Official Review: The Man Who Tamed Lightning

[DATo]

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The Man Who Tamed Lightning

By Floyd Miller

Copyright 1962 Scholastic Book Services in arrangement with McGraw-Hill Book Company

This book is a very interesting biography of Charles Proteus Steinmetz, a man who was almost denied entry to the United States because he was without means, could not speak English and was physically deformed. Quick thinking, salesmanship, and frankly a few bold face lies by another immigrant got Steinmetz through the gates of Ellis Island and this was to prove of immense value to both the United States as well as the world for Steinmetz was destined to become one of the most important electrical engineers and scientists of the 20th century.

This book is a short (160 pages), very easy to read, and immensely charming biography of an extraordinarily gifted man. He was short and hunchbacked and did not cut a very dashing figure but what nature had denied him in physical appearance it repaid him tenfold in mental agility. Stienmetz took a job with a very small electrical company but his engineering talent soon became known to the movers and shakers of industry as a result of papers he had written which were beginning to revolutionize the study of electrical phenomena. At one point the behemoth company, General Electric, offered him a job at a huge increase to what he was being paid by his employer, but he turned them down because he felt he owed a debt of loyalty to the small company who hired him when others wouldn't. To give you some idea of this man's genius General Electric bought the ENTIRE company just to get Steinmetz.

Charles Steinmetz had one great void in his life. He had no family and yearned desperately for the company of children who were the only people, it seemed, who could look past his deformities. Perhaps because of his diminutive stature children saw him and interacted with him as one of their peers. He often put on electrical displays for the neighborhood children which awed and delighted them. At General Electric he was soon viewed as a god but he never allowed his fame and status to affect his ego and he treated everyone he met from the titans of industry to the grocery store owner with the same respect and kindliness.

There was one male intern assigned to work with Steinmetz who soon became his favorite. They spent long hours working on projects together and Steinmetz eventually legally adopted him. When this young man got married Steinmetz had an enormous house built and invited the couple to live with him. When the couple's children began to arrive Steinmetz was overwhelmed with happiness for the first time in his long and often unhappy life.

It became a tradition for Steinmetz to read the children a bedtime story and he never failed to respond to their requests. One night, after Steinmetz had repeatedly ignored telegrams from the Ford Motor Company's engineers for a consultation, Henry Ford personally appeared at Steinmetz home. Ford's engineers were having an enormously difficult time resolving an electrical problem involving the starting system of the car. Ford sat in the parlor talking with Steinmetz when the children rushed in demanding he read them their bedtime story. Steinmetz excused himself and told Ford it would not take long. This was Henry Ford and he was not used to being put on hold for bedtime stories. He left the house and walked around the neighborhood and eventually returned to the home in a fit of anger and was just about to leave when Steinmetz reappeared. He begged Ford's forgiveness for taking so long and then handed him a piece of paper. While he was telling the children their bedtime story he solved the problem which all of Ford's engineers were unable to solve.

Some years ago I met with a physics graduate student who I had worked with who had just received his PhD. He told me he had just interviewed with General Electric for a job and had been hired. I said to him, "Ahh, you are going to work in Steinmetzland then are you?" He looked at me quizzically and said, " How did YOU know about Steinmetz?" He did not know the story of this remarkable man who was largely responsible for the success of the company he was going to work for but as it turned out he had been told that the central computer system for General Electric today ... is called "Steinmetz".

This is a very readable book with a plethora of very interesting anecdotal information on this remarkable man. Even if you are not into science and engineering I think you will be delighted with the amazing life and personality of Charles Steinmetz and I recommend this book most heartily.

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[rssllue]

Very nice review, DATo! It sounds like a very interesting read about an extremely unique man!

[gali]

The book sounds intriguing, and he does sound like a remarkable man. Thank you for sharing, and for the well-written recommendation.

[DATo]

Wow! That was a quick response! If you guys can find the book pick it up. I really think you will like it. I came across it just the other day and reread it having originally read it many years ago. It was just as good a read the second time around.

[rssllue]

I have always been into Tesla, and this guy kind of reminds me of him. I will have to definitely look him up!

[gali]

Wow! That was a quick response! If you guys can find the book pick it up. I really think you will like it. I came across it just the other day and reread it having originally read it many years ago. It was just as good a read the second time around.

I don't think our libraries have it, and there isn't an electric format of it. Nonetheless, I enjoy reading your review.