ABSTRACT
Charles P. Steinmetz was in demand not only by local societies of electrical engineers but by groups interested in his advanced social views, acquired from the study of the writings of Karl Marx, Eriedrich Engels, and–in his youthful years–Ferdinand Lassalle. Steinmetz was concerned about air pollution and the excessive use of coal and gasoline. He was christened Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz and confirmed in the Lutheran Church. From Breslau, Steinmetz traveled to Zurich, Switzerland, where he enrolled as a student of mechanical engineering at the Federal Institute of Technology–the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule–in 1888. Steinmetz's name is associated with numerous major achievements in electrical engineering. Despite his advocacy of Socialism, Steinmetz's view of large corporations–and especially of General Electric–was most tolerant. Steinmetz's entry into practical politics came with the election in 1911 of George R. Lurrn as mayor of Schenectady on the Socialist ticket.
