P. Steinmetz, Irving Langmuir.
Charles Proteus Steinmetz in 1890.
Lord Kelvin and party on visit to GE Schenectady Works in 1897.
James J. Wood (1856-1928).
Called an engineering wizard by the engineering profession at GE in Schenectady, Steinmetz in 1892 presented a major paper on the Law of Hysteresis to the AIEE, and this gave him world recognition.
Among Steinmetz's distinguished visitors was Marchese Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the first practical radio-signaling system and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1909.
Even when Steinmetz went out in his canoe, paper, pencil and slide rule accompanied him. In his diary he wrote, "It was a hot sunny day with almost no wind, and I sat in the sun and calculated instances of condenser discharge through an asymmetrical gas circuit."
Hailed as a "forger of thunderbolts", Steinmetz was the first to create artificial lightning, in 1922. Here he examines the fragments of a tree branch splintered by a bolt of lightning from his 120,000 volt generator. His studies enormously increased the reliability of electric power transmission.
The staff of the new Research Laboratory - (from left) Charles P. Steinmetz, John T.H. Dempster and Willis R. Whitney, Director, 1900.
William B. Potter (1863-1934).
Cummings C. Chesney (1863-1937).
William Stanley (1858-1968).
Willis R. Whitney developed the "GEM" carbon filament lamp, 1904.
William D. Coolidge
William LeRoy Emmet (1859 - 1941)
Ernst F.W. Alexanderson, radio pioneer, 1906.
Edward M. Hewlett with samples of suspension line insulators, 1907.
In his Wendell Avenue conservatory Steinmetz experimented with the effects of lighting and synthetic fertilizers on the growth of plants. He also used his greenhouse for raising orchids (above) and cacti.
Another of Steinmetz's distinguished visitors was Albert Einstein who came to Schenectedy in 1921. It was in that year Einstein received the Nobel Prize in physics.
In his scientific laboratory, built and stocked by GE adjacent to his Wendell Avenue home, Steinmetz studied such problems as the chemistry of electrical insulating materials and arc lights. This included experiments with the magnetite arc lamp, and in 1902, he arranged a demonstration on Wendell Avenue. It was a huge success and soon cities across the country were adopting his new lighting system.
Coolidge demonstrates the ductile tungsten process to Thomas Edison, 1908.
From left to right, Irving Langmuir, Willis R. Whitney, and William D. Coolidge, 1909.
It was during Dr. George Lunn's administrations that Steinmetz ventured into politics. Of Steinmetz, Mayor Lunn said,"-There was never any movement looking towards the improvement of the City of Schenectady for which you could not count on his enthusiastic support. In addition to his great work educationally, he was a constant help to me with his advice on many problems that came before me as Mayor. In all matters, he was ever a tower of strenght by his helpfulness."
Irving Langmuir
William D. Coolidge examining his hot cathode, high vacuum X-ray tube, 1913.
Edwin W. Rice, Jr. (1862-1935)
Irving Langmuir examining an early version of the pliotron, 1914.
Burton G. Tremaine (1863-1948)
Franklin S. Terry (1862-1926)
Guglielmo Marconi "Father of the Wireless" (right) visits the Research Laboratory - with Whitney (left), Langmuir (center), 1917.
Steinmetz in his 1914 Detroit Electric, along with the grandchildren Midge, Billy and Joe, and his adopted son, Joseph Hayden.
The Hayden-Steinmetz family in the parlor of their Wendell Avenue home. At the left is Corinne (Mrs. Hayden). To Steinmetz, however, she was Mother. On her lap is William (Billy), then Steinmetz (Daddy), followed by Joe. Next is Joseph LeRoy Hayden (Father) with Marjory (Midge) on his lap.
Jesse R. Lovejoy (1863-1945)
Charles Steinmetz broadcasts from WGY Studio in Schenectady, 1922.