
Charles Proteus Steinmetz, the Wizard of Schenectady (2011) - pseudolus
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/charles-proteus-steinmetz-the-wizard-of-schenectady-51912022/
======
LaundroMat
I like the matter-of-factness of this phrase:

"One Friday afternoon in 1921, Steinmetz hopped in his electric car and headed
off for a weekend at Camp Mohawk"

Also, it just goes to show that GE back in those days was able to just recruit
promising talent without knowing what they'd eventually do or come up with.
Nowadays GE is not taking these "risks" anymore, probably because the return
is uncertain.

But how can a company get ahead of the competition (let alone be a force of
positive change) if all it goes for is certainty?

------
agency
I found the part about him moving in with his coworker/friend and effectively
becoming a grandfather to his children so deeply moving. What a beautiful
thing.

------
digitalsanctum
I thoroughly enjoyed this article having grown up near Schenectady and never
before hearing about the "wizard." Thanks for sharing.

------
dang
A bit from 2018:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18757819](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18757819)

A bit from 2017:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14716944](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14716944)

------
empath75
Making chalk mark on generator $1.

Knowing where to make mark $9,999.

Ford paid the bill.

—-

I’m calling bullshit on this. It’s a classic urban legend told about many
different famous and not famous people.

Edit: [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/know-where-
man/](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/know-where-man/)

~~~
teddyh
Yep. It completely destroys the credibility of the entire article to
uncritically include such urban legends. With such absence of fact checking
and verification, nobody should believe anything else from this article.

------
carapace
Ah, Steinmetz!

> Steinmetz, Scott wrote, responded personally to Ford’s request with the
> following:

> Making chalk mark on generator $1.

> Knowing where to make mark $9,999.

Incredible that that story is not apocryphal!

