An electronics genius, Charles Proteus Steinmetz founded the General Electric laboratory and refined and standardized the study and notation of alternating current circuitry. In all, he patented some 200 electrical inventions. A public-spirited visionary, he also predicted problems with air and water quality, especially from the burning of soft coal.

Born in Breslau, Germany, on April 6, 1865, Steinmetz inherited an oversized head, twisted spine, and hunchback, deformities passed down by his father and grandfather. His father sent him to the University of Breslau, where he compensated for his disability by becoming politically and socially involved in campus activities. Extending his education in Berlin and Zurich, he studied language, science, math, and medicine. Because Steinmetz edited a socialist newspaper and wrote an inflammatory article, he was forced to flee Germany or face arrest. Abandoning the final stages of a doctoral degree, he escaped first to the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland...