On April 9, 1865, Carl August Rudolph Steinmetz was born in far-off Breslau, in the province of Silesia in Prussia. He suffered a form of dwarfism, and was a mathematic and electrical genius. He was a socialist who had to flee Germany because of his beliefs; after a time in Zurich, he found his way to the United States, where he anglicized his name to “Charles” and adopted the middle name of “Proteus,” Homer’s oracular, shape-shifting “old man of the sea.” He began his work in Yonkers, but the plant was bought up and the promising young mind was brought to Schenectady, home of General Electric. There, building on his Yonkers work in magnetic hysteresis, he revolutionized theories of alternating current circuits, and became perhaps best known for creating artificial lightning – not as a lark, but as part of his study of transient currents. He created GE’s research and development center (originally in his barn). He made Union College a recognized name in electrical engineering. He helped develop GE’s training program. He helped found The Edison Club, and promoted canoeing (including racing) on the Mohawk River. He became president of the Schenectady Board of Education, and of the City Council. He was an inspiration to the disabled and the disadvantaged, as well as to the generation of engineers who created our electrical world. Without him, GE would not have become the company it is, and Schenectady would not have become the city it did.