(Karl August Rudolf Steinmetz). Born Apr. 9, 1865, in Breslau (now Wroclaw), Poland; died Oct. 26, 1923, in Schenectady, N.Y. American electrical engineer; consulting engineer with the General Electric Company.

Steinmetz studied at the University of Breslau and graduated from the Polytechnic Institute in Zürich. He had fled to Zürich to escape the persecution of the authorities for his participation in the labor movement. In 1889 he emigrated to the USA and settled in Yonkers, N.Y., where he went to work at a small electrical shop. In 1893 he joined the General Electric Company, where he held responsible positions under the title of consulting engineer.

Steinmetz’ main work dealt with the processes in electric machines and devices. He proposed an empirical formula for determining hysteresis loss (1890–92) and, in 1897, developed a symbolic method for calculating alternating current phenomena. He studied aspects of the design and analysis of illumination devices and large electric machines produced at General Electric plants.

Steinmetz was a socialist by conviction. In 1922 he addressed a letter to V. I. Lenin, in which he welcomed the social transformations in Russia.